New internet provider at WDW

[daviator]

So we checked into WDW earlier this week – we were last here just four weeks ago – and discovered that WDW has changed their internet provider. There is a new login process to access the internet (WiFi.). OK, no problem, we are flexible.

The first troublesome sign came when the login procedure with last name and room number failed, every time. It continues to fail, just doesn't work. OK, no problem, they'd also given us an access code to use if we had problems. The access code works.

But the new internet provider - which is, if I remember correctly, "Blue Wave", apparently part of Comcast – is TERRIBLE, close to the worst hotel internet experience I've had in the past twenty years. The service goes in and out constantly, with long lags which cause applications to crash, logins to fail, etc. I tried to participate in a Zoom meeting and it was a complete joke. The problem is not the WiFi connection, which remains strong (I don't think the routers in the guest rooms even changed from the previous provider.). The problem is with the service itself. Since it's connected to Comcast, I'm guessing it's the typical cable internet problems with bandwidth which becomes dramatically overburdened when the property is full and there are lots of people trying to use it.

This is a game-changing issue for us, since we spend several weeks a year of "working vacation" and a reasonable internet connection is absolutely essential. Our ownership has just lost its utility if these issues are not solved. The previous internet provider's service was completely acceptable and we never had any major problem with it.

If I had to guess, I would guess this was a cost-saving move and that the new provider made all kinds of promises which are turning out not to be true. There's a certain irony in the idea that MVC may have been the victim of lies told by sales people.

I've complained several times but this is a bigger problem than staff can immediately solve. I plan to contact the resort manager when we get home and make known our extreme concern about this issue. I will also try to write to the owners association board members. But I thought I should warn others that reliable, fast internet is currently not part of the property offerings at WDW.

 

[jabberwocky]

This is concerning. Do you remember who the old provider was?

I agree this is likely a cost saving measure, but the pipes into the resort should largely be the same, but maybe the have restricted the bandwidth.

 

[Ken555]

That sucks! I also work when at that resort, and in the past it's been fine.

You know what else sucks? Marriott!

 

[bizaro86]

That sucks! I also work when at that resort, and in the past it's been fine.

You know what else sucks? Marriott!

Of all the things Marriott has wrecked about Starwood I never would have thought "internet" would go on the list.

 

[Cornell]

Yeah that’s really bad & problematic.

 

[pedro47]

Internet service at the Marriott's Manor Club,, Williamsburg, VA was not bad in October 2025.

 

[dioxide45]

This is very disappointing to hear. We are heavily reliant on reliable internet when at resorts. In fact, for a couple years Sheraton Vistana Resort internet was getting terrible reviews online. They too had changed providers but I understand they also had to change out equipment and perhaps even utilitiy issues at the road (535) that was impacted by construction may have also led to the issues there. We hadn't been back for many years until we stayed one night there last month.

Did you contact the internet technical support at all? While I suspect it varies by provider, I've found they are able to help out in certain instances and they only know about problems that people report to them. Hopefully it is just some growing pains of having a new provider and a few tweaks can get things back to normal.

 

[daviator]

This is very disappointing to hear. We are heavily reliant on reliable internet when at resorts. In fact, for a couple years Sheraton Vistana Resort internet was getting terrible reviews online. They too had changed providers but I understand they also had to change out equipment and perhaps even utilitiy issues at the road (535) that was impacted by construction may have also led to the issues there. We hadn't been back for many years until we stayed one night there last month.

Did you contact the internet technical support at all? While I suspect it varies by provider, I've found they are able to help out in certain instances and they only know about problems that people report to them. Hopefully it is just some growing pains of having a new provider and a few tweaks can get things back to normal.

The company is Deep Blue, which is basically Comcast Business. I couldn’t find any support channels available to end users of their service, only channels for their direct customers (the property itself) which required login info I obviously don’t have.

That’s a step backwards too, as I’ve always been able to figure out how to contact the hotel ISP for support when I needed it, but apparently Comcast doesn’t provide any.

I don’t think the problem is the “pipes” within the hotel, it’s upstream from the hotel. Cable internet sucks when there isn’t sufficient upstream bandwidth, which seems to be the case here. And it is very inconsistent, it will work fine for a few minutes and then suddenly everything freezes for 10 seconds to several minutes.

 

[daviator]

This is concerning. Do you remember who the old provider was?

I agree this is likely a cost saving measure, but the pipes into the resort should largely be the same, but maybe the have restricted the bandwidth.

