Silver Wind Internet

[the_dylaness]

Forgive me if these questions are unclear- I am not the most computer-savvy person.

 

I understand there is limited complimentary internet on the Silver Wind.

Is this internet adequate for brief Google Hangouts/Face Time/Skype video phone calls back home?

Has anyone had success connecting to/through a VPN?  I can access only certain portions of my job via a VPN, and hoping I can do some very limited connectivity to this while away.

 

(I am all about disconnecting in general, but I leave two small children behind with grandparents and am the only person in my department who can take care of certain parts of my job, so would like to remain available for limited emergencies if needed and say hi to my kids...)

[jollyjones]

I don't do any of the stuff you're talking about so I don't really know what speed/bandwidth you need, but I can tell you that the unlimited (standard) free internet is about 0.6 mbps and heavy usage sites such as youtube, google maps are blocked.

You can (and I do because it's marginally less frustrating) buy the better internet at about $20 per day whole voyage or about $29 per 24 hrs. That's maybe 2 mbps if you're lucky, and I don't think anything's blocked.

Dunno if a VPN would work. The server for the satellite appears to be in Virginia, US - that's where websites seem to think you are when onboard.

We will be back in the USA on Thurs 24th in St Thomas, maybe your own phone plan will work there.

[martynk]

I use the Ring Central Voice over IP service for my "landline phones".  I have used that successfully on the Wind over the internet connection.

[the_dylaness]

Thanks for the advice.  I don't know that I need $140 of internet access (or $29 intermittently) so I might pass.  I have no idea what 0.6 mbps translates to! I know a lot of cruise lines block VPN access (I don't understand exactly how that works very well but I have read this elsewhere)... I wish they wouldn't.  As much as I want to "disconnect" there is literally no one else who can cover some parts of my job and I would like to remain available for those key portions.  Dang!

[jollyjones]

9 hours ago, the_dylaness said:

  I have no idea what 0.6 mbps translates to! 

 

It's slow.

Reminiscent of dial up speeds - maybe you're not old enough to remember that? - a page with a lot of content, like some newspapers, will take maybe up to a minute to load. More annoyingly, the page may not load properly at all since they're all designed for much faster internet. Email is OK so long as you're not sending big attachments - photos etc.

[the_dylaness]

5 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

 

It's slow.

Reminiscent of dial up speeds - maybe you're not old enough to remember that? - a page with a lot of content, like some newspapers, will take maybe up to a minute to load. More annoyingly, the page may not load properly at all since they're all designed for much faster internet. Email is OK so long as you're not sending big attachments - photos etc.

 

That is helpful, to think about dial-up speeds.  I remember when I upgraded from a 4.8kbps to a 14.4kbps I thought I was FLYING down the "information superhighway".  I looked it up just now and what you quoted is roughy equivalent to 10 times as fast 56kbps modem- which was great in 1998 or whatever, but you're right, probably not so useful in 2019.  I don't need to stream movies or play games or whatever, just wanted to make a few quick video calls to my kiddos (I have no idea how much that takes but I am guessing a lot...)  I'll figure it out onboard, I think.  Still a shame about the VPN.

Edited January 16, 2019 by the_dylaness