Now that EVERYONE has unlimited Wifi, how slow will the ship's internet be?

[fstuff1]

Everyone is now forced to buy the 'Always Included' package which includes unlimited non-streaming wifi.

 

In 2019 (before Covid), I had free internet because of my casino tier.

It was plenty fast. No lag or buffering, as if i was surfing from home.

 

Even if you can't stream/download, how slow do you think the ship's internet will be now that everyone has it?

[LGW59]

4 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

Everyone is now forced to buy the 'Always Included' package which includes unlimited non-streaming wifi.

 

In 2019 (before Covid), I had free internet because of my casino tier.

It was plenty fast. No lag or buffering, as if i was surfing from home.

 

Even if you can't stream/download, how slow do you think the ship's internet will be now that everyone has it?

Guess we need to wait and see.

[iamaqt2]

Not everyone has it.  I'm booked on a Blue Chip Club offer, which has zero offers.  Also lots of people can book after final payment with no offers for a much lower sailing cost.
And with the majority demographic being 50-60+ I don't see a huge run on the streaming speed.  

[Oville]

17 minutes ago, iamaqt2 said:

Not everyone has it.  I'm booked on a Blue Chip Club offer, which has zero offers.  Also lots of people can book after final payment with no offers for a much lower sailing cost.
And with the majority demographic being 50-60+ I don't see a huge run on the streaming speed.  

Huh?  People in their 50s and 60s don’t stream?

[iamaqt2]

2 minutes ago, Oville said:

Huh?  People in their 50s and 60s don’t stream?

NO... the majority don't.  The smart ones do... but demographically... no that age group does not.

 

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, iamaqt2 said:

 

What universe are you in. We are beyond 60 and don’t know a single person who doesn’t stream.  Well actually only 1 a 98 year old neighbor who just uses the internet to read the news, text or email family and occasionally order something from Amazon.

Edited June 5, 2021 by jelayne
Typo

[grandgeezer]

4 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

Everyone is now forced to buy the 'Always Included' package which includes unlimited non-streaming wifi.

 

In 2019 (before Covid), I had free internet because of my casino tier.

It was plenty fast. No lag or buffering, as if i was surfing from home.

 

Even if you can't stream/download, how slow do you think the ship's internet will be now that everyone has it?

You must have dial up internet at home. We have DSL at home and it's light years faster than anything we've ever had on any ship, or any cruise line we've been on.

The big question that should be asked is with almost everyone having the drink packages, how long will you have to wait for drinks when the ships sail at capacity? If you think they are going to add a bunch of bar staff, you are only kidding yourself.

[iamaqt2]

2 hours ago, jelayne said:

What universe are you in. We are beyond 60 and don’t know a single person who doesn’t stream.  Well actually only 1 a 98 year old neighbor who just uses the internet to read the news, text or email family and occasionally order something from Amazon.

I'm in the streaming universe.  Because I'm under 50.   My over 50 husband is left behind.

[CroozFanatic]

What is streaming?

[GlobalMethod]

1 hour ago, grandgeezer said:

You must have dial up internet at home. We have DSL at home and it's light years faster than anything we've ever had on any ship, or any cruise line we've been on.

The big question that should be asked is with almost everyone having the drink packages, how long will you have to wait for drinks when the ships sail at capacity? If you think they are going to add a bunch of bar staff, you are only kidding yourself.

Bar service is faster with drinks for everyone ... there is nothing to sign so often the bartender is making your regular as soon as he sees you ... fast and easy!

[Turtles06]

5 hours ago, iamaqt2 said:

And with the majority demographic being 50-60+ I don't see a huge run on the streaming speed.  

I think you are really out of touch. 

[upwarduk]

I suspect it depends if the ship has been revolutionised as the Wi-Fi was then upgraded.

I remember being on a TA on Infinity and it was dire. We were told that the satellite used were hundreds of miles away.

[ipeeinthepool]

18 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

I suspect it depends if the ship has been revolutionised as the Wi-Fi was then upgraded.

I remember being on a TA on Infinity and it was dire. We were told that the satellite used were hundreds of miles away.

At the speed of light, it doesn’t take very long for the signals to reach the satellite, even a couple of hundred miles away.

[upwarduk]

34 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

At the speed of light, it doesn’t take very long for the signals to reach the satellite, even a couple of hundred miles away.

Well, that was the IT’s excuse.

There was a notice in the iLounge saying how slow the Internet was and it was suggested that we went there, rather than the metal boxes where we slept( cabins).

This was in 2013, but we have also had almost non existent Wi-Fi on Azamara Quest ( also a TA in 2016).

[fstuff1]

8 hours ago, iamaqt2 said:

Not everyone has it.  I'm booked on a Blue Chip Club offer, which has zero offers.  Also lots of people can book after final payment with no offers for a much lower sailing cost.
And with the majority demographic being 50-60+ I don't see a huge run on the streaming speed.  

