5 ms·

The WiFi on Virgin America has grown steadfastly slower as more people became aware of it, and despite the $10-$17 price point, has now reached the point of bei

The WiFi on Virgin America has grown steadfastly slower as more people became aware of it, and despite the $10-$17 price point, has now reached the point of being nearly totally unusable on most of my flights. Unless Jet Blue has a solution to provide significantly more bandwidth, I can't imagine that free WiFi is going to be less saturated than the paid option on Virgin.

raldi 14y ago
They claim it will have "exponentially more bandwidth than any other product in commercial aviation today". I know that's an incorrect and meaningless use of the term "exponential", but the bottom line is they're claiming it will be a lot faster: http://www.jetblue.com/flying-on-jetblue/wifi/ http://www.jetblue.com/flying-on-jetblue/wifi/
- d503 14y ago
  It's claimed the system will offer 12mbps or more to each passenger via ViaSat-1, which should offer 140 Gbps total throughput ("the highest capacity satellite in the world" with "more capacity than all current North American satellites combined") http://www.viasat.com/news/new-exede-internet-for-commercial-airlines-viasat-designed-deliver-12-mbps-each-passenger-flight http://www.viasat.com/news/new-exede-internet-for-commercial...
ChuckMcM 14y ago
Person on the flight next to my wife, plunks down double digit dollars for WiFi and then clicks the NetFlix app on the iPad for their kid. It was a problem. A problem because the kid was not well behaved, the kid was in full on you-deny-me-this-at-your-peril whine/rant/scream. Mom was beside herself tring to figure out why the network was "working" but NetFlix wasn't, the Mom had zero technical grasp of what networks are all about (and why should she?). As an engineer it really demonstrated how badly the tech community can abuse the expectations of the non-tech community. Southwest paid a heavy goodwill cost on that flight, I think that impedes the roll out of these services.
atlbeer 14y ago
Agreed. I flew for business on Delta cross country frequently and used to quite enjoy my "wifi-time" when I could work without phone interruption for 2-4 hours at a time. Google then had a free wifi special for holiday season and it essentially became unusable. Prices are a very good thing.

raldi 14y ago

They claim it will have "exponentially more bandwidth than any other product in commercial aviation today". I know that's an incorrect and meaningless use of the term "exponential", but the bottom line is they're claiming it will be a lot faster: http://www.jetblue.com/flying-on-jetblue/wifi/ http://www.jetblue.com/flying-on-jetblue/wifi/

d503 14y ago
It's claimed the system will offer 12mbps or more to each passenger via ViaSat-1, which should offer 140 Gbps total throughput ("the highest capacity satellite in the world" with "more capacity than all current North American satellites combined") http://www.viasat.com/news/new-exede-internet-for-commercial-airlines-viasat-designed-deliver-12-mbps-each-passenger-flight http://www.viasat.com/news/new-exede-internet-for-commercial...

ChuckMcM 14y ago

Person on the flight next to my wife, plunks down double digit dollars for WiFi and then clicks the NetFlix app on the iPad for their kid. It was a problem. A problem because the kid was not well behaved, the kid was in full on you-deny-me-this-at-your-peril whine/rant/scream. Mom was beside herself tring to figure out why the network was "working" but NetFlix wasn't, the Mom had zero technical grasp of what networks are all about (and why should she?). As an engineer it really demonstrated how badly the tech community can abuse the expectations of the non-tech community. Southwest paid a heavy goodwill cost on that flight, I think that impedes the roll out of these services.

atlbeer 14y ago

Agreed. I flew for business on Delta cross country frequently and used to quite enjoy my "wifi-time" when I could work without phone interruption for 2-4 hours at a time. Google then had a free wifi special for holiday season and it essentially became unusable. Prices are a very good thing.