edcho

I'm hoping Panasonic ppl are tweaking the system as it flies around so that the service eventually improves.

jackal

Did you buy the standard or accelerated one?

I bought the standard option (mostly for testing purposes--I hadn't read any reviews here on FT of the standard service, since everyone seems to have been purchasing the accelerated one) and found it close to unusable for much of the flight. However, reviews of the accelerated service in this thread are pretty positive, so I chalked it up to the limitations of the standard service.

unavaca

JetBlue is announcing satellite-based Wi-Fi, too. One big difference: it'll be free.

http://www.latimes.com/business/mone...,2285732.story

Looks like it'll be powered by ViaSat (UA's is powered by Intelsat).

jcresq

Just had my first wifi experience on UA. Not impressed. It was a short flight, so I bought the "slow" option. It wasn't good...not nearly up to CoGo. In fact, I'm typing this at ORD, the wifi here is better than on my flight, which isn't a good thing. At the login page, it asked me to enter my MP number and pw, which I did, but then it didn't populate the payment page with the info stored in my acount, so what was the point? Finally, the wifi cut out long before we reached 10,000 feet. I mentioned it to the FA, she was clueless. I'll try the faster option next time (if I ever see wifi on another flight), but as the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Mine wasn't good.

jackal

The MP number allows portability: you can switch devices (phone, laptop, iPad, etc.) by logging in with your MP account. The guest access option does not allow that.

Mine cut out exactly at 10,000 feet. I know as I was watching the real-time altitude when it happened.

I asked UA for the ability to upgrade from slow to fast in the same session. They said my feedback was passed on, but I'm not optimistic it'll happen anytime soon. Lesson learned: I'll buy the fast one next time.

The upshot of having the slow option is that all the one-time flyers will buy it, leaving plenty of bandwidth capacity for those of us in the know (and willing to pay a couple bucks more).

Interesting. I'm not expecting UA will reciprocate with free wifi for everybody, but that may goad them into eliminating the charge for elite members.

edcho

I guess it could be like hotels where the lower end chains provide wifi for free but the higher end hotels provide charged wifi except for elites. The irony of it all.

bfhu

I'm a United 1K member based at SFO. But I only travel domestically. In the last several years, I have used Wi-Fi on other airlines like AA or US, when United was not able to provide Wi-Fi service except P.S. flights. Now I see the news that United is adding satellite based Wi-Fi. And I even see below content on United's website:
But I have never got on a single flight(excluding P.S. flights) that has Wi-Fi service since I saw the news, even though most of my flights are coast to coast. Did anyone get a chance to use the Wi-Fi on any United domestic flight? How is the speed of the satellite based comparing to Gogo's ground based and Southwest's satellite based? And what is the fee structure? Thanks.

WineCountryUA

Bysides the older PS aircraft, UA is presently focusing on 747 and A319 which have been the majority of planes updated -- see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-wikipost.html.
Additions are steadily progressing
also see https://sites.google.com/site/united...fleet-tracking

more
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...i-service.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-wifi-ife.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ts-merged.html

The older PS aircraft use GoGo, the new system is satellite based

kyte

On in-flight wifi right now. Got the 'slow' option and I find it to be pretty reasonable for basic browsing. Maybe my standards are low.

-- And as I was typing this they lost satellite signal for 10 minutes ..

auggie doggie

The rollout of WIFI seems to be woefully slow. And I think it's really fallen behind their goals, right? According to this page:

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...i/default.aspx

They are at 47 319's done....60 320's done....16 747's done...and 15 of "everything else" done.

That's only 138. I thought they were supposed to have at least 200 done by the end of 2013?

Do we expect them to pick up the pace in 2014 or just sputter along?

adambadam

They can have whatever internal goals they like, but the truth is they are in a competitive industry and they are lacking significantly behind their competitors that not only have a significant portions of their fleets with wifi (not to mention some of their regional jets -- don't even want to think what year UA will get around to those), but they also have more competitive pricing structures. I still can't figure out why they are even putting in the 787s into service without wifi. So from my standpoint, and as someone who frequently ends up on a 737 across the country, UA has failed to deliver Wifi last year.

Let's hope 2014 is a better year.

sknyski

Agreed! I ended up on one of the new 737's with no wifi OR IFE, on EWR-SFO yesterday!

bt

Duke787

They fact that they aren't using GoGo is a huge negative in my book as well. For an additional $10 a month (vs. the $40 for an airline specific GoGo pass) I can get the full GoGo pass which enables me to have WiFi on all WiFi-equipped planes on: US, AA, DL, and AS, but not UA since they aren't using GoGo on the non-PS planes

unavaca

While I agree that not using Gogo on the domestic fleet was a mistake, at the time of initial installation, Gogo didn't yet have a satellite-based solution for the international fleet (that has since changed, though).

Having used the Wi-Fi on the 744 twice now, I'm very happy that UA's in the unique position of being the only US airline with Wi-Fi service on any part of the TATL/TPAC fleet. That's an accomplishment worth noting ^

lensman

Maybe on the A319/320, but I suspect that was just a small addon to the overseas widebody fleet.

As for the 737 fleet, isn't going with LiveTV's ViaSat solution a direct result of the original LiveTV satellite TV contract?

Does anyone know what kind of revenue sharing is in force with either LiveTV internet or the Panasonic systems? And how does it work with Gogo? Who gets what revenue under Gogo contracts?