Improved internet?

[tampadee]

I recently read an article that Regent was upgrading internet in all their ships by January 2020. 

 

We are leaving on a Mariner cruise on January 24, 2020. 

 

Has anyone witnessed improved internet?

[boblerm]

I am hoping that some that are on board now can comment on this.  Recent reports on this forum have indicated that rather than improved internet, it has been worse than ever.🤔

 

Interestingly, there is a also a current thread on the Crystal forum with similar complaints.

 

Bob

[Mahogany]

I just disembarked Explorer this week and can confirm that there's no improvement. But there weren't DAYS without service, so it was manageable. The most annoying aspect was having to log in each time to use. And of course, the usual busy times when everyone seems to want to access at the same time. All in all, no better or worse than before. I had been on Viking Ocean right before Regent, and their service was better.

[ronrick1943]

Thanks for the information, let's hope Regent is reading this and follows up.

[taxare]

I am currently on Voyager and have not seen any improvement. I haven’t been knocked off but it is still very slow. Those fellow cc’ers that post live from the ship with pictures have much more patience than I do !!!! 

[Sharle]

we were recently on a Princess Cruise with the new Medallion Class internet. It was great (Not so much the rest of the cruise, but it was ok for Princess.) If they can get the internet up to snuff for 3000 passengers I don't understand why Regent has so much trouble.

[wishIweretravelling]

19 hours ago, boblerm said:

 

Interestingly, there is a also a current thread on the Crystal forum with similar complaints.

 

Bob

 I saw that thread (and experienced the problem first-hand on a recent Crystal cruise). It seems to be a problem on luxury lines.

 

Multiple managers of hotels and conference centers have told me over the years that lawyers' conferences by far put the biggest strains on internet bandwidth. 

 

Maybe the luxury lines have too many lawyers sailing?

[boblerm]

1 hour ago, wishIweretravelling said:

 I saw that thread (and experienced the problem first-hand on a recent Crystal cruise). It seems to be a problem on luxury lines.

 

Multiple managers of hotels and conference centers have told me over the years that lawyers' conferences by far put the biggest strains on internet bandwidth. 

 

Maybe the luxury lines have too many lawyers sailing?

Ban the lawyers!

Just kidding.

 

What I don't understand is why the situation seems to be getting worse. On my last several cruises on Regent and Crystal, the internet was far from speedy, but still usable, I was always able to post photos, etc. even if it required a bit of patience. Of late, people have been reporting significant difficulties in this regard.

[SWFLAOK]

We just disembarked Voyager after 32 nights. At best, the internet was slow. Much of the time it was intolerably slow, and sometimes it was not responsive at all. When docked in large cities, we paid 10 dollars to access the internet through our Verizon plan. We did not make it through the online survey at the end of either of our cruise segments due to the poor internet access, and I don't want to pay 10 dollars for my own plan, or waste an extended period of time trying to complete an online survey when there are better things to do onboard.

[carlylecat]

We came off Explorer last week and while not perfect, both my wife and I were able to keep up with work each day, I was even able to download a book in less than 3 minutes

 

Please do not get me wrong - there is no reason why it could not and should be great service - and if I was to grade teh service it would be a 3 or 4 out of ten -  but it was not as bad as I expected it after reading all of the posts about the poor service - 

 

If you are a US ATT customer - please do call them beforehand and let them know you will be on a cruise ship - they carve their international plan out of cruise ship access for some reason and make you buy a separate $100 package - annoying but better than getting a surprise bill for data services while you are asleep and cruising past Cuba or somewhere with your phone left on ( I know I should turn it off but I have a global business and worry something will happen) 

[Robroy]

Currently on Explorer and in my cabin on an I-pad. I can’t comment on last week or even last year as our last Regent trip was in 2015 on Navigator. I have found internet speed to be fine - not as quick as at home but easy to log in and email/perform searches etc. I don’t post photos however so can’t comment on that aspect but otherwise service has been good enough to meet our needs.

 

Cheers,

Rob

[Pcardad]

Internet on Regent ships is limited by the bandwidth contract that Regent signs with their Internet supplier. The hardware on the ships will handle about 4 times the current speed...it would just require a contract for the improved bandwidth. At last test, the Navigator actually was about 9% faster than the other ships.

 

The improved internet simply puts your device's request ahead of everyone else's...it helps but it is still slow.

 

The closer you get to a wifi transmitter, the faster your speed will be.

Edited January 23, 2020 by Pcardad

[UUNetBill]

On 1/12/2020 at 6:47 AM, Sharle said:

we were recently on a Princess Cruise with the new Medallion Class internet. It was great (Not so much the rest of the cruise, but it was ok for Princess.) If they can get the internet up to snuff for 3000 passengers I don't understand why Regent has so much trouble.

Simple answer:  $$$

 

On 1/23/2020 at 9:48 AM, Pcardad said:

The closer you get to a wifi transmitter, the faster your speed will be.

Not necessarily - I've stood directly underneath repeaters as well as logged on in the computer center and it's still slow.

 

This internet on our last cruise (8-18 Jan) was more stable but still bog-slow.

[Pcardad]

The closer you are, the better the bandwidth vs. being further away.

 

The issue is that Regent only pays for a small amount of bandwidth. The physical equipment is already on board to 4x the speed...they just need to buy the bandwidth.

 

As for speed/bandwidth, well...you share it with others. And you lose some throughput if you experience signal loss due to being away from a transmitter. You can get an app for your phone and track the signal all over the ship looking for a strong one  or you can ask the IT guy where the best spot it.

 

Remember, they do not transmit/receive well through metal.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Pcardad

[slidebite]

I don't need a ton of bandwidth, it's just the reliability. When I was on Voyager late 2018 the timeouts drove me up the wall. If that is mostly fixed, even if slow, I'll be happier.

 

Maybe when Starlink gets mostly complete there will be an option for the middle of the ocean haha.

[Pcardad]

It's best from 1AM to 4AM.