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JetBlue Giving All Passengers Free In-Flight 'Fly-Fi' High-Speed Wi-Fi (betanews.com)
BrianFagioli quotes a report from BetaNews: Today, JetBlue announced something miraculous for travelers. Every one of its passengers will have access to free in-flight high-speed Wi-Fi, which it calls "Fly-Fi." This is on every single aircraft in its fleet. In other words, if you are flying JetBlue, you get free high-speed internet "JetBlue's Fly-Fi, which clocks in at broadband speeds beating sluggish and pricey Wi-Fi offerings onboard other carriers, keeps customers connected with an Internet experience similar to what they have at home, including the ability to stream video and use multiple devices at once. The service enables JetBlue to deliver Amazon Video streaming entertainment to customers onboard to their personal devices, as well as web surfing and chatting on favorite messaging apps," says JetBlue. The vice president of JetBlue, Jamie Perry, explains, "It's 2017 and our customers expect to be connected everywhere, whether that be from the comfort of their sofa or 35,000 feet above it. That's why we're so proud that JetBlue is now the only airline to offer free, high-speed Wi-Fi, live TV and movies for all customers on every plane."
How much bandwidth per plane and how meany AP's?
On some just the free movies from an local server can buffer as lot's of people try to view them.
It's faster than
pinching pennies as usual....
They've actually had this for a while now but they only recently "announced" it since they only recently got it on every single airplane they have.
I use it all the time... it's GREAT. It even works on the ground! (not every airplane but most).
The TV is satellite based LiveTV and it's always running on the LCD monitors installed on the seat. It's totally independent of WiFi so it doesn't use bandwidth.
As for the WiFi, it works for everything except certain things like TeamViewer, although I have successfully used VPN to bypass this restriction. I think it allocated more bandwidth to Amazon for streaming but even with bandwidth management, it is still 100x faster than anything on American, United, Delta or Southwest. JetBlue's system is satellite based and super fast.
For those who want to understand why this is happening now, it's because JetBlue a few years ago chose to install in its planes the next generation of satellite-based internet onboard wifi systems. This is instead of what some earlier adopter airlines chose - namely air to ground (you may commonly know providers such as GoGo/Aircell in this category - which generally serves only the continental US footprint). ATG was cheaper and developed a bit faster because its infrastructure was cheaper to build, so naturally it took hold first for many airlines. Satellite internet at that time (Ku band and those older generations) struggled to offer a reasonable price, at a time when user adoption was not as strong as now (recall Boeing's failed Connexion offering).
Now the cost and weight of the receivers and onboard systems for satellite internet are dropping, and more airlines are seeing it as a beneft/potential revenue center.
And of course, when you have a satellite connection, you don't have to be above a certain altitude before the reception of ground signals works reliably.
ViaSat (the provider of JetBlue's systems on their A320/321s) claims that every passenger could have 12Mbps bandwidth, though I'm sure in practice not quite that much -- and definitely blocked for voice calls.
As always, the other airlines which had installed ATG now face the cost of having been early adopters to a technology that is now being displaced, and since there is a heavy $ to refitting passenger aircraft with new hardware, it will take a while for them to change out the old systems for newer satellite based technologies.
Wi-fi is all well and good but it doesn't help much once the power on your device is gone.
(damn subject line limits, 1 letter too short) I want to know how long before we admit that nobody is ever going to be allowed to smoke on a domestic flight in the USA again so the airlines can paint on a "No Smoking" sign and repurpose the "No Smoking" light to one where the pilot can indicate when we're allowed to get our portable electronic devices out or when it's time to put them away again.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
I'm a flight attendant.
People TRY to smoke on airplanes all the time. Besides being equivalent to slowly killing yourself and those around you, they sometimes start fires in the lavatories when they throw cigarettes in the trash. Smoking cause a lot of diversions since smoke on an airplane is a BIG deal.
Also, people also "vape" which, besides being just as bad for you and those around you, are also considered smoking.
The lack of knowledge on behalf of the flying public is truly something to see.
Any good on-the-job stories?
With most 'free' WiFi flight plans, the way one can access it would be by registering - be it giving them one's email, or somewhat better, giving them one's seat number. Is the same thing needed here, or is it just like accessing any real 'free' WiFi? Or do they have a password that enables this to be somewhat secure?
