
Gogo's on-flight internet: Why airlines put up with its slow internet service - cpeterso
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/08/28/gogo_s_on_flight_internet_why_american_delta_and_united_all_put_up_with.html
======
maguay
This article is based off Bloomberg's original piece, "Why Gogo's
Infuriatingly Expensive, Slow Internet Still Owns the Skies"
([http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-gogo-airplane-
wireles...](http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-gogo-airplane-wireless-
internet/)). Would likely be better to update the link to that one.

~~~
danyork
Thanks for providing that link - the original piece was far more useful for me
to read than the condensed version.

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lordlarm
No competition isn't true, at least for Europe where I know Norwegian are
using "Row 44" as can be seen in this report from CNN:
[http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2012/11/15/bus...](http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2012/11/15/business-
traveller-in-flight-wi-fi.cnn)

The difference between them, which also could explain the AOL-like speeds with
Gogo, is that Row 44 used a satelite dish whilst Gogo communicates with ground
radio towers. The obvious advantage of Row 44's approach, which is also
highlighted in the video, is that by using satellites you can continue
providing internet over remote areas and oceans.

~~~
ryanlol
I rarely fly economy but the two Norwegian flights I've been on both had very
good wifi (not very fast, but certainly reliable).

Definitely a much better experience than with gogo.

It's a sad thing that one of the worst airlines in Europe has the best wifi.

(I'm really curious as to how my 5k euro emirates 1st class ticket can't cover
the expenses for working wifi... I can even shower on the plane for gods sake)

~~~
TeMPOraL
> _It 's a sad thing that one of the worst airlines in Europe has the best
> wifi._

It's usually the same with hotels - wi-fi quality is usually inversely
proportional to the quality of the establishment. I wonder if airlines have
this problem for the same reasons.

~~~
ryanlol
Actually, I can't say I've really noticed this so much lately, but I've mostly
been staying with the big chains (Marriott, Hilton and 4 seasons).

Although, often the big chain hotels are the most crowded ones.

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mseebach
"[...] you know that it’s not much of an improvement over 1990s AOL-era dial-
up.

Gogo’s connectivity speed amounts to about half the average download speed on
Verizon’s 4G network,"

Oh dear, how far we've come (or not, tech journalism has always been crap) -
the average download speed on Verizon 4G[1] is >30mbps, a 90's dial up would
have been 56kbps - so half the 4G speed is 275 times faster than dial-up (or,
in terms a journalist can understand: 27500% faster!)

1: [http://www.cnet.com/news/4g-lte-showdown-how-fast-is-your-
ca...](http://www.cnet.com/news/4g-lte-showdown-how-fast-is-your-carrier/)

~~~
martingordon
The article is a bad summary of the original BW article[1]:

> Gogo can provide a plane with as much as 10 megabits per second of
> connectivity, which is about half the average download speed on Verizon’s 4G
> network. Only one-third of Gogo-equipped planes, however, have the hardware
> to reach even that speed. The rest top out at 3 Mbps.

If only 10 people are on it, then you're getting ~5x dial-up, which would be
great if the internet was the same as it was in 1999. I would guess that
webpages have grown more than 5x in size since then, making effective speeds
much slower than dial-up (estimates range from 2-10MB for an average news
article [2]).

1: [http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-gogo-airplane-
wireles...](http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-gogo-airplane-wireless-
internet/)

2: [http://www.mondaynote.com/2015/08/03/what-the-ad-blocker-
deb...](http://www.mondaynote.com/2015/08/03/what-the-ad-blocker-debate-
reveals/)

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domrdy
I was pleasantly surprised about the quality of the WIFI Lufthansa provides on
its transatlantic flights (FlyNet). It's rather expensive at 9 € / hour,
though.

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ndonnellan
non-blogspam Bloomberg piece that is referenced:
[http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-gogo-airplane-
wireles...](http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-gogo-airplane-wireless-
internet/)

~~~
JadeNB
Does Slate really count as 'blogspam', especially when the very first line
credits the original appearance? (Of course, that qualitative judgement aside,
I agree that it is better to link to the original.)

~~~
Someone1234
I'd argue that, these days, yes Slate counts as "blogspam." Autoplaying video
ads, pop-up adverts, banners everywhere, and a copy/pasted article that is
1/2th the length of the original with no additional commentary or content.

Slate might have been a legitimate publication once, but then again so was
CNet and look how far they have fallen. Sorry, but Slate should be blacklisted
for being junk now.

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Kiro
I'm more puzzled why airplanes are still using the horrendous touch
interfaces. Even the newest Dreamliner has them. The cheapest and most
sluggish Android tablet would still be a big improvement.

~~~
raverbashing
IFE devices are "independent" and bought separately from the plane.

But some airlines are going for the tablet solution

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rapido
I would love to see such an article about trains. Why can't we have high-
quality wifi on the go?

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JadeNB
AmtrakConnect can be _very_ slow at times, but is often reasonable. At least,
I had no trouble with casual browsing during a recent trip, as long as I was
willing just not to use it during the most congested times.

