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StarLink Internet now being throttled down to nearly unusable speeds


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From super fast speed to almost no speed, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity is slowly but surely throttling down the internet speeds they provide to guests. At frst, we were seeing speeds exceeding 200M download and many people, myself included, realized that we could work on the ship productively. That is seemingly coming to an end. ON Wonder, the speed have been cut down to around 1M from the initial rollout of 200M. Other ships , such as Grandeur, Mariner, and Indy have been reporting the same scenario. Right now, here on Vision, we still have 200M, although overnight the speed may have been cut as we are now seeing a 25M cap. 

These issues, intentionally implemented, are starting to impact the most loyal guests who work from the ships on a daily basis.

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Worth considering that Starlink itself tends to slow down the more people are using it in a given region. The amount of ships sailing in the Caribbean with Starlink is now much greater than it was even a few months ago when you consider that Royal, Celebrity, and now ships under the Carnival umbrella are using the service. I'm not saying this is definitely what is happening, but consider the article below from Ars Technica. 

Starlink is getting a lot slower as more people use it, speed tests show | Ars Technica

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It would seem logical at first to consider the number of vessels with StarLink installed, however, the disparity is seen between 2 vessels tied up at the same pier - one throttled and one not throttled. If it was the sheer traffic to Starlink, logic would dictate that both vessels would have similar issues, but they do not. Th throttling is intentional as the impact was felt virtually overnight, rather than gradual.

 

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Meanwhile the price isn't being throttled down.  This is a lousy development.  A lot of people need the internet while on a ship for a multitude of reasons, me being one of them.  I am willing to pay for it, but it needs to provide a usable connection.  I was on Allure last month and the internet was terrible.  Maybe it's time for people to get more vocal about it, and not just at guest services or on post cruise surveys.  Royal would pay more attention if more people started voicing criticisms about it on the various social media platforms.  

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As end end-user on a ship, you'll never know if it's QoS (throttling) or just variable satellite service.  I'm excited about Starlink on ships since it has a lot of potential, but the constellation is far from complete.  My latest cruise on Navigator was Starlink, and the service varied wildly over 7 nights.  o3B was rock solid in comparison (until you pushed the latitude past 40N/S).

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It is much, much more likely that the speed fluctuations are due to network capacity, weather, clouds, location on the ship, location of the ship, etc rather than RC randomly lowering their contracted bandwidth.  I would guess they signed some sort of contract with Starlink for a set amount of bandwidth for a set amount of time.

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57 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

Pardon my ignorance but what reason (benefit) would the cruiseline have for throttling the speed?

Typical reason (from a network engineering perspective) is to, on a per-client basis, only give them a fair chunk to ensure everyone gets a slice of the available bandwidth.  It's a very finite resource, so there are definitely legit reasons for doing it.  It's typically called QoS (quality-of-service).

Network engineers hate having to "QoS" a site.  It usually means there are too many bandwidth consumers for the available bandwidth.  Doesn't make anyone happy.

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2 hours ago, PL8SWPR said:

It is much, much more likely that the speed fluctuations are due to network capacity, weather, clouds, location on the ship, location of the ship, etc rather than RC randomly lowering their contracted bandwidth.  I would guess they signed some sort of contract with Starlink for a set amount of bandwidth for a set amount of time.

I figured that RCL has some set amount of bandwidth usage with StarLink.  I know that can be monitored and if it can be monitored, it can be regulated and slowed down or sped up depending on usage.  Speaking as someone who lives out in the country and gets around 25Mbps, 100 or 200Mbps seems outrageously fast and probably not realistic for long-term offering from RCL.

My prediction is that in the future, RCL (and other lines with StarLink) will offer tiered internet access similar to standard Voom and Voom S+S.  Something like 4-5Mbps for one price, 15-20Mbps will be another higher price. Still way faster than Voom S+S now.  The speed may be going up but the price will not be coming down.

