Trying to pare down WiFi costs

[Fouremco]

So that has me thinking to team up with others on the roll call and share an unlimited package if one is offered.

While this might be technically possible, it certainly was never the intention of Celebrity to sell an unlimited package for use by dozens of people. This is reminiscent of posts when beverage cards first came out and people planned on scamming the system in different ways to get as many free drinks as possible for people other than the card holder.

 

Also, Celebrity must have crunched some numbers to try to determine the impact on band width. Obviously, when a lot more people are using a single package rather than paying for their own, this throws off any calculations Celebrity has made. Sharing unlimited packages will result in more people online using a finite amount of band width and, as a consequence, a significant slowing of the network speed.

Edited July 19, 2015 by Fouremco

[BBsails]

I'm wondering about the new internet packages. If more passengers are using the painfully slow connection, won't it be painfully slow-er?

[BBsails]

Fouremco posted while I was composing, but we were thinking along the same line. :)

[cle-guy]

I'm certain they have increased internet capacity over last year, at least on Connie.

 

I did a TA on Connie this spring and was able to log into Remote Desktop Connect and control my PC at my office as if I were sitting in the office, very little lag time (no worse then some hotels), and I was able to get things done. I was shocked I must say. The cruise was among the first to offer free unlimited for RS and PH as part of Suite Perks.

 

Last summer on Summit, I couldn't get a decent connection even in port, so I went into the town to get connection instead of using Celebrity's. So I'm certain some sort of upgrades have happened.

[HokiePoq]

While this might be technically possible, it certainly was never the intention of Celebrity to sell an unlimited package for use by dozens of people. This is reminiscent of posts when beverage cards first came out and people planned on scamming the system in different ways to get as many free drinks as possible for people other than the card holder.

 

Also, Celebrity must have crunched some numbers to try to determine the impact on band width. Obviously, when a lot more people are using a single package rather than paying for their own, this throws off any calculations Celebrity has made. Sharing unlimited packages will result in more people online using a finite amount of band width and, as a consequence, a significant slowing of the network speed.

 

Thanks for saying this. After reading the first page I thought I was the only one who thinks multiple unrelated people sharing an unlimited package would be unethical even if one could get away with it.

We keep our costs down by utilizing in port when we can, getting on very early in the a.m. while most are still in bed, and using only one email address. We tell family to reach us via that address which has very little "clutter" compared to my regular email address.

Edited July 19, 2015 by HokiePoq

[sloopsailor]

Trying to pare down WiFi costs

 

You could limit your use of wi-fi and instead use the time to enjoy your vacation. It is actually possible to take a vacation without having to be constantly "plugged in". My wife and I turn our smartphones off for the duration. We vacation to get away from everyday things, not drag them along with us. And even though I own a business, I can comfortably leave it behind for a couple of weeks because I learned how to delegate tasks a long time ago. I also learned how to develop a team of trusted employees that I can delegate to when I want to enjoy myself on vacation. Being a business owner for most of my life, I strongly believe that not being able to leave your business in the hands of trusted employees is a sign of poor management skills.

Edited July 19, 2015 by sloopsailor

[NorbertsNiece]

Thanks everyone for your advice and opinion.

 

I'm a blogger sloopsailor. It's part of my holiday. It gives me pleasure.

[Gone Fishing]

You could limit your use of wi-fi and instead use the time to enjoy your vacation. It is actually possible to take a vacation without having to be constantly "plugged in". My wife and I turn our smartphones off for the duration. We vacation to get away from everyday things, not drag them along with us. And even though I own a business, I can comfortably leave it behind for a couple of weeks because I learned how to delegate tasks a long time ago. I also learned how to develop a team of trusted employees that I can delegate to when I want to enjoy myself on vacation. Being a business owner for most of my life, I strongly believe that not being able to leave your business in the hands of trusted employees is a sign of poor management skills.

 

It depends if "work" is a negitive thing. I too have a business. I also have a regular job. I have highly skilled delegates who are also friends and I don't mind talking to them if I am on a ship or wherever. So I guess it is all about what you are trying to do. Get away from something or have fun while still being available. I would leave my business to my trusted employees but I only have one (me) and he likes to spend too much time on vacation.:)

Edited July 19, 2015 by Gone Fishing

[Charles4515]

Thanks for saying this. After reading the first page I thought I was the only one who thinks multiple unrelated people sharing an unlimited package would be unethical even if one could get away with it.

 

We keep our costs down by utilizing in port when we can, getting on very early in the a.m. while most are still in bed, and using only one email address. We tell family to reach us via that address which has very little "clutter" compared to my regular email address.

 

 

I don't the think it is unethical if Celebrity does not say it is not allowed. I shared an unlimited package with a friend last month. We even asked about that and they didn't object. We couldn't be on the same time but that was no problem.

 

I do see a problem with the other persons plan. Sharing with a stranger as opposed to a friend or spouse I could see various issues. With my friend since we did most things together it was easy to share. Make sure the OP was logged out etc.

