Ship WiFi VPN ???

[Barsnikel]

I have booked a December cruise on the Pride for myself and my son.  He has a job that allows him to work from any location, as long as he can use WiFI.

In the many cruises I have taken, I have never needed (or wanted) WiFI on the ship, but obviously it is something he will require.

 

He will need VPN capability, which is something that can be turned off or enabled by the WiFI service provider.  Has anyone attempted a VPN connection on a Carnival ship ?  And if so, which package is required ?

 

I intend to contact Guest Services, but they do not always give the most accurate answers  🙂

 

Thanks in advance for your guidance....

Edited June 20, 2021 by Barsnikel

[shof515]

satellite internet is like dial up speeds. the vpn might work but it will be very slow and you will gets lots of connection/disconnection problems

[19cruiser59]

According to one of the faq’s on carnivals website. VPN’s are not supported.

 

What restrictions are there?

Please note that as our services are carried via satellite, there are a few limitations compared to your home network.

>Only one device at a time can connect to Wi-Fi

>Satellite internet speed may vary depending on location and time of day

>Access to certain sites such as mature or violent content is blocked

>VPN connections are not supported.  Discuss your VPN limitations with your company’s IT department if you are planning to work while sailing. We are not able to change your settings on board

>Pricing for plans purchased pre-cruise vary from plans purchased at time of sailing

>No refunds after plan is activated on board

 

[tidecat]

23 minutes ago, shof515 said:

satellite internet is like dial up speeds. the vpn might work but it will be very slow and you will gets lots of connection/disconnection problems

Carnival Wi-Fi does not support VPN connections at all. If he can use a general international cellular data package that will work with Cellular at Sea, it might work. Another solution might be to use something like Team Viewer,  but it requires another computer to be on and connected (although that could be on a desk at home, or even in his office) - you're basically controlling the computer form afar, so it's less data to push over the Internet.

 

If the VPN is a "must have" my suggestion would be for your son to cancel. This is from Carnival.com:

 

Please note that as our services are carried via satellite, there are a few limitations compared to your home network.

• Only one device at a time can connect to Wi-Fi
• Satellite internet speed may vary depending on location and time of day
• Access to certain sites such as mature or violent content is blocked
• VPN connections are not supported. Discuss your VPN limitations with your company’s IT department if you are planning to work while sailing. We are not able to change your settings on board
• Pricing for plans purchased pre-cruise vary from plans purchased at time of sailing
• No refunds after plan is activated on board

[klfrodo]

A couple of years ago when I still worked, I would always have to connect to the companies VPN to access the companies "intrAnet". I could go anywhere on the "intErnet",,, just not into the companies internal network without VPN.

Their VPN service would drop my connectivity speed by 90%. So, if I had 100mbps speed without VPN, I was at 5 to 10mbps when connected.

Now, lets transfer to the ships internet. The best I ever got on a ship was 3mbps speed with up to a 1 second connection time.

 

Needless to say, using the VPN on the ships wifi was not doable. The VPN connection would time out before connection could be made.

[BlerkOne]

It depends on the VPN. I use VPN to get around some of the restrictions, but if your VPN doesn't work, don't expect Carnival to help. It has to do with which ports it uses.

 

If you don't have to use a specific VPN, some will work.

Edited June 20, 2021 by BlerkOne

[Barsnikel]

Thanks for all your answers.  I'll have him get with his IT department and see what other options might be available

[groundloop]

18 hours ago, klfrodo said:

...The best I ever got on a ship was 3mbps speed with up to a 1 second connection time.....

Dang, you must have hit it on the best day of the year.  I rarely got over 1mbps (and of course that was with the "Premium" package).  And I have to agree with everyone else, the ship wi-fi is just too slow to use for any serious work. 

 

But hey, once you get on the ship you're not gonna' have time for work anyway.  😁

[Jamesatgsu]

I have remote accessed my work every cruise. I've used AnyDesk & TeamViewer. I think I have used Windows Remote Desktop as well. So worst case he could remote into a home desktop to connect to the VPN.

