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United Launches Satellite-Based Wi-Fi Service

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Old May 22, 2013, 7:52 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: gengar
Wifi Completion Status (Last Updated: 1/16/2015)
United Wi-Fi installation

Mainland USA
  • B737 - 187/253 Complete (74%)
  • B757 - 26/133 Complete (20%)

Worldwide Coverage
  • A319 - 55/55 Complete (100%)
  • A320 - 97/97 Complete (100%)
  • B747 - 24/24 Complete (100%)
  • B767 - 2/51 Complete (4%)
  • B777 - 42/74 Complete (57%)
  • B787 - 3/14 Complete (21%)

Worldwide Coverage Area
Satellite coverage may experience outages for reasons such as government regulations, weather and switching between satellite regions.

Gogo (PS Flights) Coverage Area


Pricing Data Points
City Pair / ~ Duration / Standard Cost / Premium Cost / Comments on Quality
747-400 (Panasonic):
  • SFO-FRA / 10 hrs / ?? / $22.99 / (5/2013) Peak speed was 6.5Mbps down, 2Mbps up. 700ms latency. awesome. (unavaca)
  • HNL-NRT / 8 hrs / $14.99 / $22.99 / The service worked all the way across the pacific, I was surprised at how reliable it was. The speediest I did topped out at .26mb, hardly "premium", but if you're ok with general web browsing and chatting with iMessage, it worked like a champ.
  • LAX-SYD / 14 hrs / $16.99 / No premium options. (Col Ronson) 3Mbps download speed test, worked for 95% of flight
  • SFO-HKG / 15 hrs / $16.99 / No premium option / (1/2014) (unavaca) speedtest immediately after wi-fi was available gave 700ms, 7Mbit down, 0.5Mbit up
  • BKK-NRT / 5 hr / $16.99 / No premium option / (SS255)
  • PEK-SFO / 11 hr / $16.99 / No premium option / Net access kept going down over the Pacific / Ookla speedtest 3.09 Mbps down, 0.23 Mbps up, 894ms RTT.

A319/A320 (Panasonic):
  • EWR-SFO / 6 hrs / $12.99 / $19.99 (IIRC)
  • EWR-SFO / 6 hrs / $14.99 / no premium option (3/2014) (greg99) speedtest 2498kbps d/l and an awesome 95kbps u/l (not a typo) 578ms latency
  • SFO-PHL / ~5.5 hrs / $14.99 / no premium option (4/2014) (qisu) didn't do speed test. good part of the flight had slow speed or no connection at all.
  • PHL-SFO / 6 hrs / $12.99 / no premium option (4/2014) (qisu) speedtest 2-3megabits down.
  • PHL-IAH / 4 hrs / $9.99 / $12.99 (IIRC, standard may have been $7.99?)
  • PHL-IAH / 3 hrs / $6.99 / no premium option [10/2013]
  • ORD-LAS / 3.5 hrs / $7.99 / No premium option. (lenscap)
  • ORD-SEA / 4 hrs / $9.99 / No premium option. (qisu)
  • ORD-LAX / 4 hrs / $8.99 / No premium option / speedtest peak 3mbps, average 600kbps to 1.5mbps
  • ORD-YVR / 4 hrs / $8.99 / No premium option / speedtest 3.86 Mbps to 10.70 Mbps down / 0.18 to 0.37 Mbps up - very reliable throughout the flight
  • IAD-LAX / 5 hrs / $12.99 / No premium option / speedtest peak 1.5mbps, average 400kbps to 800kbps, worked for 80% of flight but pretty spotty at times, but at least FA announced signal was poor
  • IAD-SEA / 5 hrs / $12.99 / No premium option / A319
  • SFO-LAX / 1 hr / $3.99 / No premium option / A319 (greg99)
  • SFO-ORD / 4 hr / $9.99 / No premium option / A320 / Pretty reliable, up most of the flight
  • IAH-SEA / 4.5 hrs / $8.99 / no premium option A320 (6/2014) (qisu) speedtest 5megabits down, 0.2 megabits up.

City Pair / ~ Duration / Standard or Limited Access Cost / Premium or Full Access Cost / Comments on Quality
737s (Thales LiveTV): [prices are per-hour]
  • IAH-TPA / ?? / $1 / $2 / (2/2014) (ssullivan) 23-25Mbps downstream (Premium/full access service). No service over Gulf of Mexico.
  • MIA-EWR / 2 hr / $1 / $2 / (3/2014) (hirohito888) 16Mbps down, 1Mbps up [not sure if this is for the regular or full access]
  • PDX-IAH / 4 hr / $1 / $2 / (4/2014) (qisu) regular was very slow, speed test about 100kilobits down.
  • SEA-IAH / 4 hr / $1 / $2 / (5/2014) (edcho) full access was speedy. 22 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up. Ping was 700ms.
  • SEA-IAH / 4 hr / $1 / $2 / (6/2014) (qisu) full access, 5-15 Mbps down, 0.2 Mbps up.
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United Launches Satellite-Based Wi-Fi Service

   
Old Jan 15, 2013, 10:48 am
  #16  
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: PBI
Programs: DL Plat, B6 Mosaic
Posts: 427
Great news! Thanks for giving us the 'first look'! ^
CKinMD is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 10:50 am
  #17  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Silver
Posts: 1,155
Originally Posted by goalie
So my questions are:

Do those in premium cabins get it for free? Yeah I know that the word "free" is not to be spoken publicly in the new world order but I'd still like to know?
Will top tier elites get it for free (see above comments about "free") or at a discount?
It definitely won't be free. Premium passengers are price insensitive, and no other airlines offer wifi free of charge to premium passengers.
blug is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 11:12 am
  #18  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
Originally Posted by cyclogenesis
Good stuff..
It would be excellent if United could integrate into its system the ability to tell if flights are enabled with this technology. Knowledge before a flight would change my preparation and would actually make me a much more likely purchaser.
Pretty sure that the flight status/amenities section of the website has the connectivity, too.