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Just came off Symphony March 4 and the internet service was abysmal!  I had to log into my home office computer and it took forever, plus it was almost impossible to send my family pics I was taking throughout the day.  Sometimes it just didn't work at all.

 

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43 minutes ago, FSUFAN said:

I figured that RCL has some set amount of bandwidth usage with StarLink.  I know that can be monitored and if it can be monitored, it can be regulated and slowed down or sped up depending on usage.  Speaking as someone who lives out in the country and gets around 25Mbps, 100 or 200Mbps seems outrageously fast and probably not realistic for long-term offering from RCL.

My prediction is that in the future, RCL (and other lines with StarLink) will offer tiered internet access similar to standard Voom and Voom S+S.  Something like 4-5Mbps for one price, 15-20Mbps will be another higher price. Still way faster than Voom S+S now.  The speed may be going up but the price will not be coming down.

I got the streaming Voom on Radiance and it was horrible at 3Mbps or less. I asked the voom guy and he wouldn't go on the record but my guess is the wifi is throttled to keep data down

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Paging @twangster.  I know he's answered this variation of question a million times but I'll attempt once.

Basically, yes they could be throttling the connections more (and in fact probably are now that they are obtaining more real world usage information from the Starlink switch) but there are hundreds of different variables on a ship that could be leading to your specific slowness.  Number of people accessing the same access point and even the types of devices using an access point can slow down your connection without it actually being the throttle.  I have a personal example from this past week.  While in the theater for a packed show, the speed was under 1Kbps (not Mbps, Kbps).  However when I went outside to use the bathroom, the speed immediately was back up around 4 Mbps because I assume I was then switched to a different access point.  Back in the theater again, under 1Kbps again (don't judge me for all the testing, I was forced to go to this particular show by my better half under protest).

Ships are also giant Faraday cages so the wifi signals are extremely difficult to get consistently good connections.  Basically a cruise ship is one of if not the worst environment to set up a wireless network unless you're willing to shell out big money to have thousands of extra access points and cable runs to every nook and cranny. I know twangster has told the story of having to crack open the door to his cabin to get enough signal many times before.

Now for your specific speed examples, 200 Mbps is outstanding anywhere and you should count on that not lasting and eventually actually being throttled.  Even 25 Mbps would be (imho) outstanding for service at sea as it should cover 99% of all use cases including streaming 4k.  Realistically anything above about 4Mbps is probably the best you should hope for to keep you expectations in check.  Even 4Mbps with low latency should cover 90% of the uses cases (including streaming HD).  But once again your specific slowness very well could be access point connection or a million other localized reasons and not an actual throttle of the starlink service (or it very well could be a throttle).

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Spacex is about 10% into the build out of Starlink.  

Yes, you read that right.  It's only 10% complete.  Unlike a traditional service provider who builds something and only starts selling service in a region when they it is finished that is so not how Elon Musk does things.  They are building the airplane as it flies.  And it's barely staying airborne while they do.  

Furthermore the Maritime service is highly dependent on the new v2 Starlink satellites of which there are zero in service.

SpaceX did recently launch some v2 mini Starlink satellites which should come online over the next 9 months.  That will help, but they really need the full size v2 satellites in service to make the maritime service work properly.  To launch the full size v2 satellites they need the new Starship rocket flying and so far the FAA is not making that an easy process. So no Starship rockets yet which means no v2 full size satellites yet.  

Relax and give it a year or two. 

By 2025 or 2026 it should work quite well.  

Until then it will be great at times and utterly disappointing at times.  

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It blows my mind how so many people assumed Starlink would be better than the old platform.  Starlink is not better.  It is cheaper.   Dramatically cheaper for Royal.    

The primary reason Royal went to Starlink was to save money.   The secondary reason they adopted Starlink was so they could charge the same.  That has dramatically increased net revenue from Voom sales.  It's all about money.  

For residential Starlink service the only people who purchase Starlink for home are those that have no other choice.  It's pretty much a last resort service.  When you live in the middle of nowhere and there is nothing else available, Starlink is pretty good, even on days when it sucks, because the alternative is reading a book.  The same book.  Again. 