I can’t for the life of me remember the company name, but I think they were actually a Mexico-based company. I thought the service was actually quite good. But now it’s Comcast with all that implies.

 

[Ken555]

The company is Deep Blue, which is basically Comcast Business. I couldn’t find any support channels available to end users of their service, only channels for their direct customers (the property itself) which required login info I obviously don’t have.

That’s a step backwards too, as I’ve always been able to figure out how to contact the hotel ISP for support when I needed it, but apparently Comcast doesn’t provide any.

I don’t think the problem is the “pipes” within the hotel, it’s upstream from the hotel. Cable internet sucks when there isn’t sufficient upstream bandwidth, which seems to be the case here. And it is very inconsistent, it will work fine for a few minutes and then suddenly everything freezes for 10 seconds to several minutes.

When I've had to call while at a resort, I always let the resort transfer me to the support team. On occasion I get a phone number from them to call.

 

[jp10558]

While I would think having good Internet would be pretty important in 2025 at a resort, I've found frequently it's not so good. I try and always have a wifi hotspot on LTE (I should upgrade it to 5G) or my phone with hotspot abilities as a backup.

 

[Ken555]

While I would think having good Internet would be pretty important in 2025 at a resort, I've found frequently it's not so good. I try and always have a wifi hotspot on LTE (I should upgrade it to 5G) or my phone with hotspot abilities as a backup.

On the contrary, I haven't had any issues at a resort in many years that would justify using a hotspot. I've also been to WDW numerous times, and when they upgraded the connection some years ago (pre-Marriott), it became quite reliable and consistent at about 10/10 speed. I agree with those who postulated that this is a config issue, though it could also be a service reduction by the resort to save funds by lowering the total bandwidth available.

 

[Henry M.]

I stopped worrying about hotel and resort hotspots years ago, when I upgraded my AT&T line to include an unlimited hotspot. I sometimes connect my laptop to the lodging's WiFi, but switch to my phone if the WiFi service is too slow, which is often the case. When I travel internationally, I buy an Airalo eSIM card and use that for my data connection. It works well with 5G service in most bigger cities in Europe. Hotel and resort WiFi networks are hit and miss. Some are good but many are terrible.

 

[YYJMSP]

I'm here now, General internet seems ok, haven't done any significant streaming or video conferencing

It reports in SpeedTest as Cogent Communications

 

[Ken555]

Cogent is historically an excellent provider, in my experience.

 

[YYJMSP]

It says the two other providers in the area should be twice as fast as this provider...

 

[David Yuan]

was at WLR last week, been there many times and never had issues with the Internet speed, but this time was different...my kids IG / YouTube / TikTok would stutter loading during all different times...I also noticed it while on the laptop...we were in building 8...(but the same happens by the pool and in the gym). sometimes just sending a picture via iMessage would stall...

 

[Ken555]

It says the two other providers in the area should be twice as fast as this provider...

View attachment 119925

That’s almost certainly because residential internet is much less expensive than business, and residential high speed is certainly prevalent in that area. Frontier is notoriously inexpensive compared to others.

 

[VacationForever]

The company is Deep Blue, which is basically Comcast Business. I couldn’t find any support channels available to end users of their service, only channels for their direct customers (the property itself) which required login info I obviously don’t have.

That’s a step backwards too, as I’ve always been able to figure out how to contact the hotel ISP for support when I needed it, but apparently Comcast doesn’t provide any.

I don’t think the problem is the “pipes” within the hotel, it’s upstream from the hotel. Cable internet sucks when there isn’t sufficient upstream bandwidth, which seems to be the case here. And it is very inconsistent, it will work fine for a few minutes and then suddenly everything freezes for 10 seconds to several minutes.

If it is Deep Blue, it is the shits. Worldmark uses Deep Blue and at one resort, my connection dropped more than 20 times an hour. Yes, you read it correctly. Deep Blue sucks at every Worldmark resort but that one was the worst. I wrote to Wyndham CEO and COO and I got a call back within 24 hours. They expressed surprise and was even more surprised that I was asked by the front desk to call the provider directly. She said that was totally unacceptable and had never heard of it. Whether she was lying or not, I will never know. This is the mode of operations at all Worldmark resorts, guests/owners are given the WIFI provider number to contact. They assured me that the next location that I went to (I told them where I was traveling to next), I would not have the same problem. They did fix it at the next location when I travelled there. Anyway Wyndham has now gotten another WIFI service provider in. I am no longer a Worldmark owner but their WIFI under Deep Blue is not usuable.

