WiFi Upgrades Beginning To Roll Out?
#31
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 15
The movies I get, especially the large vaults on flights like Delta and AA that have the TVs in each seat, but the Live TV has to have more consumption. And it seems to be prioritizing the bandwidth to the Live TV offerings
#32
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: California
Programs: WN Companion Pass, A-list preferred, Hyatt Globalist; United Club Lietime (sic) Member
Posts: 21,585
I always assumed the following. The TV works like a home satellite TV with a multiple-channel receiver. All offered channels are received all the time. They are transmitted by DirecTV or Dish completely separately from the Internet two-way service.
#33
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
Yup. In some way's it is true to say that the live TV is "sucking up all the bandwidth," in that a dedicated portion is always used for the TV service, and if that wasn't the case there would be more available for internet connectivity. But, as I said earlier, the TV streams are separate and aren't really affecting the two-way connections needed for individual users to have internet access.
#34
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: SNA
Programs: Bonvoy LTTE/AMB, AmEx Plat, National EE, WN A-List, CLEAR+, Covid-19
Posts: 4,956
FWIW, it seems to be optimized for bursty/"streaming" connections (which makes sense considering the latency for each packet due to the nature of satellite internet). I've got an app (Network Monitor Mini Pro) on my tablet that puts my download/upload speeds in small text at the top of my screen, and sometimes when watching Netflix in offline mode I'll see that I'm downloading something at ~1.4MByte/second- I realize that it's Netflix' "Smart Downloads" feature (deletes watched eps and automatically gets new ones if on WiFi) and pause the download (I can wait, no need in sucking up all the bandwidth for that).
(tl;dr: the bandwidth is potentially there, but it may not be optimal for random, small-packet usage like E-mail or webpages.)
(tl;dr: the bandwidth is potentially there, but it may not be optimal for random, small-packet usage like E-mail or webpages.)
#35
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 35
Your statements only apply to the oldest 2.4ghz radio broadcasts. Southwest has used and still uses both 2.4 and 5ghz, and can employ band steering to 5ghz.
I haven't seen a 2.4ghz only device in a long time (though some are out there).
Look up the # of channels that standard (narrowband) 5ghz supports. Newer access points have multiple radios for non overlapping higher density situations to ease congestion, and the AC protocol can help this much further.
I haven't seen a 2.4ghz only device in a long time (though some are out there).
Look up the # of channels that standard (narrowband) 5ghz supports. Newer access points have multiple radios for non overlapping higher density situations to ease congestion, and the AC protocol can help this much further.
#40
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Stuck Between the Moon and CLD or SAN, Your local Taco Bell
Programs: AA EXP/LT PLT, DL PM, UA Silver, SPG Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,509
Similar experience yesterday flying HOU-SAN. Wifi was so slow that I couldn't do much of anything... except watch live football. I do love football, but getting work done in the air is key to my travels. I'm considering a significant number of flights coming up on WN, but with wifi that makes even gogo look fast and reliable I'm not sure that will be an option. Plane was what appeared to be an older -700. Am I correct in assuming that this is the case fleet-wide?
#41
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 124
Similar experience yesterday flying HOU-SAN. Wifi was so slow that I couldn't do much of anything... except watch live football. I do love football, but getting work done in the air is key to my travels. I'm considering a significant number of flights coming up on WN, but with wifi that makes even gogo look fast and reliable I'm not sure that will be an option. Plane was what appeared to be an older -700. Am I correct in assuming that this is the case fleet-wide?