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On the Anthem…

Wifi has been fine for me. I know there are many who are experiencing problems, but I don’t know why. There’s usually one or more people at the WiFi desk with an issue.

Virtually all of my cruises have been up and down the east coast from Bayonne NJ to Florida and the Bahamas…with a Caribbean cruise in January.

I use an older Samsung Galaxy S8 and a new IPad 10. Both have no real problem with the WiFi except for the occasional drop and reload signal during the day. At night, I stream HD movies and shows from Netflix, Prime and YouTube without issue. I can even download one show while viewing another. 
I use the phone all over the ship and the iPad in my cabin. I’ve been in high, low, forward and mid cabins…all no problem. So far, I’m really liking the new WiFi…much better in comparison to the old system.

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On 3/8/2023 at 4:32 PM, twangster said:

To launch the full size v2 satellites they need the new Starship rocket flying and so far the FAA is not making that an easy process. So no Starship rockets yet which means no v2 full size satellites yet.  

The FAA is not the reason Starship hasn't flown. The pad is not ready for flight. And until it is the rocket won't fly. SpaceX has not yet asked for approval to fly on any particular date.

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3 hours ago, Danrar said:

The FAA is not the reason Starship hasn't flown. The pad is not ready for flight. And until it is the rocket won't fly. SpaceX has not yet asked for approval to fly on any particular date.

The final approval for flight is only one small step in the process.   The FAA has been a thorn at every step for years now.  

 

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I was on Anthem from Feb 19- March 5. The internet was practically non existent.  Pinnacles who had been doing B2B’s said it was perfectly fine the cruise prior to Feb 19.  My first week they only gave a 20% credit. Second week 40% credit back.  I called out Michael Bayley on social  media, never saw a reply.   There was some big time gambler who  dropped her second sailing because she couldn’t get her work done. There was a woman set up in vintages with a laptop system.  I got to chatting with her and Royal found some special access for her and her work conference buddies.  It’s amazing they can pick/choose who gets service.

week 2 of my cruise if I dragged my chair to the cabin door and stuck my foot to keep the door open I could get service.  
 

im on Symphony  TA and service is phenomenal-I hope they keep it up! 

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I wouldn't know what Starlink speeds are like because Ovation didn't have Starlink during my sailing, she only had VOOM, the problem was, it kept cutting out all the time and the speeds were practically so slow to the point that it took almost 5 minutes to upload a 2mb photo here.... alas, I guess this is what our lives have come to that we've become so dependent on the internet. I'm hoping to take a cruise in the future, where I completely go without internet. It reminds me of what it must have been like during the times of Titanic where the only form of communication was through mail and through their wireless system. Just my two cents. 🤷‍♂️

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5 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

I dragged my chair to the cabin door and stuck my foot to keep the door open I could get service.  

That's actually pretty common for me.  I keep an empty water bottle on hand and use it to prop open the cabin door when I need solid WiFi signal in cabin.

WiFi signals, even the latest and greatest, doesn't penetrate metal very well.  It's amazing how a 1" opening of the cabin door makes all the difference in the world.  

The only approach that can fix in-cabin WiFi is placing an access-point in each cabin.  Wonder does that.  Celebrity Edge and newer does that.

Where I work we have a lot of cinder block buildings and some of those are sand filled cinder block for better hurricane proofness.  Like metal, cinder block and especially sand filled cinder block kills WiFi signals.  We use the same "hospitality" access points in each room that Celebrity and Wonder uses.  We have thousands of them.  It's the only solution when you have buildings that aren't drywall and stick frame construction.  

