Got the Wi-Fi aircraft yesterday from SYD-BNE and it's not bad!
Apr 19, 2017, 8:45 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Programs: BA Gold, Mucci
Posts: 2,068
Got the Wi-Fi aircraft yesterday from SYD-BNE and it's not bad!
Flying from SYD-BNE yesterday and got the Wi-Fi aircraft randomly. Staff from the company who designed the landing page were handing out surveys at the gate and asking passengers if they would complete them.
On board they made at least two announcements about it, saying that they were partnering with Spotify and Netflix and to download the apps before take-off if you wanted to use them. Anyway, it's supposed to work from doors closed and it wasn't working for me.
After take-off someone came by and I overheard, "I've never seen that before, we'll have to reset it!". An announcement made that it would be 10 minutes.
It worked less than 10 minutes later and I tried it on my phone and it worked well. I had my laptop too so I streamed Netflix for a few minutes and it worked just fine with no buffering. Web browsing and all the rest worked too. It then went down half way through descent so I put the laptop away and when I sat down it was working again on my phone.
Anyway, it's a pretty good service! I did a speed test and all the rest of it too. Interestingly, a fellow blogger flew the Virgin Wi-Fi aircraft the same day and also did a speed test. Looks like the ping is about half the time on Virgin and the upload speed two to three times faster on Virgin. Download is the same, however the Qantas speed decreased as the flight went on (more devices?)
I reviewed it on the blog I write for (link in my signature) if you want to see all the pics and the speed test results and so on. Anyone else tried it out yet?
On board they made at least two announcements about it, saying that they were partnering with Spotify and Netflix and to download the apps before take-off if you wanted to use them. Anyway, it's supposed to work from doors closed and it wasn't working for me.
After take-off someone came by and I overheard, "I've never seen that before, we'll have to reset it!". An announcement made that it would be 10 minutes.
It worked less than 10 minutes later and I tried it on my phone and it worked well. I had my laptop too so I streamed Netflix for a few minutes and it worked just fine with no buffering. Web browsing and all the rest worked too. It then went down half way through descent so I put the laptop away and when I sat down it was working again on my phone.
Anyway, it's a pretty good service! I did a speed test and all the rest of it too. Interestingly, a fellow blogger flew the Virgin Wi-Fi aircraft the same day and also did a speed test. Looks like the ping is about half the time on Virgin and the upload speed two to three times faster on Virgin. Download is the same, however the Qantas speed decreased as the flight went on (more devices?)
I reviewed it on the blog I write for (link in my signature) if you want to see all the pics and the speed test results and so on. Anyone else tried it out yet?
Apr 19, 2017, 8:57 pm
#2
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
The 550ms ping time on the VA flight is right around the theoretical minimums for the systems involved (i.e. speed of light means it won't get much faster). Numbers in the 600-800ms range are common for the tech involved, though the 1100ms you saw isn't all that rare. Shouldn't be a deal-breaker for most apps.
Apr 20, 2017, 6:24 am
#3
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: QF Gold LTG (ow Saph), HHon Silver, Marriot Gold
Posts: 2,927
Was reported that the Qantas ping is high because all data is currently routed through ViaSat's servers in the US (so you have an additional ping on the ground to and from the US - I suspect this is a good 4-500ms)
The relevant ViaSat facilities will be shifted to Australia as part of the full rollout
The relevant ViaSat facilities will be shifted to Australia as part of the full rollout
Apr 21, 2017, 8:56 pm
#4
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Canberra
Programs: Qantas, Virgin
Posts: 176
Was reported that the Qantas ping is high because all data is currently routed through ViaSat's servers in the US (so you have an additional ping on the ground to and from the US - I suspect this is a good 4-500ms)
The relevant ViaSat facilities will be shifted to Australia as part of the full rollout
The relevant ViaSat facilities will be shifted to Australia as part of the full rollout
Apr 21, 2017, 9:36 pm
#5
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: QF Gold LTG (ow Saph), HHon Silver, Marriot Gold
Posts: 2,927
One way ping to the US is about 180ms - plus a bit for each router you pass.
The NBN SkyMuster ground station is in Australia.. The ViaSat routers (presumably for compression/ block lists etc) are presently not
So the current path is
Australia(air)-Satellite-AusNBNGround-USAViaSat-AusNBNGround-Satellite-Australia(Air)
The NBN SkyMuster ground station is in Australia.. The ViaSat routers (presumably for compression/ block lists etc) are presently not
So the current path is
Australia(air)-Satellite-AusNBNGround-USAViaSat-AusNBNGround-Satellite-Australia(Air)
Apr 25, 2017, 7:08 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Programs: BA Gold, Mucci
Posts: 2,068
Thanks for all the extra technical information, people. It puts things into perspective really.
As I found on the flight, there is nothing wrong with the speed of the Internet on board. It all looks promising for the roll out!
As I found on the flight, there is nothing wrong with the speed of the Internet on board. It all looks promising for the roll out!