[HokiePoq]

I don't the think it is unethical if Celebrity does not say it is not allowed. I shared an unlimited package with a friend last month. We even asked about that and they didn't object. We couldn't be on the same time but that was no problem.

 

I do see a problem with the other persons plan. Sharing with a stranger as opposed to a friend or spouse I could see various issues. With my friend since we did most things together it was easy to share. Make sure the OP was logged out etc.

 

I think we agree that "multiple unrelated persons" sharing is not a good thing. If you are traveling with someone, you are, in my opinion, related.

[Fouremco]

I don't the think it is unethical if Celebrity does not say it is not allowed. I shared an unlimited package with a friend last month. We even asked about that and they didn't object. We couldn't be on the same time but that was no problem.

 

I do see a problem with the other persons plan. Sharing with a stranger as opposed to a friend or spouse I could see various issues. With my friend since we did most things together it was easy to share. Make sure the OP was logged out etc.

It's not just a question of being on at the same time. In selling it's unlimited packages, they would assume that no one would be actively online and using band width 24 hours a day. For the sake of the argument, let's say that their projection is that the average unlimited package purchaser would be actively on line for a daily total of 5 hours. So if both you and your friend use it for 5 hours each, although not at the same time, that's double the projected load on the network for that single package. They no doubt took into consideration sharing by cabin mates, but if everyone who purchases a package shares it with a friend, or worse, spins it out to everyone else on their roll call, we'll regress to dial-up speeds. Or slower.

[Charles4515]

It's not just a question of being on at the same time. In selling it's unlimited packages, they would assume that no one would be actively online and using band width 24 hours a day. For the sake of the argument, let's say that their projection is that the average unlimited package purchaser would be actively on line for a daily total of 5 hours. So if both you and your friend use it for 5 hours each, although not at the same time, that's double the projected load on the network for that single package. They no doubt took into consideration sharing by cabin mates, but if everyone who purchases a package shares it with a friend, or worse, spins it out to everyone else on their roll call, we'll regress to dial-up speeds. Or slower.

 

But they would assume that someone would be always connected. The month before I was on Oasis of the Seas and the unlimited packages were $109 a week. I never logged off my device that whole week. The week I shared the package on Summit neither of us was logged on most of the the time as we logged on and off after each use. I am sure that our combined bandwidth use was less than if I was the sole user and logged on all the time.

 

I think that if you share with someone you are not traveling with it most likely will turn into a fiasco. It is a bad idea to do that. You are trusting someone you don't know.

[Charles4515]

I think we agree that "multiple unrelated persons" sharing is not a good thing. If you are traveling with someone, you are, in my opinion, related.

 

You have to have a lot of trust in the other person to share it with them.

Edited July 20, 2015 by Charles4515

[Fouremco]

But they would assume that someone would be always connected. The month before I was on Oasis of the Seas and the unlimited packages were $109 a week. I never logged off my device that whole week. The week I shared the package on Summit neither of us was logged on most of the the time as we logged on and off after each use. I am sure that our combined bandwidth use was less than if I was the sole user and logged on all the time.

 

I think that if you share with someone you are not traveling with it most likely will turn into a fiasco. It is a bad idea to do that. You are trusting someone you don't know.

You'd be using negligible band width if you were logged on but not actively using your computer. So the assuming that you were actively using it for the same amount of time on both cruises, you actually would have used about the same band width. On the second cruise, though, your friend's use combined with yours would have resulted in far greater band width use, even though you signed off between sessions.

[Charles4515]

You'd be using negligible band width if you were logged on but not actively using your computer. So the assuming that you were actively using it for the same amount of time on both cruises, you actually would have used about the same band width. On the second cruise, though, your friend's use combined with yours would have resulted in far greater band width use, even though you signed off between sessions.

 

When I am are logged on all the time you don't use it the same amount. I use it a lot more because of the convienience of it always being always on. Also am I using it on my iPhone and have several apps that are sending notifications and using my location. It is also connecting with the iMessage and email server in the backround. It is using bandwidth all the time in the backround when it is connected even when I do nothing. That is why I turn off my cell data when roaming out of the US if I have not bought an international plan. It is using data even when sleeping in my pocket.

[TGEE57]

Just booked on the Reflection for March 2016. I picked BEST offer where I will be getting all four perks, including Unlimited Wi-Fi. On my bill summery it shows $299 under my name and $299 under my wife's name, total $598 in final column. I'm assuming they two separate devices can be used at the same time. Any takers on this subject? We would use our IPhones voice time to call each other, if needed on the ship, and Family at home.

[cle-guy]

You will each get a promo code to enter when you register for internet on the ship.

 

So you can both use your device at the same time as each has a unique login.

