anhuang19

I've had this happen twice, usually solves itself once I delete all my cookies.

soartoday

Good news. Flying N596AS today, and wifi is working.

Looks like other retrofits have been happening too. https://alaskafleetstatus.weebly.com/

10.21.22N596AS (800) now equipped with 2Ku wi-fi

James Moore

I think the way it actually works is that right before the flight takes off, someone rolls a couple 6-sided dice, and if they roll a 2, 3, or 4, you don't get wifi at all, not even in-flight entertainment. I lost the roll going to HI (on one of the planes with newer equipment), and won the roll coming back. Always remember that even if you're on the right sort of plane nothing is guaranteed. When it does work wifi over the Pacific is pretty impressive though.

jakeller

I was on N557AS and N519AS between SEA and LIH (respectively) and both had 2KU installed. Got to watch our approach and landing using the Flightaware app on both ends!

MapleLeaf93

So Weebly says that the latest MAX9 (N953AK) was delivered on 11/14/2022. But interestingly, it says that it already has 2Ku wifi! Was that just a typo/cut-and-paste sloppiness, or are MAX9's really now rolling off the assembly line already equipped with 2Ku? If so, then that means if you're travelling to Hawaii on a 900 or MAX9, you're now 100% guaranteed to be on a plane equipped with 2Ku wifi (though whether the wifi is actually functioning is another story ). As for 800's, the number not yet equipped with 2Ku is now down to 9 (N536AS, N537AS, N560AS, N564AS, N579AS, N583AS, N584AS, N586AS, and N593AS) out of the 47 that are ETOPS-certified, so your chances are now greater than 80% that you'll have 2Ku if you're on an 800.

ExpatExp

Thanks for this. Looks like my A321 transcon next week will have wifi, which is great

mtofell

https://beatofhawaii.com/wi-fi-blues...-all-airlines/

Looks like everyone has pretty inconsistent wifi heading over the Pacific to Hawaii. Their AS experience was just that their "last two flights had none." In checking the fleet status of the737-800s that they mostly run (at least to from my home of Maui) there is one last plane that still needs to be updated to the 2ku wifi. I'm guessing the article is a bit outdated in their info or they are EXTREMELY unlucky.

IMO, AS has done a nice job updating the planes fairly quickly. IIRC, a year ago roughly half of the planes still had the outdated ATG-4 wifi that didn't work over the ocean. Even with the updated system it's far from perfect but works most of the time and I can usually stream my Youtube TV which is pretty nice. Definitely worth the $8.

SNAnghbr

The last hold out with AGT-4, N583AS, more than likely won't get 2Ku since it will probably be joining N584AS, already in Costa Rica, for freighter conversion.

MapleLeaf93

In fact, Weebly has actually jumped the gun a bit in proclaiming that 100% of the 737-800's have 2Ku wifi. That 100% figure is based on 59 aircraft in service (down from 61 in anticipation of N583AS and N584AS being converted to freighters), even though they currently still have 60 in service, since N583AS is still in service (and in the last two weeks, N583AS has even made two flights to Hawaii and back, including an OGG-PDX segment @mtofell ).

Other than that, new 737-MAX9's look like they're still being retrofitted with 2Ku about 1 to 2 weeks after being brought into revenue service. A few months ago, a couple of newly-delivered planes (N961AK and N962AK) weren't put into revenue service until after they were retrofitted with 2Ku, so I was hopeful that would be the procedure moving forward. Unfortunately, the three planes delivered since then have all been brought into revenue service without 2Ku (N963AK and N964AK were retrofitted after about 1 to 2 weeks, while the jury is still out on when N967AK will be retrofitted, since it was only brought into revenue service a week and a half ago). So for the next year or two, it looks like there's still going to be a slim possibility that your Hawaii flight will end up on a 737-MAX9 that has just been brought into revenue service and not retrofitted with 2Ku yet.

MapleLeaf93

I have T-Mobile, so I always just use the free wifi, but I guess that's considerably worse compared to the $8 service? I tried on multiple flights to stream the NHL playoffs on ESPN+ and sportsnet.ca (well, until my namesake team was booted earlier this month ), but I could not get it to work at all. I suppose it's to be expected given that the T-Mobile service is likely throttled to death, but if people generally have decent/watchable streaming experiences with the $8 service, perhaps I'll give that a try next season.

scklumb

I use the free T-Mobile service and stream YouTube all the time without issue.

Bay Area Blue

N967AK is scheduled to go in tomorrow to start 2Ku mod.

italdesign

is it $8 per device, or $8 for multiple devices?

mtofell

Per device. But T-Mobile phones on most plans can get it for free. I say "most" because up until recently it was all but they just changed and the lower tier plans get a limited # or uses... Or, some super-low level might not get any.

RedPanda5

certain android phones allow you to share a wifi connection via hotspot, i carry an extra pixel 6a (work phone) so i can pay once and connect 2x laptops and 3x phones (myself and SO)