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2 hours ago, Jamesszy94 said:

I wouldn't know what Starlink speeds are like because Ovation didn't have Starlink during my sailing, she only had VOOM, the problem was, it kept cutting out all the time and the speeds were practically so slow to the point that it took almost 5 minutes to upload a 2mb photo here.... alas, I guess this is what our lives have come to that we've become so dependent on the internet. I'm hoping to take a cruise in the future, where I completely go without internet. It reminds me of what it must have been like during the times of Titanic where the only form of communication was through mail and through their wireless system. Just my two cents. 🤷‍♂️

O3b powers Voom on Ovation when she is within +/- 50° latitude, the service range for O3b.  O3b is a better technology than Starlink, for now, but it costs significantly more money.  So Royal has cut back on their subscribed bandwidth to reduce operational expenses. 

The problem isn't the technology, it's the company paying the bill.  Prior to the shutdown they subscribed to more bandwidth.  Now it's all about saving money and reducing expenses.  If, or when, Starlink begins to charge per MB usage fees, Royal will do the same with Starlink.  Starlink is already jacking up rates for mobile RV users, it's just a matter of time before they hit Royal with increased fees.  

The problem is not the satellite provider and never has been.

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6 hours ago, twangster said:

That's actually pretty common for me.  I keep an empty water bottle on hand and use it to prop open the cabin door when I need solid WiFi signal in cabin.

When you cruise with @Big Dawg Ron you had the "benefit" of being left in the hallway. Ron was just providing you with better connectivity

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7 hours ago, twangster said:

That's actually pretty common for me.  I keep an empty water bottle on hand and use it to prop open the cabin door when I need solid WiFi signal in cabin.

WiFi signals, even the latest and greatest, doesn't penetrate metal very well.  It's amazing how a 1" opening of the cabin door makes all the difference in the world.  

The only approach that can fix in-cabin WiFi is placing an access-point in each cabin.  Wonder does that.  Celebrity Edge and newer does that.

Where I work we have a lot of cinder block buildings and some of those are sand filled cinder block for better hurricane proofness.  Like metal, cinder block and especially sand filled cinder block kills WiFi signals.  We use the same "hospitality" access points in each room that Celebrity and Wonder uses.  We have thousands of them.  It's the only solution when you have buildings that aren't drywall and stick frame construction.  

Sadly this method did not work the first 1.5 weeks.  It was ironic how internet worked at Guest services at 1am when I’d go in person to complain. If they had a couch there I’d have planted myself there.  My daughter and I spent close to 3 hours to watch a Netflix 50 minute show.  . We had chosen the shore excursion location because it was “close to guest services” snd allegedly public spaces worked better. 

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@Pattycruise Just curious…where was your cabin located? I was also on the Feb 26 sailing and had no major issues at all. 
Except for the occasional drop off and reload on my phone during the day. At night I streamed HD movies on my iPad with no problem…no drop off. I was midship on deck 8 in a balcony. That’s where I am now…

Every morning I would sit outside Cafe Promenade with a coffee and a healthy snack…aka/donut…and go through my emails and surf. 
I know other people had problems with the WiFi, but I don’t know why I didn't. In fact, while in the theater waiting for WWRY, the person next to me kept losing the signal on his iPhone…and was amazed that my old Galaxy S8 Android had no problem. 

I’m just really curious why I don’t have the same problems so many others are having. Not knocking it! Just curious…🤔

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On 3/11/2023 at 6:32 PM, BrianB said:

@Pattycruise Just curious…where was your cabin located? I was also on the Feb 26 sailing and had no major issues at all. 
Except for the occasional drop off and reload on my phone during the day. At night I streamed HD movies on my iPad with no problem…no drop off. I was midship on deck 8 in a balcony. That’s where I am now…

Every morning I would sit outside Cafe Promenade with a coffee and a healthy snack…aka/donut…and go through my emails and surf. 
I know other people had problems with the WiFi, but I don’t know why I didn't. In fact, while in the theater waiting for WWRY, the person next to me kept losing the signal on his iPhone…and was amazed that my old Galaxy S8 Android had no problem. 

