Internet on Equinox

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

On 2/23/2022 at 6:57 PM, Jim_Iain said:

I was on Equinox in October and had no problem with the Streaming internet with one exception.   We were on an B2B and each time we were anchored off of Catalina I couldn't get either a Celebrity Internet Connection or a T-Mobile connection on the ship or on Catalina Island.     Before and after no problems.   Really strange as you can actually see LA from Catalina and Catalina is part of LA County.

 

I was able to stream Netflix and hold Zoom Conference Calls with no Pixelization or stutter.   Depending on location on the ship I spoke to some that had problems with dead spots but I didn't experience any.

 

 

 

We were on the Equinox for a 10 night Halloween cruise, in the SO Caribbean, and it was horrible.  We had surf and stream that came with our suite it was the worst we’ve ever experienced.

[TeeRick]

20 hours ago, Betsynh said:

Just off the Equinox and it said the service is provided by Starlink if that helps any. We had 90 minutes of free basic Wifi as Elite while was reasonably fast for checking emails, and opted to cough up $10/day for Verizon’s International Travel Pass while we were in Martinique and St. Kitts to connect back home (talk/text) with ease. That’s not an option for sea days, though.

I was not aware that Equinox had already been upgraded to Starlink.  Thanks!

[Jim_Iain]

On 1/14/2023 at 6:13 AM, TeeRick said:

Hi @Jim_Iain we will be on Equinox in a week (Caribbean).  It appears that you have (or had) T-Mobile on an Equinox cruise.  We previously had Verizon and never got any charges on the ships or in ports using WiFi Calling (and texting). Just kept our phone on Airplane mode and used WiFi.  However we recently switched to T-Mobile.    I checked yesterday with T-Mobile and they warned me about charges even using WiFi calling.  Our cellular plan (Magenta 55+) is 0.25 cents/min for international calls from the islands we visit but I thought we could avoid this on ship with WiFi calling.  What is your experience?  Maybe I made a mistake switching from Verizon?  Thanks!

I took a look as we have the Regular Magenta plan.    Just to make sure I would give them a call they are quick to answer and go out of the way on customer service.

 

My experience is you never pay the calling fee of .25 per minute if doing wifi calling.  The charge is only applicable if you make a call on land using the 5G service.   You do however get free 5G roaming internet in something like 195 countries 

 

The Magenta 55+  looks like it is a discounted and cut some things I have but-  when I looked it does say WiFi Calling is free.

 

 

 

One strategy is while on land is to make calls using something like What's App.    You do however need both parties to have whats app.  You could also find a hotspot like Starbucks or McDonald's etc and make free wifi calls.

 

I believe for both of us if you receive a call while on land and answer you will be charged the .25 a minute.

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

On 2/23/2022 at 5:09 PM, AlbertaCruisers said:

Jim, weren’t you on the millennium? I was on the Equinox in Oct in the Caribbean. 
 

We had streaming internet on the Equinox in Oct and it was terrible. It was almost unusable in our room. They ended up putting a hub of some sort on our desk and it made it a bit better. Streaming anything was still not great. 

 

I was on Equinox September/October 2021.   For me the internet was fine but found that it depended on where you were on the ship.    We were luck and had a router in our room.

[TeeRick]

Thanks Jim.  I think I got the wrong rep when I called T-Mobile.  That is why I asked the question here.   I kept trying to explain to him that I was not using cellular service on board.   If I use WiFi Calling there should be no charge on ship or land if cellular service is turned off (airplane mode).  I know that on land in the Caribbean ports we visit if I actually use cellular it is  25 cents per minute.  That is fine.  Even on land I try to find a WiFi signal.  Anyway, there are reports here that Equinox has been upgraded to Starlink already and we have premium WiFi ( staying in a suite).  So hopefully the internet is going to be just fine.

[cruisngeekgrl]

So I'm not looking for streaming or sharing photos, just want to be sure I can be reached by folks back home (WhatsApp calling/texting while in airplane mode is fine) in case of emergency. Can I get away with just the basic internet package?

[Islander500]

On 2/23/2022 at 9:47 PM, GottaKnowWhen said:

Just off three weeks on Equinox. My wife stuck with Surf, barely adequate for email, but mostly worked. I upped to Stream, little fuss uploading images, etc. But I never tried anything like a FaceTime conversation or the like, so I don’t know how far you can push it.

I did a zoom meeting on Equinox a few weeks ago after upgrading to the premium internet using ear phones.  It wasn’t perfect but sufficient for my needs. The basic internet was barely adequate for emails.  

[Nado44]

Just got off Equinox yesterday. Starlink was up and running. FaceTime, Zoom and other video conferencing software all worked beautifully.

[gardengalaz]

One of our closest friends is on a very extended cruise aboard the Equinox at this very moment.  She confirmed that Starlink is now providing their internet service.  She was planning to upgrade to a 2-device streaming package since she still sees patients while she's at sea -- and the basic package hasn't been fast enough for video chats, at least in her experience.  I'll also ask her to run a speed test if you'd find that interesting.  

 

[Mark_T]

We had Starlink on Eclipse just over a week ago, and the basic wifi was barely able to handle a very simple website, or iMessage for example.

 

No hope of even loading this forum for example, certainly no chance of posting here. 
 

The Starlink ‘upgrade’ does not really add anything to the basic package, it is still very tightly throttled. 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Mark_T

[wrk2cruise]

I was on Equinox in Aug/Sep and just got off from sailing 1/2-1/21.  I did most of my speed tests on my iPhone but I did find a couple on my laptop.

 

Both of these were with the premium package

 

In August this would have been as soon as I got onboard.  This is the old XCelerate premium package.

 

 

This is the current data with StarLink.   Again the 1/2 number was as soon as we got onboard.  Note the biggest change is the latency which makes most things much better experience and I believe you will get this low latency even with the basic package.

I was still getting some buffering while streaming although generally just a very short 1-2 second one.  During the Captains Club welcome celebration the IT manager happened to stop by to chat.  I asked why I was still having some trouble streaming even after Starlink upgrade.  He said it was probably weak wifi signal and asked for our room number.   By the time we returned to the room we had an access point installed on our counter.  It did help some where we had some sessions watching our Fubo-tv recorded shows without buffering but other times still did.

 

Next time I ran into him I said I was still only getting 5 mbs download, he responded that they cap it at that.  Frankly I don't think the bandwidth in itself is the problem it's more how they are doing the throttling in my opinion.

 

There was a time while returning to FL from the ABC islands where it was most problematic.

 

We were still able to make/receive wifi calls without a problem.  Overall an improvement, just still a bit disappointed.

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by wrk2cruise

[cruisestitch]

Currently on Equinox and very pleased.  I have the upgraded plan.  No issues at all.

[CruisinShips]

which is the plan that comes with Retreat bookings?