Tried the wifi on the BA0195 from LHR-IAH yesterday.

Firstly, bought the messaging full flight package (£4.99). I couldn't send any messages, I did receive an e-mail after an hour or so. Most of the time I couldn't even get a single 32 byte packet of data through (tested by pinging microsoft.com or ba.com).

In case it was the cheapo package that was the problem I then bought the full flight package advertised for streaming, web browsing etc (£17.99). I left my laptop connected for the full 8 hour flight, but it failed to send an e-mail with a 600KB attachment.

So, neither seemed suitable for purpose. I didn't complain directly, but I overheard numerous other complaints (with no resolution).

Is this normal for transatlantic/over USA? Or was there a specific issue with this flight?

It really would be better to have nothing at all I think - it would at least have meant I could get another couple of hours sleep (or champagne time) instead of trying in vain to do some work...

Do BA do refunds?