I’m just really curious why I don’t have the same problems so many others are having. Not knocking it! Just curious…🤔

Deck 9 midship junior suite.

my understanding is there were no issues the prior week, snd my 2 weeks were awful.  I’m glad yours is working!

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On 3/11/2023 at 6:32 PM, BrianB said:

@Pattycruise Just curious…where was your cabin located? I was also on the Feb 26 sailing and had no major issues at all. 
Except for the occasional drop off and reload on my phone during the day. At night I streamed HD movies on my iPad with no problem…no drop off. I was midship on deck 8 in a balcony. That’s where I am now…

Every morning I would sit outside Cafe Promenade with a coffee and a healthy snack…aka/donut…and go through my emails and surf. 
I know other people had problems with the WiFi, but I don’t know why I didn't. In fact, while in the theater waiting for WWRY, the person next to me kept losing the signal on his iPhone…and was amazed that my old Galaxy S8 Android had no problem. 

I’m just really curious why I don’t have the same problems so many others are having. Not knocking it! Just curious…🤔

In some cases people are using "protection" services that interfere with captive portals used at hotels and on cruise ships.  In some cases users don't know that this was installed or set to be the default .  Companies like ATT, Apple, Google and more offer services that are designed to "protect" the user by essentially employing a VPN tunnel to tunnel traffic through them, and/or they use their own DNS servers that won't resolve illegitimate destinations.   Google offers this service so they can monitor all of your traffic and analyze your browsing trends.  ATT and Apple "Private Relay" do it on the premise of keeping you safe.  Here is what Apple says about it:

  • How Private Relay works
  • Normally when you browse the web, information contained in your web traffic, such as your DNS records and IP address, can be seen by your network provider and the websites you visit. This information could be used to determine your identity and build a profile of your location and browsing history over time. iCloud Private Relay is designed to protect your privacy by ensuring that when you browse the web in Safari, no single party — not even Apple — can see both who you are and what sites you're visiting.
  • When Private Relay is enabled, your requests are sent through two separate, secure internet relays. Your IP address is visible to your network provider and to the first relay, which is operated by Apple. Your DNS records are encrypted, so neither party can see the address of the website you’re trying to visit. The second relay, which is operated by a third-party content provider, generates a temporary IP address, decrypts the name of the website you requested, and connects you to the site. All of this is done using the latest internet standards to maintain a high-performance browsing experience while protecting your privacy.

These services can interfere with some captive portals and DNS redirects used to reach the captive portal where you enter your credentials.  They can also break the ability to logoff Voom.  Even with a paid Voom plan some of these services interfere with roaming between access points.  Combine it with folks who share a Voom plan and kick off each others devices and it's a recipe for disaster, from a good Voom user experience perspective.  

MSC does a better job with their WiFi instructions where they advise folks to disable all these types of services when signing up and connecting their on board internet.

When I've manually adjusted my DNS servers for one reason or another then i board a ship I've encountered issues trying to connect to Voom.  Then it hits me and I remember to put my DNS back to default.  However when people forget or don't know that Apple or ATT has made their service the default it never hits people that these services are interfering with Voom.  

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I'm actually a little relieved to see that many others have been having these same issues and that it wasn't just me.  Next cruise I will try the prop the door open trick.  It's ridiculous to have to do something like that but if it helps me get my necessary work done faster, then so be it.  Regardless, Royal needs to address this issue fleetwide sooner rather than later.   

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4 hours ago, twangster said:

 

These services can interfere with some captive portals and DNS redirects used to reach the captive portal where you enter your credentials.  They can also break the ability to logoff Voom.  Even with a paid Voom plan some of these services interfere with roaming between access points.  Combine it with folks who share a Voom plan and kick off each others devices and it's a recipe for disaster, from a good Voom user experience perspective. 

So, Mr Webbot…

1. How do I know if I have such an issue ?

2.  How do I fix it ?

a.  Apple user

b.  Device ignorant - no idea what DNS is or how/where’s to find it

 

I think I’m ok here since I have no trouble logging on/off….just wondering

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