Internet Options - Advice

[The O Mariners]

New to Holland America and will be on the Rotterdam for a Trans-Atlantic cruise in October.  I'm trying to figure out internet options for two cell phones and a laptop. Suggestions or advice please.  Thanks

[CruiserBruce]

Depends on your needs. Number of devices doesn't matter.

[crystalspin]

34 minutes ago, The O Mariners said:

New to Holland America and will be on the Rotterdam for a Trans-Atlantic cruise in October.  I'm trying to figure out internet options for two cell phones and a laptop. 

The question is, do you need to access more than one device AT THE SAME TIME? If not, just one plan is enough. Or one plan with added device(s) can be bought. 

 

I think but do not know that Rotterdam will have StarLink by then (if it doesn't already). I believe there are only two levels after that happens (or maybe already fleet-wide?) -- the internet speed is the same, just more sites and apps are blocked on Surf vs Premium. Basically no moving pics on Surf!

[YourWorldWithBill]

1 hour ago, The O Mariners said:

New to Holland America and will be on the Rotterdam for a Trans-Atlantic cruise in October.  I'm trying to figure out internet options for two cell phones and a laptop. Suggestions or advice please.  Thanks

As a general comment, out reception on the Rotterdam was much, much better than on a previous cruise on the Noordam. We were in a similar location.

[crystalspin]

@The O Mariners Bill reminded me -- on the Koningsdam (sister to Rotterdam) my phone would drop signal in the Crows Nest, not constantly but repeatedly. Our cabin midships Deck 4 was steady for both phone and laptop. The most reliable public location was the Grand Dutch Cafe -- across the attrium from Front Desk!

 

This was before StarLink was installed; do not know if specific locations will be improved now, as well as better speed/bandwidth.

Edited July 13, 2023 by crystalspin

[cabland]

On the Koningsdam last month we bought the plan for "one device" and basically flipped back and forth between devices.  I would login with my phone, check some messages, do some surfing, etc...my wife would ask if she could have it and it prompts her with "do you want to disconnect the other device?" and it would disconnect me and she would do her stuff.  It was a little inconvenient, but no big deal.  If I was trying to WORK on the cruise, I would have wanted a multi-device plan.

[Crew News]

2 hours ago, The O Mariners said:

New to Holland America and will be on the Rotterdam for a Trans-Atlantic cruise in October.  I'm trying to figure out internet options for two cell phones and a laptop. Suggestions or advice please.  Thanks

Purchase one account and then add three (minimum) devices for an additional $10/day (avg $3.33/device) and connect everything at the same time.

[Haljo1935]

7 hours ago, Crew News said:

Purchase one account and then add three (minimum) devices for an additional $10/day (avg $3.33/device) and connect everything at the same time.

I've seen that option, but have not done it. Do they all still log in using the same credentials?

[YourWorldWithBill]

15 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

I've seen that option, but have not done it. Do they all still log in using the same credentials?

If I remember correctly, the answer is yes. Nothing to do once each device is connected. The only exception would be if you do premium internet for one device.

[Crew News]

16 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

I've seen that option, but have not done it. Do they all still log in using the same credentials?

Same credentials.  I upgraded with the premium plan I had puechased online so all devices appeared to be premium.

[YourWorldWithBill]

37 minutes ago, Crew News said:

Same credentials.  I upgraded with the premium plan I had puechased online so all devices appeared to be premium.

Interesting. I purchased a premium plan, but it was specifically only for one device. If we tried signing onto that with another device it said when connecting that the other device would be disconnected. But our booking had regular wi-fi for several devices as part of the HIA plan when booked.

[jules181]

Buy a travel router.  The router is the 'one' device and acts as a gateway to all your other devices. 

 

[Crew News]

24 minutes ago, jules181 said:

Buy a travel router.  The router is the 'one' device and acts as a gateway to all your other devices. 

 

As long as they are all used in the location/range of the router.

[jules181]

6 minutes ago, Crew News said:

As long as they are all used in the location/range of the router.

Well yes.  That's how wifi works. 

 

It's not a perfect solution but works for many. 

 

I have a plug in one for the stateroom but have seen people with portable ones they're able to take out and about on the ship. 

[mikebsxm]

Try this.  Connect your laptop to the WiFi in your cabin.  Then, go into your laptop's internet settings and setup your laptop as a WiFi hotspot, with a password.  Then you can connect both of your cell phones to your laptop's hotspot.  You will have all 3 devices connected and working without paying for the extra connections.  Only downside is when either cell phone leaves your cabin and tries to connect to ship WiFi, it will disconnect your laptop.  But is all you are using on your cell away from your cabin is the HAL Navigator, then it doesn't disconnect the laptop.

[YourWorldWithBill]

4 minutes ago, mikebsxm said:

Try this.  Connect your laptop to the WiFi in your cabin.  Then, go into your laptop's internet settings and setup your laptop as a WiFi hotspot, with a password.  Then you can connect both of your cell phones to your laptop's hotspot.  You will have all 3 devices connected and working without paying for the extra connections.  Only downside is when either cell phone leaves your cabin and tries to connect to ship WiFi, it will disconnect your laptop.  But is all you are using on your cell away from your cabin is the HAL Navigator, then it doesn't disconnect the laptop.

Thanks for this tip. Gonna try it on another cruise line in November.

[POA1]

17 hours ago, jules181 said:

 

I have a plug in one for the stateroom but have seen people with portable ones they're able to take out and about on the ship

My router runs off USB power so it can be powered by portable battery. I use a "lipstick battery" and the whole setup fits easily into a jacket pocket. It's got enough range to work from our cabana (where it lives in a beach bag) to the lounge chair area. It easily covers our whole cabin.

 

I have a plug in version, but the portable one is better for cruising.

 

[POA1]

With respect to Starlink, coverage probably won't change unless they add/move access points on the ship. The speeds once connected will improve, but your connection to the access point will be the gating factor.

 

Use a site survey tool to see which AP gives you the best signal before connecting.

[POA1]

One more thing... If you need a site survey tool, WiFiman by Ubiquiti is pretty good. It's free, not changing my chock full of ads and works well.

[jules181]

You shouldn't notice any difference in connecting to ships wifi with starlink. The wifi infrastruce onboard is staying the same, they're just changing which antennas they're using to connect to the internet.  

[POA1]

7 hours ago, POA1 said:

One more thing... If you need a site survey tool, WiFiman by Ubiquiti is pretty good. It's free, not changing my chock full of ads and works well.

Just realized that my response is stupid thanks to the phone keyboard.

 

Anyway.... WiFiman is not full of ads and does a good job as a basic site survey tool.

[paulfoel]

can you connect one android phone and then use this as a hotspot?

 

[VMax1700]

1 minute ago, paulfoel said:

can you connect one android phone and then use this as a hotspot?

 

Yes.  I am currently doing that to post this reply from Nieuw Statendam

[POA1]

3 hours ago, paulfoel said:

can you connect one android phone and then use this as a hotspot?

 

Yes. A dedicated router/hotspot is better, but a phone or laptop will do just fine. You can probably use a tablet as a hotspot, but I've never tried it.

[cruiseaholic78]

Just checking (thought I had seen it but can’t find it again) if we have the wifi package with HIA is it just an additional $5 per day to upgrade to premium?
thanks

RosLyn