Edited June 21, 2021 by Jamesatgsu

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Somehow... yep, somehow I've enjoyed solid 20+ Mbps on both the Oasis and Allure. As I recall, it was also included with our cabin (as a suite booking perk).

 

Carnival seems to be a step (or two) behind in this department.

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

3 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Somehow... yep, somehow I've enjoyed solid 20+ Mbps on both the Oasis and Allure. As I recall, it was also included with our cabin (as a suite booking perk).

 

Carnival seems to be a step (or two) behind in this department.

 

Tom

 

Ah -- found it (I knew I had a screenshot of a speed test). From the Allure OTS 06/04/16:

 

 

Tom

[rockwall_cruiser]

I have used Teamviewer as mentioned above.  Connect to your home computer, then VPN.  It wasn't fast but it did work.  This was on the Panorama last year.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I'll give my VPN (Hotspot Shield) a try on the 8/7/21 Mardi Gras sailing - and see if I am able to get it to work. I'll report back 🙂

 

Tom

[Wanna_Cruize]

I've used Remote Desktop with the premium wifi plan on Carnival before and it did work, It was a little laggy, but doable. YMMV

[lostsoulcruiser]

Question to the group; will Citrix work?

[nascartony20fan1]

On 6/21/2021 at 2:45 PM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

I'll give my VPN (Hotspot Shield) a try on the 8/7/21 Mardi Gras sailing - and see if I am able to get it to work. I'll report back 🙂

 

Tom

Were you able to cruise? How did the VPN work? Thx

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

29 minutes ago, nascartony20fan1 said:

Were you able to cruise? How did the VPN work? Thx

 

It worked well, as I recall. I don't always use it, as sometimes certain sites seem glitchy.

 

[raynvic]

I "worked" with VPN on 3 cruises this year.  It is extremely slow and frustrating unless you pick less busy times.  I found late afternoon to work best.  I also found that the middle package was just as good as the premium.  That is just my experience.

 

P.S.  I am able to get e-mail on my phone and that worked lots better than my laptop.  Teams meetings were no problem.

[KarmaCruisers]

I’ve been on both..on the panorama WiFi was absolutely a joke (literally 56kbps!) then recently on the miracle it wasn’t too bad (~20Mbps).

So; it really just depends on how full the ship is with people on WiFi.

and yes vpn will work (we use PAN and it worked fine)

[Solo1959]

I use my VPN on Carnival all the time. Well, almost all the time. It needs to be turned off when 1st connecting to the ship's  internet. But once connected I can use it and it does work.

[cruisegus]

On 8/19/2022 at 3:47 AM, Solo1959 said:

I use my VPN on Carnival all the time. Well, almost all the time. It needs to be turned off when 1st connecting to the ship's  internet. But once connected I can use it and it does work.

@Solo1959 which specific VPN software

[rockwall_cruiser]

I use Cisco VPN.  It has worked fine on the Legend, Miracle, Vista and several other ships

[Solo1959]

55 minutes ago, cruisegus said:

@Solo1959 which specific VPN software

I was using PIA vpn. And again, I connected 1st to the internet and only after I was connected then I'd connect to the vpn.

[PA Dutchman]

On 6/20/2021 at 1:52 PM, shof515 said:

satellite internet is like dial up speeds. the vpn might work but it will be very slow and you will gets lots of connection/disconnection problems

you get lots disconnection problems, our last cruise they said it was the cabin location, but we have the same where ever the cabins location is, sometimes it's wonderful and sometimes it is not , I take my lap top to watch races weekends and the internet for whatever, E mail. sometimes frustrating

 

[PA Dutchman]

Just now, PA Dutchman said:

you get lots disconnection problems, our last cruise they said it was the cabin location, but we have the same where ever the cabins location is, sometimes it's wonderful and sometimes it is not , I take my lap top to watch races weekends and the internet for whatever, E mail. sometimes frustrating,  this was on the Legend