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UA needs to copy DL immediately on WiFi

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Old Jan 7, 2020, 4:13 pm
  #31  
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Originally Posted by spin88
(1) UA is brain dead competitively. (2) they are probably spending their time trying to figure out how to squeeze another 4"" out of the 24" wide bathrooms they are putting on the 737s...
To me, UA really lost it when they started flying the HD 777s on EWR-DUB and to MAD last year with no in-seat IFE.

UA's Wi-Fi has to be better than Delta's I'm assuming? They likely have to considering how much of their fleet is now BYOD which integrates with the Wi-Fi system(s) on some level.

A few years ago when Smisek was around, they made a switch over to Panasonic Satellite Wi-Fi which IIRC, was a disaster at least overwater. I think they ditched it since, or are they still on that service?
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Old Jan 7, 2020, 4:17 pm
  #32  
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This is not new. DL had already it would provide free in-flight WiFi in the future a while back.
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Old Jan 7, 2020, 4:44 pm
  #33  
 
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Originally Posted by dmurphynj
Hard to believe that we're sitting here slamming United for slow WiFi. It was only a few years ago that we had NO WiFi.

It still amazes me that I'm routinely hurtling through the sky, 7 miles above the ground, at over 600mph, with a constant connection to any other network resource on planet Earth. The fact that it works AT ALL still amazes me.... And that's from a guy who's made a career designing and implementing some of the biggest IT and network infrastructure in the world.
It amazes me that people think a few hours even overnight (when you are sleeping) without internet is indispensable.
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Old Jan 7, 2020, 4:52 pm
  #34  
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Originally Posted by ricktoronto
It amazes me that people think a few hours even overnight (when you are sleeping) without internet is indispensable.
UA had Wi-Fi on P.S. nearly 10 years ago, and then most of the domestic fleet almost up to 5 years ago. I think they even installed Wi-Fi on the 744 fleet around the same time as well. Wi-Fi on UA is nothing new, just an inconsistent implementation overall.

Personally, I cringe on having to pay Gogo for their awful services on DL (which always tend to time out randomly) and their package prices are all over the place for any flight. It's not cheap and not ethical if you ask me.
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Old Jan 7, 2020, 5:20 pm
  #35  
 
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Your emphatic "everyone" is way off the mark. I don't want internet in-air. If I'm traveling for work I don't want my employer to expect me to work during the flight. If I'm traveling for personal trips I have no issues disconnecting for a few hours.

I'm a DL flier and I'm afraid that they will charge a premium on their routes that include this.

I'd much rather see them bring back free checked bags in economy for main cabin (not basic). Southwest boards a plane way faster and part of it is b/c passengers who want to check bags can.
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Old Jan 7, 2020, 6:29 pm
  #36  
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Originally Posted by narvik
..."Free" only means it's built into the airfare. As someone who rarely has the need for it inflight, I am not keen in subsidizing everyone's "free" WiFi.
No thank you!
I think the majority of passengers would make use of free internet on flights. Just look at passengers on subways/buses/trains. Everyone’s looking at their screens.

As for the argument of I “rarely use it”, I’m old enough to remember people saying “I don’t see the point of having them” about mobile phones when they first came out. Being able to connect 24/7 is the future. While you may opt not to use it at times, that doesn’t mean others shouldn’t be able to at those same times.

I don’t use the thin blue blankets - why should I subsidize them for others?

I don’t use WiFi at Starbucks or chipotle, so I guess I subsidize others. It is what it is. There is a plethora of free WiFi that you already subsidize.
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Old Jan 7, 2020, 6:32 pm
  #37  
 
