Wireless Laptops
 

Many of the new laptops are coming with built in 802.11b wireless capability. Is this going to be a problem (interference) when using such a device on an airplane?

Theres probably a way to deactivate the wireless link. But anyway, the airplace communications are not done at this frequency or for that matter the frequency that cell phones/pagers use. In fact, cell phones/pages will not cause any interference with airplane communications so actually its really pointless in having the airlines turn those devices off. Of course turning the cell phones off will save your battery life and not have it dead when you get off the plane, so maybe they airline is doing you a favor in that respect. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

For the longest time I thought I had a bad battery in my cell phone. Everytime I would get off a long flight without turning it off,the battery was nearly dead. I figured out that since it was constantly searching for a signal while I was up in the air, I was unintentionally running down my battery. I now turn off my cell phone for my battery life not "the safety of the aircraft bull****"

On Apple laptops, you can deactivate the AirPort card easily enough.

Or maybe you can play games with a friend on the plane through the wifi link?

And yes, it is easy to turn off the link on all machines - it needs to be this way as often you don't want the link to be on.

Sometimes having the link on gives you a pleasant surprise. I recently was at a hotel in DC and my computer found a live internet link. I was not looking for it, but I turned on my machine and there it was! Either some local business had an unprotected wireless router or the hotel was experimenting with unpublished wireless access.

Since this thread is about technology rather than miles, I'm moving it to "Travel Technology" for additional commentary.

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Craig6z
Buzz & United Moderator
[email protected]

I just bought a new Sony VAIO SRX-77P that includes the built-in 802.11b Wi-Fi link. There's a switch on the side of the unit to disable the wireless link when not needed. Whilst aboard a plane would be an obvious reason to turn it off, so would being in a non Wi-Fi environment using the battery. I would imagine most units would include an on-off switch simply for power management purposes.

[This message has been edited by Sierra Kilo (edited 05-27-2002).]