Internet Packages

[Avatar345]

Question to anyone that can help...

 

Is the base Internet package strong enough for social media purposes? Instagram and such...

 

And, if it is not, can the base package be upgraded at some nominal fee if the base package is already included in the cruise fare?

 

Many thanks for any insights! :)

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

It's been my experience that the basic internet is good for looking at websites, looking at the news, looking at your email and things like that. Yes, looking at social media including posting should work too but trying to upload any photos could be a struggle unless you do it early in the morning or late at night when few others are using it. I blog a lot and I have to purchase the upgrade to get all my pics to upload. You should be able to go to the MSC website to see what upgrading would cost for your cruise (meaning you need to log in to your reservation).

[Happymemakes3]

I’m interested in upgrading the browse package to the browse and stream package also but it is not offering and upgrade on my MSC for Me app or online it is full price want me to add a device, no upgrade charge offers. We are leaving on 12/7-12/17 on Seashore. Did you get your upgrade when you got on the ship and if so how much extra was it? 
Or if anyone can answer this that did an upgrade on ship if that was possible without it being full price for another device. 🤗

[Essiesmom]

I did a Live from on Seaside in August and posted copious pics from my phone with the browse package.  The one thing that frustrated me was that I wanted to post from my iPad but the pics didn’t populate over from the phone as they do at home.  So mostly I did it on my phone.  EM

[dexddd]

Which ship?  Mera a month ago actually quite good with basic package.

[CruisingWalter]

15 hours ago, Avatar345 said:

Question to anyone that can help...

Is the base Internet package strong enough for social media purposes? Instagram and such...

And, if it is not, can the base package be upgraded at some nominal fee if the base package is already included in the cruise fare?

Many thanks for any insights! 🙂

 

Internet quality always depends on the itineraries and the satellite coverage. Judging by the near constant launches from SpaceX these past few weeks out our back window, that Starlink Satellite network is filling in gaps in a hurry. 

 

Because I work remotely and do multiple livestreams from the ship so I always step up to the high speed no matter the ship. What I found interesting on the Seaside is that I was able to stream with no problem to our TikTok channel but YouTube live was a no-go the entire cruise. First time I've experienced that on any ship since the restart. 

 

My wife was able to watch our TikTok stream just fine with the basic package, check email and such. As others have noted, the speed of that basic package will depend on how many people are hitting it. I found the high speed package to be very consistent throughout the ship. 

 

The one thing that was maddening for me is the inability to log off one device and login to another device. The MSC web packages don't allow this so I ended up getting two high speed packages for two devices. 

[Happymemakes3]

I need to get the Browse and Stream for my son for YouTube and gaming so I just need to know if anyone has been able to up grade the browse plan on the ship to browse and stream plan at just the difference not at $200 for a new device?

[Avatar345]

5 hours ago, Happymemakes3 said:

I need to get the Browse and Stream for my son for YouTube and gaming so I just need to know if anyone has been able to up grade the browse plan on the ship to browse and stream plan at just the difference not at $200 for a new device?

 

Yup that's the question - but it does sound like in some instances, the regular "browse" package will suffice. I just don't want to pay the entire fee for the service when I've already got 60% of it in place or whatever

[Happymemakes3]

Hopefully someone will chime in who is on a ship right now and has the answer for us on if we can upgrade to Browse and Stream and for what price🤞🏻🤞🏻🙏🏼🙏🏼

[DaKahuna]

On 11/17/2023 at 7:56 AM, CruisingWalter said:

The one thing that was maddening for me is the inability to log off one device and login to another device. The MSC web packages don't allow this so I ended up getting two high speed packages for two devices. 

 

 We will be doing our first MSC cruise in February.  On other cruise lines I have a travel router that I set up in my room that permits me to connect multiple devices to the ship's internet over a single connection.  We usually have a two device plan and I use my travel router for one account and my iPhone for the other.  With the travel router, I can have my wife's iPhone, my laptop, and both our tablets connected to the internet when in the room.  I am pretty sure I am going to be able to do the same on MSC as the travel router presents a single media access control (MAC) address to the ship's wifi and hides all the devices behind it from the ship's wifi. 

 

[Essiesmom]

3 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 We will be doing our first MSC cruise in February.  On other cruise lines I have a travel router that I set up in my room that permits me to connect multiple devices to the ship's internet over a single connection.  We usually have a two device plan and I use my travel router for one account and my iPhone for the other.  With the travel router, I can have my wife's iPhone, my laptop, and both our tablets connected to the internet when in the room.  I am pretty sure I am going to be able to do the same on MSC as the travel router presents a single media access control (MAC) address to the ship's wifi and hides all the devices behind it from the ship's wifi. 

 

Can I ask what brand your router is?  I have been considering an international hotspot from sapphire, intending it to use in ports.  But I was wondering today if it could be used like the router onboard.  EM

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Can I ask what brand your router is?  I have been considering an international hotspot from sapphire, intending it to use in ports.  But I was wondering today if it could be used like the router onboard.  EM

GL.iNet GL-SFT1200 (Opal) Secure Travel WiFi Router AC1200 is my current travel router.
I am not familiar with any products from Sapphire

[Essiesmom]

This is their website.  They are selling it in the PX and apparently soldiers like it.  