"repurpose the "No Smoking" light to one where the pilot can indicate when we're allowed to get our portable electronic devices out or when it's time to put them away again"
You mean like this? https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/...
How can anyone possibly think they can get away with a cigarette on an airplane? There's no way the stink could be contained, even in the lavatory. I can often smell it when the guy in front of my in traffic is smoking and I have my windows rolled up!
How can anyone possibly think they can get away with a cigarette on an airplane? There's no way the stink could be contained, even in the lavatory. I can often smell it when the guy in front of my in traffic is smoking and I have my windows rolled up!
You dont understand the mind of the average smoker.
The first thing is they have no idea how much and how badly they smell. Its usually the first thing ex-smokers figure out when they quit. Like you, if someone sparks up in a large room, anywhere I can smell it within a matter of seconds.
Secondly, they've convinced themselves that it's their gord-given right to smoke when and where they please. Rules don't apply to them. It's all a conspiracy by SJWs to take away their smokes. They'll shout and scream and threaten until the police come and collect them.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
No, I think the issue is regulation (extremely strict, and safe)
Costs are extremely high for airlines, but they're also the safest in the world right now.
However we agree on why prices are high, it seems to me that running an airline is difficult and getting people through the air is not cheap
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Perfect timing, I'm expecting to book a flight on JetBlue for my friend's wedding.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Many planes already have this. The last international flight I took with Iberian had a no mobile phone sign, so did my last Emirates flight early last year.
I smoked for nearly two decades -- I was always always self-conscious of the odor and for the last decade mostly smoked outside because I didn't like the odor in my house.
I would have never considered smoking on a plane or anywhere else where it was prohibited, that would have been crazy, you could never get away with it and the punishment was always severe.
About the only place I cheated where smoking was prohibited was an above ground parking ramp connected to my building. They prohibited smoking in the ramp, but I assumed it was more of a non-smoker complaining thing, since (a) the ramp was exposed to the open air, (b) it was filled with vehicle traffic, which meant more toxic output in a minute than 10 cigarettes. Regardless, I only used it as a smoke shelter at odd hours when doing maintenance when there was essentially nobody using the facility.
I smoked for nearly two decades -- I was always always self-conscious of the odor and for the last decade mostly smoked outside because I didn't like the odor in my house.
I would have never considered smoking on a plane or anywhere else where it was prohibited, that would have been crazy, you could never get away with it and the punishment was always severe.
About the only place I cheated where smoking was prohibited was an above ground parking ramp connected to my building. They prohibited smoking in the ramp, but I assumed it was more of a non-smoker complaining thing, since (a) the ramp was exposed to the open air, (b) it was filled with vehicle traffic, which meant more toxic output in a minute than 10 cigarettes. Regardless, I only used it as a smoke shelter at odd hours when doing maintenance when there was essentially nobody using the facility.
Fair enough, I'm an ex-smoker myself (haven't had one in over 15 years) but in my experience for every polite smoker, there's usually 10 arrogant ones. The plus side of this is that the polite ones stand out.
The thing is, its not that the ban on smoking on aircraft isn't common knowledge. Its just that some people think they can get away with it. In 2013 I had the misfortune of watching, ashamedly, another Australian shout at an Air Asia hostess for half an hour because he was caught smoking in the toilets. The flight was to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian cops do not mess about when it comes to airport security. This guy was bound and frogmarched off the plane at gunpoint (They bound his hands behind his head). I assume the next thing that happened to him was being put on another plane out of Malaysia. The thing is, if he hadn't of argued he'd probably have gotten away with it (would have avoided a lot of paperwork).
However, vehicle traffic emissions are nowhere near as toxic as cigarette smoke. 2 hours in a shed with an idling diesel is less harmful than one cigarette. The old hose pipe from the exhaust was always a very unsuccessful way to commit suicide as you'd just pass out until some one found you or you woke up with a stalled car. With modern vehicles, you probably wont even get that far. In the UK you'd be banned from smoking there because OH&S says you cant stand idly about high traffic area, they're more worried that you'd fall onto the road.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.