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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.
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.
(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.
Already a solved problem on JetBlue, they have at-seat 110V outlets and USB ports at a ratio of 1:1 for their higher class seating, and 2:3 for "core" (coach).
Also device battery life has drastically improved. I have a Chromebook that's 3 years old, and even streaming high-def video (the most energy intensive thing you can really do with one) the battery lasts 8 hours. Simple web browsing and the battery seems to last forever - I've gone up to 3 days without charging it while on vacation (extremely useful if you only have 1 functioning international outlet in your hotel room).
As for phones, those plug-in USB power packs are $10 and will bring you back to at least 75% charge.
Running out of power on any public transit is a solved problem even if the transit provider refuses to give you outlets (I'm looking at you, MBTA!).
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.
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.
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.