 

https://travelwifi.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzI-Vj_DQggMVbalaBR3F0AaNEAAYASAAEgLPaPD_BwE

[johncaputo]

On 11/19/2023 at 2:48 PM, DaKahuna said:

GL.iNet GL-SFT1200 (Opal) Secure Travel WiFi Router AC1200 is my current travel router.
I am not familiar with any products from Sapphire

can this be setup on the ship without a laptop to get into the Admin? Is there an ethernet jack in the stateroom or does this have to be connected to wifi then act as a hotspot?

 

[DaKahuna]

3 minutes ago, johncaputo said:

can this be setup on the ship without a laptop to get into the Admin? Is there an ethernet jack in the stateroom or does this have to be connected to wifi then act as a hotspot?

 

 

 I have not yet sailed on MSC but thus far I have not found any mention of an active ethernet connection in the staterooms.  I always have one or two ethernet cables with me in case I come across one. 

 

 This device has two WiFi radtio's.  One is used to connect to the ship's WiFi and the other is used by your devices to connect to the device. 

 

 You can use your phone, a tablet, or a laptop to set it up.  I plan to document, with screen captures, how I set it up when we sail on MSC in February.   I could document it now but it would not show the log into the ship's captive WiFi portal.  

 

 

[Avatar345]

On 11/17/2023 at 8:24 PM, Happymemakes3 said:

Hopefully someone will chime in who is on a ship right now and has the answer for us on if we can upgrade to Browse and Stream and for what price🤞🏻🤞🏻🙏🏼🙏🏼

 

To loop back to this, yes the package can be upgraded - what I paid to upgrade vs the Browse package was $70 for 2 devices. 

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Avatar345 said:

 

To loop back to this, yes the package can be upgraded - what I paid to upgrade vs the Browse package was $70 for 2 devices. 

How many days was that or was that $70 per day? 

[Happymemakes3]

11 hours ago, Avatar345 said:

 

To loop back to this, yes the package can be upgraded - what I paid to upgrade vs the Browse package was $70 for 2 devices. 

Oh great, so you have been on your cruise already and that is what they charged you for a 7 day cruise? Which ship were you on and was it good service?
 

[johncaputo]

On 11/21/2023 at 3:20 PM, johncaputo said:

can this be setup on the ship without a laptop to get into the Admin? Is there an ethernet jack in the stateroom or does this have to be connected to wifi then act as a hotspot?

 

I am on the ship. One internet package as per "the Deal"

Put my phone into hotspot mode. My wife signed into my hotspot and was able to access the internet. Did a speed test on Ookla and it was ok. 

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, johncaputo said:

I am on the ship. One internet package as per "the Deal"

Put my phone into hotspot mode. My wife signed into my hotspot and was able to access the internet. Did a speed test on Ookla and it was ok. 

 

 Good to know.  I will be brining a travel router with me for use in out cabin. 

 

[johncaputo]

btw, even with the basic internet package I was able to stream live IPTV station and make Facebook Messenger video call, no problem

 

[Damo74]

Hi, does using a VPN enable you to use 2 devices if you just pay for the 1 device?

I just want to occasionally use my laptop in the public areas to catch up on work emails but have the main device as my iPhone if that makes sense?

[DaKahuna]

On 1/13/2024 at 5:45 AM, Damo74 said:

Hi, does using a VPN enable you to use 2 devices if you just pay for the 1 device?

I just want to occasionally use my laptop in the public areas to catch up on work emails but have the main device as my iPhone if that makes sense?

 

 A VPN does not allow for that. 

 

 What MAY work is to use a travel router and connect that to the ship's wifi and then connect multiple devices to the travel router. 

 

 I have read one post that says MSC is detecting these and blocking them.  I do not cruise until next month so do not know if it still works or not and it may be ship specific. 

[alannyny]

On 1/14/2024 at 12:30 PM, DaKahuna said:

I have read one post that says MSC is detecting these and blocking them.  I do not cruise until next month so do not know if it still works or not and it may be ship specific. 

I hope your cruise was fun.  What wound up happening with your travel router? 

 

I have no experience with them, but I'm considering the GL.iNet Mango for exactly the purpose Damo74 describes.  Embarking next month, solo so multidevice access would be just for fun/ease. 

 

Last week, MSC Poesia World Cruise passengers found that their ordinary hotspots stopped working, so MSC is definitely trying to clamp down.

 

There's talk on non-cruise discussion boards that the workaround involves not only MAC spoofing, but also IP addresses.  It's beyond my technical understanding, but apparently GL.iNet's current interface doesn't allow that, or makes it difficult.

Opinion, advice, or link to a good setup guide specific to this purpose much appreciated! 

[Essiesmom]

He did a live from for his cruise and it didn’t work.  His review is halfway down page 3.

EM

Edited March 3 by Essiesmom