Wi-Fi coming to your airline soon; peaceful napping to be left behind

November 24, 5:55 PMDenver Technology ExaminerKevin Rook, Ph.D.

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Having fun with in-flight Wi-Fi (gizmodo.com)

Virgin America recently conducted a beta flight featuring their GoGo Wi-Fi internet service.  The service will support the ubiquitous 802.11 a/b/g wireless protocol.  Virgin plans to have the service available on most flights by the end of 2009.  They will also be offering the service to other airlines like American, Delta, and more in the near future.

The Pros:
The service supports most of the things your coffee shop Wi-Fi service will support with the exception of most Voice over IP services (although Instant Message programs may or may not be blocked).  Few other restrictions are planned for the sites you can visit and content you can access.  VPN connectivity will be supported by the GoGo service as well and the bandwidth is pretty good at 3.6Mbps down and 1.8Mbps up.  Best of all, you can read my column in flight.  

The Cons:
The airline will be charging between $9.95 and $12.95 depending on the length of flight and the bandwidth is shared with the other passengers on the flight.  You can no longer use a flight as an excuse for not getting your work done (not that I ever would).