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Slightly off-topic. I hate that internet is becoming more common on flights. One of my favorite things about flying is that it's a good chunk of time where you

Slightly off-topic. I hate that internet is becoming more common on flights. One of my favorite things about flying is that it's a good chunk of time where you disconnect and don't worry about emails or messages. Just sit back and watch a movie or listen to music. Or catch up on sleep.

yosito 4y ago
To be fair, I fly about 30 times per year, and in the last ten years, I've found that the in-flight wifi actually worked approximately once.
- pb7 4y ago
  I have the same flight stats and I have only had to ask for a refund once because it straight up didn’t work for most of the flight. Many airlines have very usable internet now, some even for free (jetBlue).
  - sebzim4500 4y ago
    It depends a lot where you fly. In my experience, flying over Europe means the internet will almost certainly be spotty at best, whereas flying over the US means that it will probably work well enough to be useful.
  - ezfe 4y ago
    I fly jetBlue a fair amount and the free Wi-Fi is a joke
    - pb7 4y ago
      It must have gone downhill since my last flight with them. I vividly remember getting something like 18 Mbps in a speed test and was shocked that they were giving it away. This article from 2017 confirms that it was 15 Mbps at one time: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-travel-briefcase-airline-wifi-20171223-story.html https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-travel-briefcase-airl... It looks like they have since reduced the free tier to less than 1 Mbps and added a paid option that allows you to stream video.
      - bobdvb 4y ago
        It makes sense, if everyone streams then it'll create significant congestion once awareness rises due to people trying to use Netflix/Hulu/Disney+ etc. Better to offer people a free tier to allow folk to WhatsApp, FB, tweet, whatever and effectively manage the bulk of traffic through the paid tier.
    - ridgered4 4y ago
      I recently flew across country with jetblue and since I haven't flown in over 10 years I appreciated the wifi. However, I found I couldn't stream a music video on my phone without buffering. Fortunately if I turned off the video the music played fine. It was OK for reading hacker news and the like. On the return flight it just didn't even work. Fortunately, I'd had newpipe download some content before we left.
- meowfly 4y ago
  I fly a lot too and that (assuming this is not a joke) seems abnormally low. I agree it is often not worth it though. Reasons not to use in-flight wifi: * It might be broken, but the credit card processing for some reason works fine. * If you are on a short haul flight, it's going to be disconnected for takeoff/landing so you will get a solid 30m * If you are on an international flight, it often stops work once you are over the ocean.
  - madeofpalk 4y ago
    > * If you are on a short haul flight, it's going to be disconnected for takeoff/landing so you will get a solid 30m I worked on inflight wifi for Qantas, where they share the highest trafficked route in the world - the 60 minute light between Sydney and Melbourne. It was a huge win for the project when we got clearance to enable wifi on the ground for takeoff.
AlecSchueler 4y ago
To be fair you can always choose to disconnect for a period of time. I understand if your job expects you to be online when possible but if you have difficulty disconnecting without an external pressure to be online you could consider talking to a therapist to help you manage your reliance, especially if it's bothering you significantly.
- wolfram74 4y ago
  could be about half of Americans could use therapy by that metric, as that's how many had unusued and thus forfeited time off in 2019[0]. Work culture is ill. [0] https://www.ustravel.org/press/study-record-768-million-us-vacation-days-went-unused-18-opportunity-cost-billions https://www.ustravel.org/press/study-record-768-million-us-v...
  - AlecSchueler 4y ago
    > Could be about half of Americans could use therapy I'd say that's a conservative estimate! Most people go for dental work etc., why ignore the mind in your health support regime?
- grishka 4y ago
  Flights are/were a universally understood, no-questions-asked excuse for someone to be offline. That's the nice thing about them.
  - madeofpalk 4y ago
    If the only reason you're allowed to be offline is because you're on a flight, i think there's much bigger problems that need sorting.
    - bombcar 4y ago
      And just say the wifi was down if you don't want to connect; it seems to be down half the time I want to use it anyway.
KoftaBob 4y ago
I see this take a lot, and I don't really understand it. I'm sure you know that you always have the option to just not use the in-flight wifi. Is it that the availability of the wifi will tempt you to use it, therefore removing the feeling of disconnect?
- timvdalen 4y ago
  For me it's more the _expectation_ that you can be reached that is the difference. Even if others might not really expect this from you, the possibility being there changes the situation.
  - KoftaBob 4y ago
    I see, that makes sense. In that case, it becomes more of a discussion of boundaries and proper work-life expectations.
selfmodruntime 4y ago
That is still your choice. On transatlantic flights a WIFI connection would be a godsend.
- jaywalk 4y ago
  The Gogo 2Ku service that Delta offers on TATL flights works very well.
  - selfmodruntime 4y ago
    Not everyone has the privilege to be American or use American airlines. I sadly don't.
moffkalast 4y ago
> Just sit back and try not to listen to the absolutely deafening roar of the turbofans. I had once planned to sleep on a 10h flight. It did not go to plan.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
segmondy 4y ago
No one is forcing you to connect, next time you fly. sit back, watch a movie, listen to music then sleep.
axus 4y ago
A few years ago, I didn't know how to feel about someone Internet streaming a medical podcast from their laptop speakers for hours on a long flight. Impressed at the connectivity, but annoyed.
- 93po 4y ago
  That's a strong "I'm sorry but do you have headphones? Respectfully I don't want to listen to this". Alternatively I bring earplugs to put in under my over-the-ear headphones, haha.

