Wifi and hot spot

[Mom&MeCruiseAL]

I've been organizing a cruise for 4 couples to Alaska on the Majestic.  4 out of the 8 have never been on a cruise so I've being doing all the research trying to help them out as best I can.  One question came up that I don't know the answer to.  Do you know if one person in the cabin pays for the wifi for one phone, would the second person be able to use that wifi through a hot spot.  I'm guessing the answer is no.  The second person would need to pay for wifi as well.  Does any have experience with this?

[durangokid]

Hubby and I have shared a wifi package - only one device can be used at a time.  I sign out and he signs in with his phone.  Now with Princess Plus and we each get our own connection so no more signing in and out.  Have never tried setting it up as a hot spot so cannot answer that. 

 

[antsp]

Yes, Just use the 1st phone as a hotpot, then tether from there. 

[MissP22]

.

 

[CCFC]

5 hours ago, antsp said:

Yes, Just use the 1st phone as a hotpot, then tether from there. 

You cannot hot spot from WiFi, you need 4 or 5G to hot spot

[Steelers36]

14 hours ago, Mom&MeCruiseAL said:

I've been organizing a cruise for 4 couples to Alaska on the Majestic.  4 out of the 8 have never been on a cruise so I've being doing all the research trying to help them out as best I can.  One question came up that I don't know the answer to.  Do you know if one person in the cabin pays for the wifi for one phone, would the second person be able to use that wifi through a hot spot.  I'm guessing the answer is no.  The second person would need to pay for wifi as well.  Does any have experience with this?

If you do hotspot, you have to be in proximity.  As stated above, you can each login using the same credentials, but just one-at-a-time if only purchasing a single plan.

 

If you really all have little usage, then have one person by a 4-device plan and each couple agrees they will only have one of the couple login at any one time so that every couple will have access whenever they want. 

 

But, since that would be very cost effective and possibly annoying and inconvenient, why not do what we do when sailing with our friends?  Buy a 4-device plan for 4 people and each person has their own login without kicking anyone else out.  Note that one 4-device plan is the same cost as two 1-device plans.

[billco]

I use a travel router connected to my iPhone with an ethernet adapter. TP-Link AC750 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Router(TL-WR902AC) - Support Multiple Modes, WiFi Router/Hotspot/Bridge/Range Extender/Access Point/Client Modes, Dual Band WiFi, 1 USB 2.0 Port

$40.00 on Amazon

WIPA HDMI Adapter, 4 in 1 Digital AV Sync Screen HDMI Connector with 4K HDMI＆RJ45 Ethernet LAN Wired Network ＆ USB Camera Data Sync Adapter＆Power Port for Phone 12/11/X/8/7/Pad/Air/Mini/Pro

$30.00 on Amazon.

[Mom&MeCruiseAL]

Thank you everyone for your expertise.  It's really only one couple that wants/needs to have access to wifi for making and receiving calls from home.  They are both divorced with 4 kids each.  The youngest among the 8 kids is 14 yrs old but there have been emergency issues recently so they want to be in contact if need be.  Neither has taking a trip away from the kids either so this is all new territory for both of them.

[antsp]

6 hours ago, CCFC said:

You cannot hot spot from WiFi, you need 4 or 5G to hot spot

You can, I've done it loads of times, including onboard 

[MissP22]

14 minutes ago, antsp said:

You can, I've done it loads of times, including onboard 

Good to hear.

Although I didn't need to, it would have been handy at times. 

[CCFC]

50 minutes ago, antsp said:

You can, I've done it loads of times, including onboard 

I will be surprised if thats the case. Turn off your 4G, leave WIFI on and then try turning your hot spot on, doesnt work in the UK or on any ship I have been on. Would make a mockery of having to pay for wifi really.

[BlerkOne]

10 minutes ago, CCFC said:

I will be surprised if thats the case. Turn off your 4G, leave WIFI on and then try turning your hot spot on, doesnt work in the UK or on any ship I have been on. Would make a mockery of having to pay for wifi really.

It works on every ship I've been on. I'll try it in the UK next month.

 

Only one device is connected to ship wifi and the bandwidth is shared for that connection.

