HomerJay

Has gogo gotten worse lately?

Oh, God. Yes.

LaneW

It has always been poor, but yes, worse these days. I flew SEA - RDU this week, long flight, and was bumped repeatedly from snail paced connection. On chat with Gogo they blamed that I had Dropbox running. I stopped it - no improvement. Very tired of wasting my money.

UAPremierExec

its been hit or miss.

JNU-SEA the other day was aweful.

ANC-JNU was super fast.

LAX-ANC - was tolerable

MCO-LAX (VX, not-satellite) -had its moments where i thought I had a T1, then other moments I swore it was 1994 with a 24.4 baud modem.

Chugach

ANC-JNU always seems to cut out for about 15 minutes around Yakutat.

LAX-ANC is very dependent on the route. If the winds favor taking a shortcut over the Pacific and Gulf of Alaska then there are large swaths of that flight without internet.

LaneW

Flew MSP - SEA today. Gogo was terrible, slow, disconnecting multiple times. Is anything going to be done?

IStream

I've noticed that GoGo seems to have a hard time with altitude changes. Once the plane stays at a given flight level it's more stable. Same goes for rapid turns.

bmvaughn

I see today they announced 2KU... so hopefully that improves things once it's installed fleetwide (in a few years)

dave1013

Alaska Airlines invests in guest experience with next-generation Gogo 2Ku satellite Wi-Fi

Alaska Airlines has selected Gogo to provide next-generation satellite-based inflight Wi-Fi service across its entire Boeing and Airbus fleet. Gogo's broadband 2Ku service provides the significantly faster connection speed needed to stream content from services like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO GO while in the air. Utilizing this advanced technology, guests can use their devices in flight just as they would on the ground.

The satellite-based service delivers 20 times more bandwidth than Gogo's air-to-ground (ATG) product and offers the freedom of having Wi-Fi virtually everywhere Alaska's Boeing and Airbus mainline jets fly, including allowing guests to stay connected when traveling outside the continental U.S. to popular destinations like Hawaii, Mexico, and Costa Rica, where connectivity was previously unavailable.

"We conducted an extensive review to find a satellite Wi-Fi solution that will allow us to give our guests full coverage across our route map, including in the state of Alaska and on flights to Hawaii," said Andrew Harrison, chief commercial officer for Alaska Airlines. "Our guests will soon be able to connect in the air just as they do out and about on the ground. This makes traveling more relaxing as well as productive – whether you're scrolling through Facebook, checking email, or watching what's trending on YouTube."

Once an Alaska aircraft is equipped with satellite, guests will no longer have to wait until the plane reaches 10,000 feet to get online. Gogo's 2Ku service provides internet access from gate-to-gate, with speeds similar to those of wireless carriers on the ground. Alaska will be revealing pricing for its planned satellite Wi-Fi service in the near future and guests can expect that prices will be lower than they are today for ATG service, with options available such as hourly and daily rates.

"We are excited to partner with Alaska to bring their guests a new onboard connectivity experience with 2Ku," said Michael Small, Gogo's president and CEO. "2Ku is the leading inflight internet solution on the market today in terms of bandwidth delivered to each passenger device, coverage and reliability. We have market-leading satellite capacity with the ability to add more. We continue to innovate and improve the technology to make sure 2Ku will keep Alaska ahead of the technology curve for the foreseeable future."

Free Chat and movies on Virgin America flights
Additionally, the airline today announced that guests on flights operated by Virgin America now have access to Free Chat and free movies – two benefits already available to guests flying on Alaska.

With Free Chat, guests flying with Virgin America can now use iMessage, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger on their smartphones to send greetings from 35,000 feet - for free. Since the introduction of Free Chat to Alaska earlier this year, more than 1 million guests have used it to stayed connected while in the air.

All entertainment on Virgin America's RED in-flight entertainment system is now free, including new releases, classics and independent films, as well as all TV. Free entertainment became a permanent feature on Alaska in March.

"Free Chat and free movies are extremely popular on Alaska Airlines flights and we're happy to extend these features to our guests flying with Virgin America," Harrison said. "We continue to evaluate and evolve the onboard experience to deliver an exceptional and consistent guest experience at a great value."

The Gogo 2Ku service will be installed on Alaska's Boeing 737 aircraft beginning in the first half of 2018, with 40 to 50 planes expected to be completed by the end of the year. The remainder of Alaska and Virgin America's mainline fleet will be fully satellite Wi-Fi equipped by early 2020. Regional jets operated by Horizon Air and SkyWest, which serve shorter flights, will continue to offer Gogo's ATG4 internet service (including Free Chat) along with free movies and TV.

Lake_Hood

Relatively slow roll out, but overall not complaining. Much needed, the current solution is barley usable.

dmodemd

>>Gogo's broadband 2Ku service provides the significantly faster connection speed needed to stream content from services like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO GO while in the air.

A professor once said in my networking class in the early 90s: "as soon as new bandwidth is made available, users find a way to squander it..."

With everyone on the plane trying to stream, it will be even worse than it is today.

VibeGuy

This further Balkanization of the E175 fleet is a bad move; if you're going to operate some city pairs with a mix of mainline and e175 equipment, the optics of running "nice" planes with power at seat and fast/cheap satellite internet and "not nice" planes with no power and ATG/expensive internet are goodwill death.

My only hope is that this is simply Gogo not wanting to show their hand about an E175 2KU product just yet.

tusphotog

Sounds like free chat is disappearing with the 2Ku system?

Anyone know if the current Gogo subscription will work with that or is the 2Ku paid and billed separately?

channa

JetBlue offers free Internet to everybody and the bandwidth is fine. The technology exists, it's a matter of paying for it.

Gogo 2Ku is excellent -- I've used it on DL, and it's reasonable. By the time it gets slow, there will be something new to pay for again.

fly18725

Gogo 2KU is not certified for the E175 and Embraer has not yet committed to enabling/supporting certification.

PWMTrav

I'm with you, especially when the E75 is otherwise a nicer ride than the entire mainline 737 fleet.