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Old Apr 15, 2005, 1:34 pm
  #1  
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Question WIFI Access On A-321...

Last week when I powered up my laptop after reaching 10k feet, I realized that my wifi adapter was still enabled. When I went to disable it, I noticed that it was showing an available network. I had it rescan to make sure, and it found it again. It showed as Wayport Access. I tried to connect, but could not get an IP address. Has anybody else experienced this? Is US going to be offering WIFI access on domestic flights?

-jjm3
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Old Apr 15, 2005, 1:37 pm
  #2  
 
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I thought you were supposed to disable WIFI when flying? I always turn mine off...
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Old Apr 15, 2005, 1:41 pm
  #3  
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Wifi

You are....I did not disable it a day earlier when I shut my laptop down. As I had just pulled it out of my bag and booted it up when reaching 10k feet, it was automatically trying to connect. I NEVER leave my cell phone on in flight, and always do all within my power to make sure that I have a safe and happy flight. I was just curious as to why there was a signal on the plane at 10k feet.

-jjm3
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Old Apr 15, 2005, 1:59 pm
  #4  
 
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Probably an improperly setup Wi-Fi card in another laptop nearby who had previously accessed a Wayport network... (in other words, the card most likely was setup to allow peer-to-peer ad-hoc connections and you were actually "connecting" to that laptop).
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Old Apr 15, 2005, 7:05 pm
  #5  
PHL
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WiFi operates in the > 2Ghz range, so it's not likely to interere with any radio or navigation equipment. Lufthansa offers onboard WiFi access on select flights and the avionics ain't all that different than what's in a USAirways cockpit.

I regularly see no fewer than 3 WiFi networks on Amtrak when I ride the train. Sitting in an airport lounge, I see many more. With a little effort, I could easily tunnel into someone's laptop with those open doors. Either they didn't take the time to disable peer-to-peer networking, or they didn't setup a firewall.

Some of the Sony Vaio laptops have a switch right on the front of the keyboard to turn both the WiFi and Bluetooth off isntantly. That's a good feature.
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Old Apr 16, 2005, 5:32 am
  #6  
 
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You were picking up the signal being broadcast by another pax's wifi adapter.
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