Starlink limitation

[marielco]

Planning my recent cruise on Explorer I was excited to discover it has Starlink installed.  I booked 7 days of WiFi and looked forward to finding out how fast it really is.  I had read all the RC blurbs extolling the virtues of the “fastest WiFi” at sea.   I logged in but despite connecting it was so slow to access anything.  I had a speed test on my iPhone and on running that I got a negligible result (see attached) I went to the WiFi desk and was told by the crew member selling the internet packagers that the “WiFi” doesn’t work in the cabins”. I was stunned at this.  He said it is an old ship so the internal technology needed to be upgraded.  They could not do anything about the poor service.  I suggested he could tell people before he sold his packages how poor the service was!  He just shrugged saying well in works in “some” of the cabins. 
 

In the end I cancel my package and got  a refund in OBC. I just wanted to warn that the fact a ship has Starlink does not guaranteed good service or speed.  This depends entirely on what existing technology is on the ship.  Caveat emptor. 

Edited June 30, 2023 by marielco

[Biker19]

16 minutes ago, marielco said:

I suggested he could tell people before he sold his packages how poor the service was!  He just shrugged saying well it works in “some” of the cabins. 

He should have said it works in "most" cabins. That is also true in some of the newer ships like Q class. The trick is to either prop the door open a bit or get closer to the door.

[marielco]

@Biker19 I did all that but still no joy.  Our cabin was deck 7 beside the library so we were very central but it made no difference.  He said “some” not “most” and I think he would have said “most” if that was the case.  At the start it was an even more bold statement that “it didn’t work in cabins”
 

Anyway if you pay for WiFi you shouldn’t have to stand by your open cabin door to use it.
 

I’m sure Starlink is great when paired with up to the minute ship technology but RC should make it clear what is the true standard of service on the ship when selling you a package.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

if you ha

[ARandomTraveler]

That's disappointing that it didn't work well for you when you needed it. It worked perfect for me on the Symphony in my cabin on the 9th floor by Dazzles. We could stream Netflix and watch sports games on the Xfinity app with no problem. 
 

We're going on the Spectrum in a month so I'll be curious how it works on that ship.

[OCSC Mike]

This won't help the OP, of course, but on new ships like Wonder, there's a WAP in every cabin so the signal is excellent. There shouldn't be any issues streaming no matter your location as long as everything is working properly.

 

Big improvement from when I was in 3 different cabins on Indy last year and the signal varied from fine to poor.

Edited June 30, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[neverbeenhere]

two suggestions

[Biker19]

53 minutes ago, marielco said:

Anyway if you pay for WiFi you shouldn’t have to stand by your open cabin door to use it.

In that case, like you did, you ask for a refund. Even RCI itself probably doesn't know where it actually works well - that is very situation dependent.

 

Also, what you experienced could have been a temporary outage of the nearest access point - very unlikely the hallway outside your cabin wouldn't normally have a usable signal.

[LeeW]

Two pieces to internet, satellite link and ship local network.  Your speed depends on both.  Even when I can get a decent connection on one side of bed the connection drops when the laptop is shifted to the other.  Starlink doesn't fix this, just gave them an excuse to drop the Surf/Stream options and charge more for a single option.

[marielco]

It definitely was not a temporary outage of the nearest access point.  The WiFi expert at the sales desk was very clear about that.  He repeated more than once that it was an old ship and the WiFi (even my browsing not streaming choice) just didn’t work in the cabins (except for a some) He said while they had upgraded to Starlink, the necessary upgrade of the ships technology had not been done yet.  
 

I have been on many RC ships with varying levels of WIFi (even experienced cabin door open scenario).  in this case the problem was clearly what the crew member (an officer) told me - inadequate old technology with Starlink. 
 

My problem was not that they had old technology, which did not work across the ship, this is understandable with an old ship.  My gripe was that they sold it as perfect, fastest etc…. Without any warning that it most probably would not work in your cabin.  You could then decide knowing all the facts if you wanted to buy it. 

I love RC but in this case I would have expected better of them. 

 

[orville99]

25 minutes ago, marielco said:

definitely was not a temporary outage of the nearest access point

One thing that I noticed in your first post was that the link that the internet was using was in Sarajevo. Two things that may be in play:

1) the number and locations of Starlink satellites in that area of Europe, and

2) the ability of that link to handle the bandwidth of. 3,000 passenger cruise ship.

 

We routinely do speed tests whenever we are on RCL cruises and can get wildly different results just by changing the uplink choice.

Edited June 30, 2023 by orville99

[marielco]

Hi @orville99 I don’t this there was any problem at all with Starlink.  It is just as another poster said there are two elements which have to work together - Starlink and the ships network tech.  There is no doubt the problem lies with the old tech on the ship. I cruised Wonder last year and the WiFi was great. 
 

Until all the older ships local network tech has been brought up to the standard on the new ships there will be various levels of WiFi available whether Starlink is fitted or not.