American adding faster ViaSat WiFi to 500+ Aircraft
#61
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: KCGX
Posts: 144
N926AN for TPA-ORD this morning, fresh out of the maintenance hanger (although still incurring a 90 minute MX delay) with ViaSat installed. Looks like the charging has begun. Note the link for Gogo subscribers. I followed the link for a screenshot to login. Only Roaming partner is Boingo and my AMEX Plat Boingo benefit provided me with access. I also did a Speedtest from the gate.
#62
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: NYC, USA
Programs: AA EXP 3MM, Lifetime Platinum, Marriott Titanium, HH Gold
Posts: 10,967
Has anyone tried with an iPass account? (SmartConnect app) Does it recognize the ViaSat system and provision GoGo credentials correctly as on the legacy Ground-to-Air GoGo service?
#63
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 1
Just got off one of the older 737-800’s without Inflight Screens from SFO to ORD and can confirm that it had the new faster ViaSat WiFi and I had to pay to use the service. The service is way better than Gogo as I could afford to stream YouTube the whole time.
#64
Join Date: Feb 2007
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 503
At least when I'm at home, because it is my internet provider.
#65
Ambassador: Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 7,390
#66
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Texas
Programs: AA Exec Plat, Starwood Platinum
Posts: 244
Just had my first experience (LAA A321B from Denver to Dallas this evening) - and don’t think I can go back to Gogo. For 10 dollars - I can’t believe that Gogo used to charge up to 26 dollars for a single flight pass and we put up with the abysmal speeds.
In additon - the ability to get on the plane and continue to work on your laptop for half an hour is great from a productivity perspective (versus tethering to my phone which always has poor service sitting in a metal tube next to the terminal).
Im a huge fan.
In additon - the ability to get on the plane and continue to work on your laptop for half an hour is great from a productivity perspective (versus tethering to my phone which always has poor service sitting in a metal tube next to the terminal).
Im a huge fan.
#68
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold 75k, AAdvantage Executive Platinum
Posts: 197
Currently onboard N157AA, which according to the AA fleet site is the only 32B via ViaSat. Total surprise, and great service. It'll be hard to use ATG4 ever again, at least on a busy flight!
Streaming video works great, I'm able to use the 1080p60 streams on DirecTV Now without any stuttering
The service is still configured to be free of charge, which is surprising as well given the note about allowing a GoGo subscription to be used on the 737MAX.
If it won't remain free in the future, I do hope that iPass will work with it as it does on GoGo and the international Panasonic connections.
Hopefully ATG4 goes away quickly in favor of this and 2Ku!
Streaming video works great, I'm able to use the 1080p60 streams on DirecTV Now without any stuttering
The service is still configured to be free of charge, which is surprising as well given the note about allowing a GoGo subscription to be used on the 737MAX.
If it won't remain free in the future, I do hope that iPass will work with it as it does on GoGo and the international Panasonic connections.
Hopefully ATG4 goes away quickly in favor of this and 2Ku!
#69
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Currently onboard N157AA, which according to the AA fleet site is the only 32B via ViaSat. Total surprise, and great service. It'll be hard to use ATG4 ever again, at least on a busy flight!
Streaming video works great, I'm able to use the 1080p60 streams on DirecTV Now without any stuttering
The service is still configured to be free of charge, which is surprising as well given the note about allowing a GoGo subscription to be used on the 737MAX.
If it won't remain free in the future, I do hope that iPass will work with it as it does on GoGo and the international Panasonic connections.
Hopefully ATG4 goes away quickly in favor of this and 2Ku!
Streaming video works great, I'm able to use the 1080p60 streams on DirecTV Now without any stuttering
The service is still configured to be free of charge, which is surprising as well given the note about allowing a GoGo subscription to be used on the 737MAX.
If it won't remain free in the future, I do hope that iPass will work with it as it does on GoGo and the international Panasonic connections.
Hopefully ATG4 goes away quickly in favor of this and 2Ku!
Last edited by JDiver; Apr 20, 2018 at 9:33 pm
#70
Has anyone used both the new Viasat AND the new 2KU connections (they are A319s and A320s)? I am wondering how they compare from a users's perspective (ViaSat should be faster as its based on Ka not Ku frequencies, but maybe there's no apparent difference)
#73
Suspended
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
Not impressed with ViaSat yesterday. WiFi was working but streaming entertainment wasn't........see below. This should be fun once all the entertainment is ripped out of the planes:
#75
Suspended
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Diamond, AAdvantage EXP, Hyatt Explorist, HHonors Diamond, Avis First
Posts: 7,344
I usually would have, but as you'll see in my post in the domestic meals thread - the FC FA was extremely slow, had a CK asking for stuff the whole flight - I'm not even sure she would have known how to look into it. The FA almost forgot to even drop off my meal.......needless to say I didn't ask.