Originally Posted by
Kacee
There are plenty of complaints about slow internet on the Ka equipped aircraft as well.
The fastest airborne download speeds I've seen have been on the Ka system. But I've also had very respectable (18 mbs) speeds on the Ku band aircraft.
And note that the Ku is not installed just on the 747/772, but the entire widebody (and 752 international) fleet, as well as the 319/320s.
IME the Ku system is more than adequate for everything except video streaming. The biggest issue with both Ka and Ku is latency, which makes using apps such as Citrix extremely frustrating.
Latency on Ku is 1000ms minimum, latency on Ka is ~300ms minimum, so far preferred for Citrix.
And yes, you're correct. And really, more accurately, the Ku system was ordered for the entire PMUA fleet (except PS), while the Ka system was ordered for the PMCO domestic 737 fleet and later added for the international fleet under the PMUA contract. It took them years to get the STC for both.
9 out of 10 times on the Ka I get great performance. From time to time it gets spotty.
The Ku system may work just fine for now (I wholly disagree, having been on multiple full 747s on a daytime flights - it was useless. Even worse on 757-2 w/ Ku daytime SFO-EWR), but the Ka system is better future proofed from a technology perspective; the deployment of satellites just needs to catch up. Streaming video will be the future of in-seat entertainment, not onboard servers.