Originally Posted by uastarflyer
Is the system on the one 747 also doing the wireless streaming of content?

Is the 747 streaming (not Internet connectivity but streaming content) going to have a charge or will it be free?
Yes and free.
sbm12 is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 11:14 am
  #19  
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, AA, DL
Posts: 7,417
Originally Posted by Axey
Hoping deployment will go a bit quicker than fleet-wide in-seat power promised by United in, you know, 1998. 15 years later, still waiting.
Ha! Everyone's iPad will crap out 3-5 hours into the 13-16 hour TPAC flights.
drewguy is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 11:17 am
  #20  
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 98
Wondering if they will have a provision in place to have wifi on multiple devices (e.g., PC and iPad) or whether the user would have to pay twice.
EggSS4 is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 11:19 am
  #21  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
Originally Posted by EggSS4
Wondering if they will have a provision in place to have wifi on multiple devices (e.g., PC and iPad) or whether the user would have to pay twice.
I would expect the latter. Otherwise I'd buy once for the whole plane.

Originally Posted by Axey
Hoping deployment will go a bit quicker than fleet-wide in-seat power promised by United in, you know, 1998. 15 years later, still waiting.
From UA:
By the end of 2013, in-seat power outlets are planned to be available on all Boeing 747 aircraft in United Economy.
Last edited by iluv2fly; Jan 15, 2013 at 12:20 pm Reason: merge
sbm12 is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 11:25 am
  #22  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Jersey Shore/YYZ
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC
Posts: 12,521
Originally Posted by cyclogenesis
Good stuff..
It would be excellent if United could integrate into its system the ability to tell if flights are enabled with this technology. Knowledge before a flight would change my preparation and would actually make me a much more likely purchaser.
Already possible. Look at United Fleet Status for the wi-fi equipped tail numbers** and then match up with your flights (within 3 days) or just
use the "flight status" on UA.

**N802UA and N806UA - running UA 795 and UA 716 as we speak.

Inflight Entertainment:
Wi-Fi access is available for purchase on this flight. Overhead video and audio programming are available. Or listen to live cockpit communications with air traffic control on Channel 9, a feature that's unique to United
aacharya is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 11:30 am
  #23  
 
Join Date: Jan 1999
Location: Too many
Programs: Lots
Posts: 5,761
Originally Posted by sbm12
From UA:

By the end of 2013, in-seat power outlets are planned to be available on all Boeing 747 aircraft in United Economy.
Neat. Now let's go back to the whole "fleetwide" thing.
Axey is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 11:43 am
  #24  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Mry
Programs: UA silver (soft landing from 1K), AA plat, HHonors gold, Ambassador club, DC
Posts: 92
cant wait to try it out.
mrydoc is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 11:46 am
  #25  
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Programs: United
Posts: 207
the capitan announced the availability of the wifi on IAH-IAD A319 yesterday but then 5 min later said it was not available. i was able to connect with my ipad and see the login (payment page). it has a tab for wifi where you can pay ($6.99) and a tab for flight information where you can see the route map, flight time, etc. and the flight information page is free.
opusone is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 11:47 am
  #26  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Programs: UA 1MM Gold, Delta Gold, HH ◊, SPG Gold
Posts: 297
Originally Posted by SFO_Runner
Awesome. Time to buy that WiFi to WiFi router and resell UA's offering to other FT'ers at a cut rate
...and also sign up for Square so you can take their payment using the wi-fi
tkflyer is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 11:48 am
  #27  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Programs: UA PP, AA, DL, BA, CX, SPG, HHonors
Posts: 2,002
international WiFi is really helpful! i can live without internet for 2 hours between NYC and ORD, but being disconnected from the world for 16 hours is a different level altogether.

$15-20 for a 10+ hour long haul flight is more than fair. sure beats go-go charging you that amount for a mid-con !
787fan is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 11:52 am
  #28  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: SJC/SFO
Programs: SPG Plat
Posts: 1,017
Originally Posted by UA Insider
Customers have the choice of two speeds: Standard, priced initially between $3.99 and $14.99 depending on the duration of flight, and Accelerated, priced initially between $5.99 and $19.99 and offering faster download speeds than Standard.
Can you please be more specific between "standard" and "faster than standard" speeds?
AZjohns is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 12:01 pm
  #29  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Jersey Shore/YYZ
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC
Posts: 12,521
Originally Posted by AZjohns
Can you please be more specific between "standard" and "faster than standard" speeds?
http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...wifi/faqs.aspx
aacharya is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2013, 12:11 pm
  #30  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Southern California
Programs: UA Platinum, Marriott Gold, SPG Gold, Club Carlson Gold
Posts: 317
Excellent news - I would use this service if it was at a fair price. But there really should be some discount for elites...throw us a bone!
groobie is offline  

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