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Part of me thinks planes with a stable and fast connection would be amazing. The other part of me will mourn the days when a plane flight was one of the few pl

Part of me thinks planes with a stable and fast connection would be amazing. The other part of me will mourn the days when a plane flight was one of the few places you could be expected to be totally unavailable.

thebruce87m 6y ago
Isn’t this already here? ~5 years ago I remember watching Netflix, playing rocket league and remotely accessing as unix server during a flight.
- mciancia 6y ago
  I tried using WiFi on intercontinental flights on Lufthansa in 2018/2019 aaand it was IMO unusable for anything besides text messaging. Maybe depends on what kind of tech is installed on plane, but there is definitely space to improve it.
- ketamine__ 6y ago
  It's possible to cache NetFlix shows before you get on the plane. Ideally before the airport too since they appear to throttle it.
  - rlt 6y ago
    I’m kind of surprised Netflix doesn’t partner with airlines to put mini Open Connect Appliances on planes and sell Netflix subscriptions per flight (if you don’t already have a subscription).
- collias 6y ago
  In my experience, flying over oceans or less populated areas on the US reduce the speeds to a crawl, if you get any connection at all. It's different for every airline, but I believe the system for Southwest just uses signals from cell towers, which is spotty at best.
  - tjohns 6y ago
    This hasn't really been true for a couple years now. Most of the major US airlines have been migrating from cellular to Ka- or Ku-band satellite internet over the last few years. (Including Southwest.) There's some individual aircraft that haven't been upgraded yet, since installing the satellite antenna is a major upgrade. But at least on my flights, most offer it now.
- madeofpalk 6y ago
  Depends on airline and, mostly, where your flight is. For international longer-haul flights satellite coverage can be rough for airlines - at least a few years ago when I was familiar with it airlines had either global coverage, but slow, or smaller coverage but fast. It'll be interesting if Starlink can solve this for fast-moving planes for airlines like Qantas that fly from Aus to Europe, Asia, and America.
naebother 6y ago
Throw Neuralink into the mix and the "always connected" nightmare becomes quite literal.
- camjohnson26 6y ago
  NeuraLink is SciFi and lifetimes away from being even close to a consumer product.
  - wait_a_minute 6y ago
    Source?
    - krageon 6y ago
      Common sense. Look around you, look at the state of the art, read some research on brain interfacing. It's fantasy.
      - wait_a_minute 6y ago
        this is not a source
        camjohnson26 6y ago
        It’s not a research paper it’s an opinion.
        wait_a_minute 6y ago
        we must request sources when someone else is making sweeping judgments about something amazing being just sci-fi and lifetimes away if you are only sharing opinion, then my opinion is that you're wrong and that neural links are already here and will be accessible to all within our lifetime.
        6y ago
dchuk 6y ago
If you’re flying on planes with viasat connections, it can feel like normal broadband. The GoGo terrestrial cell tower option is the terrible one that barely works.

thebruce87m 6y ago

Isn’t this already here? ~5 years ago I remember watching Netflix, playing rocket league and remotely accessing as unix server during a flight.

mciancia 6y ago
I tried using WiFi on intercontinental flights on Lufthansa in 2018/2019 aaand it was IMO unusable for anything besides text messaging. Maybe depends on what kind of tech is installed on plane, but there is definitely space to improve it.
ketamine__ 6y ago
It's possible to cache NetFlix shows before you get on the plane. Ideally before the airport too since they appear to throttle it.
- rlt 6y ago
  I’m kind of surprised Netflix doesn’t partner with airlines to put mini Open Connect Appliances on planes and sell Netflix subscriptions per flight (if you don’t already have a subscription).
collias 6y ago
In my experience, flying over oceans or less populated areas on the US reduce the speeds to a crawl, if you get any connection at all. It's different for every airline, but I believe the system for Southwest just uses signals from cell towers, which is spotty at best.
- tjohns 6y ago
  This hasn't really been true for a couple years now. Most of the major US airlines have been migrating from cellular to Ka- or Ku-band satellite internet over the last few years. (Including Southwest.) There's some individual aircraft that haven't been upgraded yet, since installing the satellite antenna is a major upgrade. But at least on my flights, most offer it now.
madeofpalk 6y ago
Depends on airline and, mostly, where your flight is. For international longer-haul flights satellite coverage can be rough for airlines - at least a few years ago when I was familiar with it airlines had either global coverage, but slow, or smaller coverage but fast. It'll be interesting if Starlink can solve this for fast-moving planes for airlines like Qantas that fly from Aus to Europe, Asia, and America.

naebother 6y ago

Throw Neuralink into the mix and the "always connected" nightmare becomes quite literal.

camjohnson26 6y ago
NeuraLink is SciFi and lifetimes away from being even close to a consumer product.
- wait_a_minute 6y ago
  Source?
  - krageon 6y ago
    Common sense. Look around you, look at the state of the art, read some research on brain interfacing. It's fantasy.
    - wait_a_minute 6y ago
      this is not a source
      - camjohnson26 6y ago
        It’s not a research paper it’s an opinion.
        wait_a_minute 6y ago
        we must request sources when someone else is making sweeping judgments about something amazing being just sci-fi and lifetimes away if you are only sharing opinion, then my opinion is that you're wrong and that neural links are already here and will be accessible to all within our lifetime.
        6y ago

dchuk 6y ago

If you’re flying on planes with viasat connections, it can feel like normal broadband. The GoGo terrestrial cell tower option is the terrible one that barely works.