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It's 2016. Why isn't there free wifi on flights?? I mean, we don't have real hoverboards and we don't have flying cars. Can't we just have this one small, ac

It's 2016. Why isn't there free wifi on flights?? I mean, we don't have real hoverboards and we don't have flying cars. Can't we just have this one small, actually possible thing. ffs!

JumpCrisscross 11y ago
> Why isn't there free wifi on flights? Currently, in-flight Wi-Fi hums along at 3 to 10 Mbps. For the whole cabin. Pricing it at zero would slow it to a crawl. This is true for any rival good.
- Havoc 11y ago
  Well if they price it a bit more reasonably then that would work. Some of the offers out there are truly mind boggling. I seem to recall a 10meg data cap as the cheapest option I saw (15 usd or gbp). 200meg @ 5 GBP sounds more reasonable...enough to surf a decent bit but not enough to affect overall speed.
  - sethhochberg 11y ago
    At least flying domestic within the US, I've never seen in-flight wifi with data caps. They do, of course, restrict video streaming services so as to not let one person consume the whole downlink, but that seems like a reasonable tradeoff given the bandwidth limitations on satellite internet. Many airlines now have onboard video-on-demand services anyways, which fills the streaming niche for most people.
mikeash 11y ago
Why force everybody on the plane to pay for it even if they aren't going to use it? I personally find the price for in-flight WiFi to be an excellent deal, considering the technological feats required to make it happen. You're communicating over hundreds of miles from a metal tube going 600MPH. Often you're talking to space! And you get to use this for, what, ten bucks? I don't always pay for it, but it's a great deal when I need it.
GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
Are you seriously suggesting that the airlines do something that doesn't involve sucking as much money as possible out of their passengers.
- randycupertino 11y ago
  Heh... you've got a point. I'm old enough to remember when flying was "glamorous" and exciting. We used to actually get dressed up in a snappy outfit because it was an occasion to fly! Ooh and those complimentary warmed towels and the warm roasted peanuts. Nothing like today's cattle call of yoga pants and uggs galore, zero leg room, fights over reclining seatbacks and $13 wifi.

It's 2016. Why isn't there free wifi on flights?? I mean, we don't have real hoverboards and we don't have flying cars. Can't we just have this one small, actually possible thing. ffs!

JumpCrisscross 11y ago

> Why isn't there free wifi on flights? Currently, in-flight Wi-Fi hums along at 3 to 10 Mbps. For the whole cabin. Pricing it at zero would slow it to a crawl. This is true for any rival good.

Havoc 11y ago
Well if they price it a bit more reasonably then that would work. Some of the offers out there are truly mind boggling. I seem to recall a 10meg data cap as the cheapest option I saw (15 usd or gbp). 200meg @ 5 GBP sounds more reasonable...enough to surf a decent bit but not enough to affect overall speed.
- sethhochberg 11y ago
  At least flying domestic within the US, I've never seen in-flight wifi with data caps. They do, of course, restrict video streaming services so as to not let one person consume the whole downlink, but that seems like a reasonable tradeoff given the bandwidth limitations on satellite internet. Many airlines now have onboard video-on-demand services anyways, which fills the streaming niche for most people.

mikeash 11y ago

Why force everybody on the plane to pay for it even if they aren't going to use it? I personally find the price for in-flight WiFi to be an excellent deal, considering the technological feats required to make it happen. You're communicating over hundreds of miles from a metal tube going 600MPH. Often you're talking to space! And you get to use this for, what, ten bucks? I don't always pay for it, but it's a great deal when I need it.

GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago

Are you seriously suggesting that the airlines do something that doesn't involve sucking as much money as possible out of their passengers.

randycupertino 11y ago
Heh... you've got a point. I'm old enough to remember when flying was "glamorous" and exciting. We used to actually get dressed up in a snappy outfit because it was an occasion to fly! Ooh and those complimentary warmed towels and the warm roasted peanuts. Nothing like today's cattle call of yoga pants and uggs galore, zero leg room, fights over reclining seatbacks and $13 wifi.