Internet Access and Cable Channels at Harborside

[Steve Hank]

I am traveling to Harborside at Atlantis with a couple of families for two weeks in March.

Unfortunately, I am unable to fully take two weeks off from work, so I will be forced to work for a few days from the villas at Harborside. I will be looking to do some video conferencing at the resort. I have heard that the internet access is less than stable. We will be staying in a three bedroom unit, so I know we will be in Phase II or III (We have a Saturday Checkin). Does anyone have any information about how fast the Wi-Fi is at the resort. If the WiFi is slow, is there a hardwired Ethernet connection that I could plug a travel router into that would work better? If someone that is there could post a Speedtest result from Speedtest.net, I would greatly appreciate it.

I was also wondering if someone that is staying at Harborside between now and March could take a photo of the channel listings card and post it here on the forum or post the channel list. Two of the folks we are traveling with are basketball fanatics and would like to watch the NCAA tournament in the evenings after spending the afternoon at Atlantis. Many of the games are on obscure networks such as TruTV and also on TBS and TNT. Just wondering if they will be on.

I did a search on the internet speeds and none of the information was recent and post renovation of some of the buildings.

Thanks for all the assistance. Please let me know if there is anything you would like me to ask or photograph while I am there as well.

 

[Ken555]

I worked while in Harborside as much as 10 years ago and the internet was great every time I visited (though expensive). I’d be quite surprised to learn it has degraded since then.


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[SmithOp]

I worked while in Harborside as much as 10 years ago and the internet was great every time I visited (though expensive). I’d be quite surprised to learn it has degraded since then.


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The use of streaming has bloomed since then, could be a factor.

I had a recent stay at Ridge in Sedona, internet crawled in the evenings but at 6 am it was flying. I figured it was people in watching Netflix, etc. Dec was cold at night and dark by 6pm, we stayed in most nights after hiking all day.


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[Ken555]

The use of streaming has bloomed since then, could be a factor.

I had a recent stay at Ridge in Sedona, internet crawled in the evenings but at 6 am it was flying. I figured it was people in watching Netflix, etc. Dec was cold at night and dark by 6pm, we stayed in most nights after hiking all day.


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I’d be shocked if Harborside didn’t increase their total bandwidth over the years, regardless of their other problems. And, I suspect it’s capped like other resorts to 5 or 10mbps per account. Independent resorts tend to be the ones with issues with total bandwidth and try to save money by not increasing bandwidth along with demand, nor cap each account at a reasonable amount.

Regardless, those who work remotely need significantly less bandwidth than you might think...a VoIP call shouldn’t need more than 40-60kbps and other uses are perfectly fine at even just 1mbps (or less, depending on how demanding the work is). Perspective.


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[Free2Roam]

I was there last month. Their cost is about $25/day for internet. AT&T mobile charges $10/day for international data and uses the call and data limits on your mobile plan. I turned on data on my tablet and used it as a mobile hotspot (my data is unlimited.) The speed was more than sufficient for browsing and email.

 

[Sea Six]

I was there several months ago. The signal strength was POOR. I could not stream without constant buffer delays. I complained. They refunded my money and promised to fix the problem. Nobody ever did anything. There are other options - do not trust the resort's system. I was wireless, can't say if the wired would be better. It could be, but I didn't have a cable for that.

 

[Ken555]

I was there several months ago. The signal strength was POOR. I could not stream without constant buffer delays. I complained. They refunded my money and promised to fix the problem. Nobody ever did anything. There are other options - do not trust the resort's system. I was wireless, can't say if the wired would be better. It could be, but I didn't have a cable for that.

That’s not good. IIRC, when I visited (I haven’t been in years) I used a wired connection to my own access point. Seems like a mobile access device may be appropriate. Of course, streaming requires much more bandwidth than typical business use as the OP needs.


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[Sea Six]

There were posts here in the past about renting some kind of hotspot device. I don't remember the details, but apparently there are other options. My advice is still - sign up for a day or two, not a long term commitment until you are sure you will have a good connection. Their internet is terrible. Plus, as I said earlier, DO NOT assume you will get everything here that you get at home. License agreements restrict what you can get out of country.

 

[alwysonvac]

Pocket Wifi Bahamas (2016) -
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/pocket-wifi-bahamas.239913/

Requesting tips and pointers for Harborside (2017) - https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/requesting-tips-and-pointers-for-harborside.254410/

Corrected 2016 link

 

[alwysonvac]

Corrected link above.

 

[HeidingOut]

We usually go during Thanksgiving. And, have stayed in a couple of 1 bedrooms but I am not sure of the phase number. I didn't find the Internet terrible, but they've recently raised the pricing again for Internet. It was higher this year than last year. I want to say maybe the $25 or maybe even more is accurate. Last year, I signed up for it because I needed to do some remote updates on a system requiring quite a bit of data transfer. Never had an issue. This year I opted for the $10 Internation add on from AT&T and hot spotted my laptop to my phone. I had zero issues working remotely. I think you would be fine either way. I didn't do video conferencing. That's not the same as a VOIP call as somone else suggested. Here are some numbers from SKYPE any video conferencing (Polycom, etc.) should be similar:

• Skype-to-Skype calls: 50kbps or around 375KB for one minute of calling
• Calls to mobile numbers or landlines: 6-20 kbps or around 150KB for one minute of calling
• Video calls between two mobile phone devices: 500kbps
• Video calls between a mobile phone and a computer: 600kbps

I suspect that if you are doing this during the daytime where everyone else is at Atlantis. You are going to be fine. Do it after hours where all the kids are on YouTube or Netflix and you could have some issues.