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Originally Posted by prometa
UA going free today would tank the service so hard it would be completely unusable.
Just because you make WiFi free doesn't mean you have to let everyone consume all of the bandwidth they can. Give people 50 MB for free and then make them pay per MB beyond that. As it stands now, I've watched Youtube videos from flights before, but only because they provide absolutely no incentive for me not to do so once I purchase the wifi.
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Old Jan 7, 2020, 10:10 pm
  #38  
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Originally Posted by STS-134
Just because you make WiFi free doesn't mean you have to let everyone consume all of the bandwidth they can. Give people 50 MB for free and then make them pay per MB beyond that. As it stands now, I've watched Youtube videos from flights before, but only because they provide absolutely no incentive for me not to do so once I purchase the wifi.
Gogo 2Ku claims to offer 70Mbps. If they get close to that, everyone who wants to can stream.
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Old Jan 7, 2020, 11:07 pm
  #39  
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Originally Posted by VegasGambler
Gogo 2Ku claims to offer 70Mbps. If they get close to that, everyone who wants to can stream.
Aircraft with 200-300 passengers with 1/2 the passengers connected to the internet and 1/2 of them steaming, things could get dicey.
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Old Jan 7, 2020, 11:38 pm
  #40  
 
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Originally Posted by Xyzzy
Fast wifi, good wifi, free wifi -- yu can pick any two of those.
What's the difference between "fast" and "good"?
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Old Jan 7, 2020, 11:39 pm
  #41  
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Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
Aircraft with 200-300 passengers with 1/2 the passengers connected to the internet and 1/2 of them steaming, things could get dicey.
Maybe. Most streaming services are good at cutting the quality when bandwidth drops.

That's a lot of streamers though. 1/4 of the plane?? Most people are just texting, on instagram, or playing stupid phone games.
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Old Jan 8, 2020, 12:07 am
  #42  
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Originally Posted by STS-134
Just because you make WiFi free doesn't mean you have to let everyone consume all of the bandwidth they can. Give people 50 MB for free and then make them pay per MB beyond that. As it stands now, I've watched Youtube videos from flights before, but only because they provide absolutely no incentive for me not to do so once I purchase the wifi.
I had this issue on another airline where I bought ~50MB. I had taken a bunch of photos in a foreign country. Boarded the flight, bought wifi for email and basic browsing. My phone decided "hey wifi!" and started to upload all my photos.

30 seconds later, I had to buy another 50MB.

I'd be very worried with the marketing. "I haven't used 50MB!!! I just connected 3 minutes ago and I've only opened Facebook!"

Originally Posted by s0ssos
What's the difference between "fast" and "good"?
I have no trouble streaming Netflix on most high-speed in-flight wifi. It buffers.

Connecting to VPN is something I've had such luck with that I can never commit to doing "real work" on a flight.

Low latency and stability are important for some tasks. Other tasks, like streaming video, just need the occasional burst of high speed.
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Old Jan 8, 2020, 12:14 am
  #43  
 
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Originally Posted by canadiancow
I have no trouble streaming Netflix on most high-speed in-flight wifi. It buffers.

Connecting to VPN is something I've had such luck with that I can never commit to doing "real work" on a flight.

Low latency and stability are important for some tasks. Other tasks, like streaming video, just need the occasional burst of high speed.
If packets are constantly dropping I'm not sure I would call the connection "good". If the connection is so fast you can only stream gifs, I also wouldn't call it "good".
For most people "good" is the same as "fast". In terms of latency, I doubt you really need low latency because you aren't playing games. And I doubt anybody can play a game well on any plane's connection, as latency is inherently high on a plane's connections, given it is satellite based.
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Old Jan 8, 2020, 12:28 am
  #44  
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Originally Posted by s0ssos
If packets are constantly dropping I'm not sure I would call the connection "good". If the connection is so fast you can only stream gifs, I also wouldn't call it "good".
For most people "good" is the same as "fast". In terms of latency, I doubt you really need low latency because you aren't playing games. And I doubt anybody can play a game well on any plane's connection, as latency is inherently high on a plane's connections, given it is satellite based.
I can stream Netflix with no stuttering, but I can't maintain an SSH connection over VPN.

Call it what you want, but it's "good" and "fast" to the person watching TV, and "bad" to the person trying to manage a server.
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Old Jan 8, 2020, 12:41 am
  #45  
 
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Originally Posted by canadiancow
I can stream Netflix with no stuttering, but I can't maintain an SSH connection over VPN.

Call it what you want, but it's "good" and "fast" to the person watching TV, and "bad" to the person trying to manage a server.
That's because Netflix buffers. Your server connection expects a response. It doesn't just give you a test and ask you to turn it in when you are done. It asks you a question, and you don't get the second question until it is satisfied with your answer for the first. And you aren't responding in a timely fashion.
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