 

[daviator]

I'm here now, General internet seems ok, haven't done any significant streaming or video conferencing

It reports in SpeedTest as Cogent Communications

View attachment 119924

Maybe the entire property hasn’t migrated yet?

I did a Speedtest while we were there and got a reasonable result. The problem is that the quality of the connection was not consistent, it would frequently “freeze” with zero apparent data transfer for a few seconds to a few minutes. This caused phone and iPad apps to time out and quit or restart, Streaming video to freeze, etc. in between those freezes the throughput was ok.

The name on the login screen to sign onto the wifi was Deep Blue, a Comcast Company.

 

[YYJMSP]

Maybe the entire property hasn’t migrated yet?

I did a Speedtest while we were there and got a reasonable result. The problem is that the quality of the connection was not consistent, it would frequently “freeze” with zero apparent data transfer for a few seconds to a few minutes. This caused phone and iPad apps to time out and quit or restart, Streaming video to freeze, etc. in between those freezes the throughput was ok.

The name on the login screen to sign onto the wifi was Deep Blue, a Comcast Company.

I don't remember the screen details where we put in the code, front desk had said not to login with room info

We were in B6

 

[Tuggernaut]

While I would think having good Internet would be pretty important in 2025 at a resort, I've found frequently it's not so good. I try and always have a wifi hotspot on LTE (I should upgrade it to 5G) or my phone with hotspot abilities as a backup.

Like jp said above, if you need Internet access while at a timeshare (due to remote work, etc..) then you should have a backup plan that consists of a 5G cell phone with a service plan that includes access to both high-band millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum and the newer mid-band (C-band) spectrum AND, of course, permits hotspot data. Having access to this spectrum will allow your service to be good during times that the other legacy cell phone bands are congested. How can you tell if your cell phone plan allows access to the high-band millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum and the newer mid-band (C-band) spectrum? Verizon calls this access "5G Ultra Wideband". AT&T calls it "5G Plus". T-Mobile calls it "5G Ultra Capacity". I currently have Total Wireless (a prepaid cell service provider owned by Verizon) on their "Total 5G+ Unlimited Plan". I have 4 phones (immediate family members) on this plan, and the total cost is exactly $120 per month with all the bullshit government fees & taxes included. Having 4 lines (phones) on a plan seems to be a sweet spot in terms of discounts. There are a couple guys on YouTube that do a fantastic job of analyzing cell service providers and their plans to find those that offer the best value. Yes, they review plans for different situations - 1 phone, 2 phones, 4 phones. Their YouTube channel names are "Max Hietpas" and "Stetson Doggett".

 

[Ken555]

Like jp said above, if you need Internet access while at a timeshare (due to remote work, etc..) then you should have a backup plan that consists of a 5G cell phone with a service plan that includes access to both high-band millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum and the newer mid-band (C-band) spectrum AND, of course, permits hotspot data.

Well, I disagree. Sure, having a backup is good but the resort provides Internet and it's no longer a new service where we should forgive outages like those reported here. It's part of our maintenance fees. I could argue it’s as important as hot water.

As for the faster mobile offering, yes, that's nice, but again not critical for work unless you absolutely need the fastest speeds. If you are able to work at just 10/10 or so (and likely much less) then that's not necessary. Also, the faster service isn't available everywhere - I have it on my phone and even in a metro area like Los Angeles it’s not everywhere in the city. I certainly don't expect it in prime resort areas just yet. But once again, I would be just fine with 10/10. I only need ~2Mbps to get my work done, and have done that in the middle of the Atlantic on pre-Starlink internet, etc.

Let's try to stay grounded with our expectations. The most basic of which is that Internet is an included service of the resorts and they must be held to a high service standard.

 

[dioxide45]

Well, I disagree. Sure, having a backup is good but the resort provides Internet and it's no longer a new service where we should forgive outages like those reported here. It's part of our maintenance fees.

I would agree. It would also be like saying one should have the same backup plan if their internet goes out while at home. We've traveled a lot and I can probably count on one hand the number of times we've actually had to switch to our cell phone as a backup hotspot. I am not going to carry and pay for some special dedicated services a mobile hotspot. Our cellphone works well enough in a pinch. We actually had to use it as a mobile hotspot for a whole week when at home because a contractor had dug through the fiber cables that fed the internet in the condo complex where we lived.

 

[YYJMSP]

It's like anything else, a viable backup is insurance you have if that level of internet access is necessary for you and the primary isn't available.

There were parts of downtown on El Paseo where my roaming cell data disappeared for no apparent reason. Annoying, but the backup was every store's public wifi.