 

who is talking about upgrading to the streaming package?

im asking about how slow ship internet will be on basic internet that everyone gets now.

 

5 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

You must have dial up internet at home. We have DSL at home and it's light years faster than anything we've ever had on any ship, or any cruise line we've been on.

 

 were you on a non-Revolutionized ship at the time?

 

hm.. just noticed that Elite/Elite+ get 90min/240min of STREAMING internet.

it could be that the free internet that came with my casino Tier was the upgraded Streaming internet and thus why it was fast?

 

[RealBatman]

We had/have 90 minutes of internet due to Elite tier. It was great for checking in with the airline for our return home flight, 24 hours prior to the end of the cruise, and an email check with family once in awhile. Otherwise... we didn't go on a cruise to do what we do every day at home!! 

 

I suspect (and none of us know until we start cruising again) that it will be slower, but honestly, I'm not on a cruise ship to sit in my cabin and stream movies! 

[bucfan2]

Don’t care.  I take out my phone out of the room safe on the morning of departure and have land based internet....works perfectly. 

[graphicguy]

I thought I saw a video about a newer Celebrity ship having a WiFi repeater (maybe mesh?)  in every cabin.

 

If so, that would alleviate a lot of traffic issues on their WiFi.  

 

That said, regardless of which cruise line, or what they touted as "great WiFi speeds", none has been all that good, and spotty, at best.

 

I used to have to get off the ship when Docked in Bermuda and pay the folks at the pier to use their WiFi, which wasn't great, but still 10x better than I got on board the ship, even when docked.  

 

BTW...nice little business they had where WiFi was available within about 30 feet of the little ship selling WiFi.

[PTC DAWG]

I won’t be the problem...

[TeeRick]

27 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I thought I saw a video about a newer Celebrity ship having a WiFi repeater (maybe mesh?)  in every cabin.

 

If so, that would alleviate a lot of traffic issues on their WiFi.  

 

That said, regardless of which cruise line, or what they touted as "great WiFi speeds", none has been all that good, and spotty, at best.

 

I used to have to get off the ship when Docked in Bermuda and pay the folks at the pier to use their WiFi, which wasn't great, but still 10x better than I got on board the ship, even when docked.  

 

BTW...nice little business they had where WiFi was available within about 30 feet of the little ship selling WiFi.

Yes presumably Edge class ships are set up this way.  The WiFi in my cabin on Edge was excellent.

[mnocket]

4 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

I won’t be the problem...

More people sharing fixed bandwidth = slower connection for everyone.  Whether this constitutes a problem depends on how the individual uses the internet.  That is unless they increase their bandwidth.

[Vagabond Knight]

I won't be the problem either.  Hubby and I are IT professionals who've been doing "computer stuff" for decades (back before Al Gore invented the internet, ha-ha!) and one of the things we like about cruising is being able to unplug.  Our usual online interaction during a cruise is to spend about 10 minutes when we go ashore on the Caribbean islands to check our email (gotta love that T-Mobile plan down there!) to make sure the house and the cat are OK and that's there are no family emergencies.  And that's pretty much it for the smart phones during the cruise except to take some photos if we're not carrying a camera.  Now I guess we'll fit in that 10 minutes a day sometime on the ship instead of wasting "island time," but I find the thought of spending any of my cruise time streaming anything to be extremely unappealing.

[LEtue]

On 6/5/2021 at 1:08 AM, jelayne said:

What universe are you in. We are beyond 60 and don’t know a single person who doesn’t stream.  Well actually only 1 a 98 year old neighbor who just uses the internet to read the news, text or email family and occasionally order something from Amazon.

I don't stream and as far as I know none of my active 60's friends do either.  I have high speed internet to cover work, email, place on line orders and read the news. 

I watch very little TV though and don't often sit long enough to watch a movie....

Not everyone has a device in their hands at all times and I put my iPad and iPhone away once I board and just check in with home and the dog sitter daily.  The Mac stays at home 🙂

[patty1955]

65 and retired. I'm not sure what we'd do without good internet in our house. Video games, keeping up with the news, online forums and YouTubeTV all require good internet. 

[sanger727]

6 minutes ago, LEtue said:

I don't stream and as far as I know none of my active 60's friends do either.  I have high speed internet to cover work, email, place on line orders and read the news. 

I watch very little TV though and don't often sit long enough to watch a movie....

Not everyone has a device in their hands at all times and I put my iPad and iPhone away once I board and just check in with home and the dog sitter daily.  The Mac stays at home 🙂

my parents (3) are 60+ and all stream tv. One does it because, while she has cable service, it’s an extra charge for a cable box. She can access the cable through her smarttv  app without getting the cable box. Others use it for netflix or fitness show apps.

 

Im a millennial and I use streaming for tv, fitness classes, movies, etc. As does everyone I know at work, most in their 40s and 50s.

Edited June 6, 2021 by sanger727