How Inflight Wifi Works • Hacker News Board

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#11

Post by vacri » Thu, Nov 19, 2015, 9:03 PM UTC

devy wrote: post #7

This paragraph is absurd. Not sure if the author was excessively exaggerating or this is true. Can someone who's a domain expert or is familiar with the device to clarify why in-flight WAPs are 10x more expensive but 10x more fragile? Cosmic rays? Called Wireless Access Points (or WAPs), these black boxes function similarly to Wi-Fi routers that would be found in a home, but because they’re on an airplane, they cost…

Can't speak to the fragility, but when a home WAP typically only costs $50, a 10x increase in cost for an aerospace item is trivial.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#12

Post by untog » Thu, Nov 19, 2015, 9:03 PM UTC

ape4 wrote: post #5

mindslight wrote: post #2

What's with the insistence on demand for streaming music or video on a plane? Do these people also forgo packing a suitcase and just rebuy everything as needed?

When you buy your ticket (online of course) you could also select a movie to download. It could be available on the plane's LAN for you.

There are already systems that provide that - stream over the inflight Wifi from a movie box somewhere on the plane. Provided I have a power outlet I prefer it to the usual system because my laptop screen is so much better than the in-seat TV.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#13

Post by btrask » Thu, Nov 19, 2015, 9:05 PM UTC

While on a flight recently, I realized... Why doesn't Google sponsor free in-flight WiFi? It would be much easier than Google Fiber or Project Loon, and it would let them deliver more ads to a fairly wealthy group of people.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#14

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Nov 19, 2015, 9:05 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #4

mindslight wrote: post #2

What's with the insistence on demand for streaming music or video on a plane? Do these people also forgo packing a suitcase and just rebuy everything as needed?

Are you saying that they should pre-download movies and music to listen to on the plane? I use Google Play for music because it's pretty okay at letting me cache local music on my phone, but I have no idea how well Rdio, Spotify, or Pandora do that. I don't think there's a way to do it on your computer at all, so if you only have a work phone that you don't keep music on, streaming music might be your only option if…

[deleted]

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#15

Post by cryptoz » Thu, Nov 19, 2015, 9:08 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #9

devy wrote: post #7

This paragraph is absurd. Not sure if the author was excessively exaggerating or this is true. Can someone who's a domain expert or is familiar with the device to clarify why in-flight WAPs are 10x more expensive but 10x more fragile? Cosmic rays? Called Wireless Access Points (or WAPs), these black boxes function similarly to Wi-Fi routers that would be found in a home, but because they’re on an airplane, they cost…

Sounds like it's more of a joke, but I bet it feels like they break down more often - it's probably not trivial to just powercycle it mid-flight like you would your router at home.

I have used in-flight WiFi on about 10 to 15 flights, and I would say that about half those times it either breaks midway through the flight or it doesn't work at all. From my anecdotal experience the failure rate is more like 100x higher than home WiFi.

Not that I'm complaining, it's magical to even get WiFi for a few seconds in an airplane. I try to hold the same attitude as Louis CK on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFsOUbZ0Lr0

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#16

Post by ghaff » Thu, Nov 19, 2015, 9:13 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #10

kingosticks wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Spotify android app supports offline playback. I've not used the desktop client in long time buy it probably still does too. I've never been on a plane that offered wifi but I've never flown internally in the US. I quite enjoy being properly disconnected for the duration of my annual London to San Francisco flight but maybe if I did it more regularly I wouldn't.

What do you do while you're disconnected? (Other than sleep, I assume that the London->San Francisco flight is probably over eight hours.

Closer to 12 hours.

Read, watch videos that I've downloaded (unless there are on-demand movies), listen to music/podcasts, play games on my tablet, snooze.

Maybe it's just a function of traveling a lot but I've pretty much got a system down for my in-flight entertainment. I don't really care that much about in-flight Wi-Fi. Sometimes I really need to work on something but generally I find it's hard to use a laptop on a plane unless I'm flying business.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#17

Post by hueving » Thu, Nov 19, 2015, 9:19 PM UTC

cryptoz wrote: post #15

pavel_lishin wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like it's more of a joke, but I bet it feels like they break down more often - it's probably not trivial to just powercycle it mid-flight like you would your router at home.

I have used in-flight WiFi on about 10 to 15 flights, and I would say that about half those times it either breaks midway through the flight or it doesn't work at all. From my anecdotal experience the failure rate is more like 100x higher than home WiFi. Not that I'm complaining, it's magical to even get WiFi for a few seconds in an airplane. I try to hold the same attitude as Louis CK on this topic: https://www.yout…

It's not really the WiFi component that is unreliable though. It's the connection to the ground. Every time the Internet connection breaks down, the WiFi connection itself is fine.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#18

Post by TeMPOraL » Thu, Nov 19, 2015, 9:20 PM UTC

mindslight wrote: post #2

What's with the insistence on demand for streaming music or video on a plane? Do these people also forgo packing a suitcase and just rebuy everything as needed?

> Do these people also forgo packing a suitcase and just rebuy everything as needed?

I've heard that it's actually a pretty viable travel strategy in some areas of the world.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#19

Post by ghaff » Thu, Nov 19, 2015, 9:22 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #4

mindslight wrote: post #2

What's with the insistence on demand for streaming music or video on a plane? Do these people also forgo packing a suitcase and just rebuy everything as needed?

Are you saying that they should pre-download movies and music to listen to on the plane? I use Google Play for music because it's pretty okay at letting me cache local music on my phone, but I have no idea how well Rdio, Spotify, or Pandora do that. I don't think there's a way to do it on your computer at all, so if you only have a work phone that you don't keep music on, streaming music might be your only option if…

>Are you saying that they should pre-download movies and music to listen to on the plane?

Um, yes? It doesn't really seem like a huge deal. On the other hand, I have a fairly large music library on my phone and carry a tablet for movies and other things.

Re: How Inflight Wifi Works

#20

Post by larrik » Thu, Nov 19, 2015, 9:24 PM UTC

devy wrote: post #7

This paragraph is absurd. Not sure if the author was excessively exaggerating or this is true. Can someone who's a domain expert or is familiar with the device to clarify why in-flight WAPs are 10x more expensive but 10x more fragile? Cosmic rays? Called Wireless Access Points (or WAPs), these black boxes function similarly to Wi-Fi routers that would be found in a home, but because they’re on an airplane, they cost…

Certifications usually account for pricing. My father's small plane has a rather simple radio that costs $5k because it's the only one certified to go into his specific plane. You could get a functionally identical radio for under $50, but using it in his plane would be illegal.