 

The process is:

• Get your Promo code (likely in key packet, when I was in suite, the concierge gave me a card with my unique code)
  
• Connect to the Celebrity Wifi network
  
• Enter the promo code
  
• Enter your Folio number from your SeaPass card
  
• Set up your user ID and PIN
  
• You're in
  

 

From now on you just need your user ID you made and PIN you made, won't need the promo code again. You can only have 1 device logged in at a time for each sign in, so you can't leave your phone logged in and try to use your laptop too.

Edited August 1, 2015 by cle-guy

[cheryl20772]

It's not just a question of being on at the same time. In selling it's unlimited packages, they would assume that no one would be actively online and using band width 24 hours a day

I think they don't care if you use it 24 hours a day as it was suggested to get the unlimited for purpose of being able to keep in touch by messages with a partner. If you have limited, you only get messages sporadically as a connection is made. Data on and connected all the time is drawing 24 hours a day.

 

Of course it's very easy to share their crappy internet with whomever I give the key to my phone's hotspot. It's going to happen one way or another. If I have unlimited, it will only be limited by me going ashore. I have no problem with limited access, but my partner gets high anxiety if he can't frequently check his security cameras. It's a small thing that let's us be able to enjoy cruising.

[TGEE57]

Thank you cle-guy. Also Talkatone Free App used with Wi-Fi lets you call anywhere in the world as long as the sender and receipient both have the app on their phones.

[Fouremco]

I think they don't care if you use it 24 hours a day as it was suggested to get the unlimited for purpose of being able to keep in touch by messages with a partner. If you have limited, you only get messages sporadically as a connection is made. Data on and connected all the time is drawing 24 hours a day.

 

Of course it's very easy to share their crappy internet with whomever I give the key to my phone's hotspot. It's going to happen one way or another. If I have unlimited, it will only be limited by me going ashore. I have no problem with limited access, but my partner gets high anxiety if he can't frequently check his security cameras. It's a small thing that let's us be able to enjoy cruising.

For the most part, once a web page has been shown in your browser, there's no more downloading going on. There are no file transfers, no ongoing internet activity - the page is just sitting there in your browser looking pretty, waiting for you to do something with it. The act of browsing to a page and causing it to be displayed causes internet activity, but once it's displayed, that's over. Open a bit of mail and there is data transfer, but it stops once the email is displayed.

 

Some web pages actually do maintain some small amount of data transfer while they're sitting there "doing nothing". Facebook is a good example. Every so often, the web page re-connects to Facebook and looks for updates to whatever it is that you're displaying. It may then download updates to your wall, or just update the unread message count icon. Either way, the web page in the browser on your computer had to talk to the mothership - facebook.com - to ask it if there were any updates and get them if there were.

 

Other sites, mostly feature-laden sites and services, like Gmail, Google Docs, Facebook, Twitter, and others, will all do things like this to some degree. And to be clear, it's a very small amount of bandwidth.

 

So, as I said before, an "average user" will never actively use the internet 24 hours a day, and I'm very sure that if Celebrity found that its unlimited packages were being actively used to that extent, either they would place a cap on the daily usage or increase the price significantly. So if people start sharing their packages with others, there will be consequences. You don't expect Celebrity to allow sharing of beverage packages, so why would you think it would allow sharing of internet packages?

[cle-guy]

Of course it's very easy to share their crappy internet with whomever I give the key to my phone's hotspot.

 

I am not tech savvy enough to know specifics, but I can say that I could not tether my MacBook to my iPhone to use internet when I was using the Celebrity WiFi. I had to log the iPhone out and log in on laptop.

 

I tether often, so know I'm set up to do it, but seems maybe they may lockdown tethering or know that multiple IP addresses are calling out and shut it down when they recognize that.

[TGEE57]

I'll let you know in March[emoji41][emoji41][emoji41][emoji572]️[emoji572]️[emoji572]️

[BosoxI]

We are old enough to remember cruising way before there was an internet or cell phones and when a ship to shore phone call could cost $12 a minute! In those days we all did fine and somehow survived without being connected.

 

Hank

 

My, you are old, Hank.;) I remember years ago biting the bullet when DW and I were at sea on Mothers' Day. Two calls and brief at that.

[WestLakeGirl]

My first internet/email/cruise experience was a while ago. We were given a unique email address to give our friends and family. Once a day, around midnight, the ship would download all the incoming emails, print them, and slip them under our door. If we wrote an answer, we would compose it and it would be uploaded, again overnight. I seem to remember that it was free to receive but there was a cost to send, but it could have been the other way around.

[TomMMD]

My first internet/email/cruise experience was a while ago. We were given a unique email address to give our friends and family. Once a day, around midnight, the ship would download all the incoming emails, print them, and slip them under our door. If we wrote an answer, we would compose it and it would be uploaded, again overnight. I seem to remember that it was free to receive but there was a cost to send, but it could have been the other way around.

 

 

How quaint

 

That is how we send emails to our grandson at sleep-away camp. But his is only one way.

 

I remember getting the Celebrity email address but never used it.

 

 

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