yosito 4y ago

To be fair, I fly about 30 times per year, and in the last ten years, I've found that the in-flight wifi actually worked approximately once.

pb7 4y ago
I have the same flight stats and I have only had to ask for a refund once because it straight up didn’t work for most of the flight. Many airlines have very usable internet now, some even for free (jetBlue).
- sebzim4500 4y ago
  It depends a lot where you fly. In my experience, flying over Europe means the internet will almost certainly be spotty at best, whereas flying over the US means that it will probably work well enough to be useful.
- ezfe 4y ago
  I fly jetBlue a fair amount and the free Wi-Fi is a joke
  - pb7 4y ago
    It must have gone downhill since my last flight with them. I vividly remember getting something like 18 Mbps in a speed test and was shocked that they were giving it away. This article from 2017 confirms that it was 15 Mbps at one time: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-travel-briefcase-airline-wifi-20171223-story.html https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-travel-briefcase-airl... It looks like they have since reduced the free tier to less than 1 Mbps and added a paid option that allows you to stream video.
    - bobdvb 4y ago
      It makes sense, if everyone streams then it'll create significant congestion once awareness rises due to people trying to use Netflix/Hulu/Disney+ etc. Better to offer people a free tier to allow folk to WhatsApp, FB, tweet, whatever and effectively manage the bulk of traffic through the paid tier.
  - ridgered4 4y ago
    I recently flew across country with jetblue and since I haven't flown in over 10 years I appreciated the wifi. However, I found I couldn't stream a music video on my phone without buffering. Fortunately if I turned off the video the music played fine. It was OK for reading hacker news and the like. On the return flight it just didn't even work. Fortunately, I'd had newpipe download some content before we left.
meowfly 4y ago
I fly a lot too and that (assuming this is not a joke) seems abnormally low. I agree it is often not worth it though. Reasons not to use in-flight wifi: * It might be broken, but the credit card processing for some reason works fine. * If you are on a short haul flight, it's going to be disconnected for takeoff/landing so you will get a solid 30m * If you are on an international flight, it often stops work once you are over the ocean.
- madeofpalk 4y ago
  > * If you are on a short haul flight, it's going to be disconnected for takeoff/landing so you will get a solid 30m I worked on inflight wifi for Qantas, where they share the highest trafficked route in the world - the 60 minute light between Sydney and Melbourne. It was a huge win for the project when we got clearance to enable wifi on the ground for takeoff.

AlecSchueler 4y ago

To be fair you can always choose to disconnect for a period of time. I understand if your job expects you to be online when possible but if you have difficulty disconnecting without an external pressure to be online you could consider talking to a therapist to help you manage your reliance, especially if it's bothering you significantly.

wolfram74 4y ago
could be about half of Americans could use therapy by that metric, as that's how many had unusued and thus forfeited time off in 2019[0]. Work culture is ill. [0] https://www.ustravel.org/press/study-record-768-million-us-vacation-days-went-unused-18-opportunity-cost-billions https://www.ustravel.org/press/study-record-768-million-us-v...
- AlecSchueler 4y ago
  > Could be about half of Americans could use therapy I'd say that's a conservative estimate! Most people go for dental work etc., why ignore the mind in your health support regime?
grishka 4y ago
Flights are/were a universally understood, no-questions-asked excuse for someone to be offline. That's the nice thing about them.
- madeofpalk 4y ago
  If the only reason you're allowed to be offline is because you're on a flight, i think there's much bigger problems that need sorting.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    And just say the wifi was down if you don't want to connect; it seems to be down half the time I want to use it anyway.

KoftaBob 4y ago

I see this take a lot, and I don't really understand it. I'm sure you know that you always have the option to just not use the in-flight wifi. Is it that the availability of the wifi will tempt you to use it, therefore removing the feeling of disconnect?

timvdalen 4y ago
For me it's more the _expectation_ that you can be reached that is the difference. Even if others might not really expect this from you, the possibility being there changes the situation.
- KoftaBob 4y ago
  I see, that makes sense. In that case, it becomes more of a discussion of boundaries and proper work-life expectations.

selfmodruntime 4y ago

That is still your choice. On transatlantic flights a WIFI connection would be a godsend.

jaywalk 4y ago
The Gogo 2Ku service that Delta offers on TATL flights works very well.
- selfmodruntime 4y ago
  Not everyone has the privilege to be American or use American airlines. I sadly don't.

moffkalast 4y ago

> Just sit back and try not to listen to the absolutely deafening roar of the turbofans. I had once planned to sleep on a 10h flight. It did not go to plan.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

segmondy 4y ago

No one is forcing you to connect, next time you fly. sit back, watch a movie, listen to music then sleep.

axus 4y ago

A few years ago, I didn't know how to feel about someone Internet streaming a medical podcast from their laptop speakers for hours on a long flight. Impressed at the connectivity, but annoyed.

93po 4y ago
That's a strong "I'm sorry but do you have headphones? Respectfully I don't want to listen to this". Alternatively I bring earplugs to put in under my over-the-ear headphones, haha.