 

[Ken555]

Here are some numbers from SKYPE any video conferencing (Polycom, etc.) should be similar:

• Skype-to-Skype calls: 50kbps or around 375KB for one minute of calling
• Calls to mobile numbers or landlines: 6-20 kbps or around 150KB for one minute of calling
• Video calls between two mobile phone devices: 500kbps
• Video calls between a mobile phone and a computer: 600kbps

VoIP was simply a common example. These Skype numbers simply reinforce my earlier statement that typical business communication needs are significantly less than streaming video shows. For example, you’ll want a minimum of 5gbps for standard HD video, or about 8-10 times the Skype suggested bandwidth for a video call.

This is also why I’d still be surprised if Harborside internet wouldn’t suffice for typical business needs. Should it be better? Absolutely. Has it always been more expensive than justified? You bet. Is everything overpriced at Atlantis? D’oh.


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[komosatp]

I don't recall the full number of channels at HRA, but its fairly limited and in SD, not HD. TBS and or TNT may be among them, but I don't recall TruTV. But if there's a game they absolutely have to watch, there's the sports book, and many bars have TVs/satellite service for this purpose. I'd bet Margaritaville will have them all. And also Vergil's BBQ in the Coral.

Nobody has mentioned that Atlantis has a business center in its conference facility that would probably be your best bet for a video conference. Harborside used to have live Ethernet ports in the units but they were disabled once they added WiFi.

I've had mixed experiences with the Harborside WiFi. Sometimes its been good enough to have great HD streaming, sometimes basic web pages are slow to load. Sometimes we have to keep the bedroom door open to get the WiFi into the bedroom part of the unit. In general its good service, but that can vary by the hour, day, week, or unit. But if I absolutely HAD to have a video conference, I'd call the business center at Atlantis. Otherwise I'd just be prepared to improvise if the service isn't so good the moment you need to have an important call.

 

[Sea Six]

Last time there I went to the lobby several times to get an internet connection because the wifi in our room was so bad.

 

[Ken555]

Harborside used to have live Ethernet ports in the units but they were disabled once they added WiFi.

That’s too bad. IIRC, last time I was there (years ago) they didn’t provide the network cable in the unit but the Ethernet port was still live, and I just used my own cable and access point.



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[komosatp]

That’s too bad. IIRC, last time I was there (years ago) they didn’t provide the network cable in the unit but the Ethernet port was still live, and I just used my own cable and access point.

Same here: years ago I bought an Apple Airport Express solely for travel. I used it at least twice at HRA. Then at some point they introduced the WiFi and the Ethernet port went dead, at least in the phase 2 building units we’ve been assigned. I recall bringing the express once or twice and trying to get it functional, but there was no life in the Ethernet outlet.

 

[Steve Hank]

Thank you to everyone for the answers and the assistance. Much appreciated!

 

[SMHarman]

Just returned from there work via WiFi and VPN was fine.
Streaming movies also fine, movies via MA hook to Microsoft movies.
Expensive
They split off the WiFi to a sub account so I could swipe my Corp card for the bill.

 

[remowidget]

We only had wifi for one night. I couldn't get my Roku hooked up but am not sure if that was Harborsides fault. They limit you to 4 devices. If you log on a fifth one, they said they would charger you an extra $25 dollars. They charge from then on. I had to fight to get them not to charge me for 4 nights I didn't use it. They were on the phone with their it department and were pretty rude about it. Rude about a fraudulent charge.

If you want to get a BTC card, make sure your phone is unlocked before coming down here. 15 days with 15 gig is like $34 with tax plus sim card. My aunt found out she could have gotten an unlimited AT&T for our 10 days for $50.

Here is the TV Channel lineup
https://photos.app.goo.gl/f7CH3TS8S4MJpqKD8

 

[Steve Hank]

Thank you to everyone for the information and the feedback. Much appreciated. We are going in just over a month. Please let me know if you have any information that you would like me to collect while I am there.

 

[emeryjre]

The only thing I would recommend is using a credit card to purchase internet access. The other option is to use your room number. If you use your credit card, you have to enact a new charge every 24 hours, but you will not get an unexpected charge for a 5th device. If you use your room number, you can be charged an extra $25.00 without being aware of it until you go to check out.

The actual charge is 21.95 + VAT. comes out to just under $25.00 for 24 hours of internet access for 4 devices.

For streaming video fans of netflix, hulu, amazon prime, etc. I would not plan on having enough bandwidth available during evening viewing hours.

We used our ATT international plan and had about 10Mbs available until we hit the unlimited cap and slowed down.