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, Mom&MeCruiseAL said:

Thank you everyone for your expertise.  It's really only one couple that wants/needs to have access to wifi for making and receiving calls from home.  They are both divorced with 4 kids each.  The youngest among the 8 kids is 14 yrs old but there have been emergency issues recently so they want to be in contact if need be.  Neither has taking a trip away from the kids either so this is all new territory for both of them.

WiFi calling is something else. Some cruise lines have been blocking. But WhatsApp, FB messaging, and others likely work.

[antsp]

31 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

It works on every ship I've been on. I'll try it in the UK next month.

 

Only one device is connected to ship wifi and the bandwidth is shared for that connection.

This is correct 

[MissP22]

55 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

WiFi calling is something else. Some cruise lines have been blocking. But WhatsApp, FB messaging, and others likely work.

What's app works like a charm. Although with a hotspot, both devices have to be nearby each other in order to get reception.

[Roberto256]

9 hours ago, CCFC said:

You cannot hot spot from WiFi, you need 4 or 5G to hot spot

This is phone dependent, and to a lesser extent carrier dependent.

 

Many newer, higher level phones can do this.

 

As Billco mentioned a travel router will work in your cabin.

But, if you wander about the ship, with a single account, and your phone connected to wifi...

 

Your travel router will be disconnected.

 

 

[Adventures ahead]

4 hours ago, Mom&MeCruiseAL said:

Thank you everyone for your expertise.  It's really only one couple that wants/needs to have access to wifi for making and receiving calls from home.  They are both divorced with 4 kids each.  The youngest among the 8 kids is 14 yrs old but there have been emergency issues recently so they want to be in contact if need be.  Neither has taking a trip away from the kids either so this is all new territory for both of them.

Sounds like they really need this vacation. Remember that often, no news is good news! Have a wonderful trip!

[BerthaButtsMan]

On 7/7/2022 at 5:54 AM, billco said:

I use a travel router connected to my iPhone with an ethernet adapter. TP-Link AC750 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Router(TL-WR902AC) -

Hi Billco, I am interested in your experiences using this travel router.  We are cruising on Princess soon.  Could you describe the process you go through to connect to the shipside wifi.  I only want to use it to connect my Kindle to download new books.  Thanks for your help.

[panda64]

Oh my, I read this first as wife and hot spot and was thinking TMI!  This topic is much more mellow, whew! 

[Guest ldtr]

On 7/7/2022 at 9:35 AM, Mom&MeCruiseAL said:

Thank you everyone for your expertise.  It's really only one couple that wants/needs to have access to wifi for making and receiving calls from home.  They are both divorced with 4 kids each.  The youngest among the 8 kids is 14 yrs old but there have been emergency issues recently so they want to be in contact if need be.  Neither has taking a trip away from the kids either so this is all new territory for both of them.

Keep in mind that with the speed of Princess Internet  (pretty slow on many ships) making calls via wifi might be problematic.  Might plan on using e-mail.

Edited November 30, 2022 by ldtr

[sirclean]

Even e-mail could be essentially useless!  Please find the thread "Internet: Unlimited but Unusable". 

We are just off the Discovery (sailed Thanksgiving week) and it took 4 to 5 minutes to even open Gmail and if you tried to remove more than 5 'black friday ads' at a time, it stalled again! 

I suggest that you find the thread I mentioned for a fleet wide discussion about the failure to provide usable internet service. 

[jagoffee]

On 7/7/2022 at 1:16 PM, antsp said:

You can, I've done it loads of times, including onboard 

What brand of phone do you use?

[antsp]

54 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

What brand of phone do you use?

Samsung s22 ultra

[MissP22]

6 hours ago, antsp said:

Samsung s22 ultra

That's sad.

When we last cruised in the spring my Galaxy S20 ultra was working so much better. 🥺

[jagoffee]

8 hours ago, antsp said:

Samsung s22 ultra

 As you may know one cannot use an IPhone as a hotspot with Wifi.  It has to be Cellular Data as mentioned in an earlier post.  You are the second person who has mentioned that an Android type phone works with WiFi.   I might just buy used Android phone and use it for that type of function.  
 

Thanks.