Wi-fi

[Jancruz]

As everyone knows (or should know) I am a dunce when it comes to electronics..So I have a question I know everyone here can probably answer

I know we get free wi-fi for one person

Also, what does WiFi include, specifying limits if any? 

Internet?

Texting?

IPhone?

Email?

Many thanks to you all!!

Jancruz1

[Paulchili]

Internet and email for sure - not sure about texting as I don’t do it. How much you can actually get done on the internet varies from how many people are on or what you want to do - streaming will not work, large downloads will be slow but simple searches should be OK.

Also I get free phone calls on my iPad as long as there is wifi using my HOME phone number.

Thus if I am in Australia (or wherever) I can call any US number as if I was calling from my home phone i.e. for free as long as there is wifi (I am using Comcast as my home phone service). 

Edited March 25, 2019 by Paulchili

[Jancruz]

Thanks so much Paul for the great info..I am looking forward to seeing you in December..

Jancruz1

[jwindham]

Also the free is one device per cabin at a time not really one person. My friend and I had to be sure the other was logged off on our Tahiti cruise before we used our devices. Only one person could sign up but we just used those credentials and both used it. Worked OK for us. I am a super early riser so found first thing in the morning I got much better timing than middle or later in the day. Julia

[LHT28]

Jan

I would ask your favourite TA 

she will know 😉

 

[Jancruz]

ROTFL

Jancruz1

[ORV]

Jan, if you have an iPhone you can use Messenger to text while you are on Wifi. I think you have to turn that function on though. 

[JK300]

If you have Whatsapp you can text when connected and in most cases you can even make a video call with satisfying quality.

[bigmjh]

Jan - Facetime and Skype will usually work ... 

[bob brown]

I find the wifi excruciatingly slow...

uploading more than a few photos often fails.  I would do more, but I find it very frustrating...☹️

[LHT28]

I guess  with  a lot of people uploading the photos  here & to friends & family plus the  area you are in it will be slow going

plus now you have told everyone they can use more than one device at a time  it will be even slower 😉

 

[PaulMCO]

WiFI includes --

Internet - except unless you pay extra O will block many streaming sites

Texting -- classical texting is via  phone service.  Cellular at sea charges 0.50 per text.  You could also use WhatApp, Messenger, Facetime or Skype if you know the user ID when connected to WiFi

Phone -- turn off data roaming.  Connect to wifi just as you would do on a PC.

 

O limits to one user at a time (unless in Owners or Vista = 2 users).   So if you are connected on the phone and log in on a PC, you will get shall I disconnect the other user...

[edgee]

On 3/25/2019 at 4:42 PM, jwindham said:

Also the free is one device per cabin at a time not really one person. My friend and I had to be sure the other was logged off on our Tahiti cruise before we used our devices. 

Your point is well made except that you do not have to "be sure" the other person has logged off. When you go to access the internet if another device is logged in you get a red notice at top of log in page with the option to throw the other device off. So you can essentially log the other person off by yourself...you do not need access to the original signed in device to disconnect it., Hope that makes sense.

[CintiPam]

4 hours ago, edgee said:

Your point is well made except that you do not have to "be sure" the other person has logged off. When you go to access the internet if another device is logged in you get a red notice at top of log in page with the option to throw the other device off. So you can essentially log the other person off by yourself...you do not need access to the original signed in device to disconnect it., Hope that makes sense.

I sometimes have enjoyed doing this to spouse legaleaglegreen!

[jwindham]

Nice to know we could bump each other off if one of us forgot. Thanks for the update. Julia

[GeezerCouple]

12 hours ago, CintiPam said:

I sometimes have enjoyed doing this to spouse legaleaglegreen!

 

 

We have a sort of unwritten agreement that IF one of us (A) isn't sure if the other (B) is actively using (or "actually needing to use') the connection, and they aren't nearby, then A can bounce B off.  Then, IF B was active and still needs to use it *knowing* that A is wanting to use the connection, then B will just bounce A right off again.

 

And it stops there, for at least a while. 

 

(Well, except for the very first time, on our first Oceania cruise....🙄 )

 

GC

[cruzemaven]

If my iPhone is connected to the ship's WiFi, would I need the Cellular at Sea phone service in order to text? While on the Celebrity Reflection last summer, we had no problem texting from our iPhones when connected to their wifi only...I hope the same will be true when we are on The Insignia this summer.

[newbie60]

I'm not a techie but my texts would come thru as soon as I signed on to the wifi.  

[rloke]

On 3/28/2019 at 10:28 PM, cruzemaven said:

If my iPhone is connected to the ship's WiFi, would I need the Cellular at Sea phone service in order to text? While on the Celebrity Reflection last summer, we had no problem texting from our iPhones when connected to their wifi only...I hope the same will be true when we are on The Insignia this summer.

 

Do you have iMessage enabled on your iPhone?

I.e. when you open your messenger app, in the text box where you enter your message, it would indicate whether your are using "iMessage" (when connected to wifi) or "Text message".

 

If you have iMessage enabled, and you have wifi, the messenger app will attempt to use iMessage if the party you are messaging also has iMessage enabled.

 

As you were able to "text" your friends/family with wifi only on the Celebrity cruise, it is safe to presume that you were likely using Apple's iMessage service to "text". And not the SMS text message protocol which is based on the mobile cellular network.

 

Of course, there are also multitude of "free apps" out there that would allow for "texting" if you are not using iMessage as well...

[ano]

Depending on your service provider, you may be able to turn on cellular calling over Wi-Fi.  T-Mobile allows it on some phones, including my iPhone, and it works well. You can make and receive calls just like cellular.

[Senior Citizen]

We just got off the Insignia, Sydney to Tokyo, and my iPhone X wifi calling did not work onboard.  I think the wifi signal was too weak.  When the airlines changed my summer flight schedule, I had to wait until a port day to make a Skype call.  Luckily, Skype only cost 40 cents a minute because the airlines had me on hold for 20 minutes!

 

Imessages generally worked.  Texting onboard did not.

 

Because we were in different time zones from the people I would iMessage with, I had to always check their current time prior to iMessaging.  Also, I silenced my iPhone (in Settings) between certain hours to make sure I didn’t get an iMessage in the middle of the night.

 

The onboard internet was the worst I have ever experienced.  I’d attribute that to the areas we were cruising through and all the blogging with lots of photos that people were doing.  With over 300 World Cruisers onboard trying to keep in contact with family and friends back home, you can imagine how much traffic was on the internet.

[bob brown]

On 3/26/2019 at 10:28 AM, LHT28 said:

I guess  with  a lot of people uploading the photos  here & to friends & family plus the  area you are in it will be slow going

plus now you have told everyone they can use more than one device at a time  it will be even slower 😉

 

Maybe...but now a 'moot point', as they have the restriction back in effect on this new segment...

[Go-Bucks!]

On 3/26/2019 at 6:28 AM, LHT28 said:

now you have told everyone they can use more than one device at a time  it will be even slower 😉

 

 

Nope, it's been just as slow the entire trip!!  No difference when each device had access or just one per cabin. 

[Jancruz]

Thanks everyone for all the help..I do understand some but not others..told you Im a geek when it comes to wifi..So one question..if the roaming on your Iphone is off can you still connect to wifi to text??

Thanks

Jancruz1

[ropomo]

Don't know if this is how it works on iPhone, but on Android, I just turn on Airplane mode and then turn on wifi and I'm good to go for both texting and wifi calling.