Product review – Aircell Gogo inflight Internet on Virgin America.

by Scott Carmichael on

This past Saturday, Gadling participated in a special flight celebrating the launch of inflight Internet on board Virgin America.

During this flight, I worked hard to test every aspect of the service I could. I looked into the kind of products and services many of us use on the road.

The Wi-Fi enabled plane will enter commercial service as a special Thanksgiving surprise for passengers on Virgin America plane N638VA (“My Other Ride Is A Spaceship”).

Internet access for the duration of the flight is $9.95 for flights 3 hours or less, and $12.95 on longer flights. Passengers can connect to the service using 802.11 a/b or g Wi-Fi.

Virgin America plans to have the service available on their entire fleet by the second quarter of 2009, making them the first and only airline in the country with fleet wide Internet service.

Here are the services I put to the test:Web

Needless to say that this part of the service worked just fine. Right after the signal was turned on, I was able to get speeds in excess of 1.5mbps, and the lag was very minimal. As more people started getting online I noticed a slight drop in speed, but even when the entire plane was surfing away, it never became too slow to use for web access.

Secure web sites worked fine, as did connecting through a VPN service, which I’d suggest you do if you plan to connect to stuff you don’t want to share with anyone else on the flight as the Wi-Fi service is unencrypted.

Youtube video streaming

Yes, Youtube worked great. Of course, no amount of high speed Internet in the air will be able to bring talent to those of us without it, so the quality of the content won’t always improve with your altitude.

During the flight we were treated to some fantastic video clips, created for this event including this list of 5 things not to wear at the airport, by Youtube celebrity William Sledd.

Skype

Skype calls worked just fine — the fineprint on this one is that the Gogo service was intentionally left fairly “open” for us, so it is entirely possible that this may not work on the usual commercial flights.

Instant messaging

Instant messaging (using Digsby and Trillian) worked fine. Of course, you’ll have to spend a little time explaining to the folks on the ground exactly where you are. If you are really geeky, you can even use your IM client to chat with people around you, though Virgin America also offer that on the RED inflight entertainment system in every seat.

Email

Email access was a breeze; I got online with Gmail and through my regular email client (Thunderbird) and was able to send and receive my messages. I even received the official press release from Virgin America a few minutes after they sent it (from the seat in front of me).

Music streaming

I fired up my Slacker music player and within about 20 seconds I had a live stream of my own favorite radio station. I minimized the player and enjoyed it in the background while surfing. At no point did I ever hear a stutter or stall in the stream, even after 5 minutes. Of course, this is another service that may or may not be available when the service is live on regular flights.

Slingbox

Those of you hoping to watch some live TV during your flight will be surprised to hear that I was able to connect to my Slingbox and schedule a recording on my Tivo. The video quality is fairly low, but it is certainly usable if you just need to catch up on the latest episode of whatever series you are hooked on.

Portable devices

Of course, a laptop is not the only device that works on the Gogo service. During the flight many people were walking around with their iPhone or Blackberry. I brought my T-Mobile G1 along, and was online in about 30 seconds.

A list of devices tested with the service can be found on the Gogo site.

And finally…

When I was done with my list of things to test, I tried accessing a P2P service (Bittorrent), a porn site and Hulu.com. All of these services worked, but by then the entire plane was using up all the available bandwidth, so none of them worked particularly well. Of course, I also don’t see these services exactly as the kind of thing you’d really need during a flight, but it was good to see that the connection functioned without any restrictions.

The technology (for the geeks)

The Aircell Gogo inflight Internet service uses ground stations based off EVDO Rev.A technology, similar to the broadband services offered by Verizon and Sprint. Each plane has about 3.1mbps to the plane, and 1.8Mbps back to the ground. Unlike previous systems (like the now extinct Boing Connexion system), the Gogo equipment weighs just 125 pounds and can be installed in a single day.

Thanks to Virgin America, Aircell, HP and Youtube!

I’d once again like to thank the fantastic people at Virgin America, their awesome PR team, stunning flight attendants and everyone from Aircell who helped put this event together. And of course, the teams from Youtube and HP, who provided some great inflight entertainment and an assortment of laptops to play with.

My only regret was that I was stuck flying United Airlines back home, and had to settle for a $6 snackbox and no Internet access.

Coming to you live from Virgin America flight VX8001 at 30,398 feet!

by Scott Carmichael on

Greetings Gadling readers! This post is coming to you live from 35,000 feet, on board Virgin America flight 8001

This special flight is full of fellow bloggers, Youtube celebs and representatives from Virgin and Aircell. The flight celebrates 2 new products; the introduction of the Gogo inflight Internet service on board Virgin America, and the launch of Youtube Live.

We took off about 25 minutes ago and I’ve just connected to the Wi-Fi signal. Connecting was extremely easy, and the speed of the connection is impressive. .

To give you an idea of just how much fun I am having, I’ve included some photos of the airborne party.

Later this afternoon, I’ll post a list of products and services I tested during the flight.

Many thanks to Virgin America, Youtube and Aircell for putting together this amazing flight, it is without a doubt the most fun I have ever had in the air!

Now, if you don’t mind, I have some more of these amazing Virgin America Cocktails to consume.

Aircell GoGo in-flight Internet hops on board Air Canada

by Scott Carmichael on

From zero to hero in a few short months! Aircell just announced that they have signed an agreement to outfit the Air Canada A319 fleet with their successful GoGo in-flight Internet service.

This makes Air Canada the first international carrier to commit to the service, and the fourth airline in the world (after American Airlines, Delta and Virgin America). In a very short period of time, Aircell has become the most important player in this market.

The deployment is expected to start in Spring of 2009. The initial rollout will offer coverage on US bound planes over the existing ground stations, but Aircell is working on licensing Canadian airwaves to bring ground stations to our friends up north, so flights in Canadian airspace can use the service.

Sooner or later people are going to be picking a flight based on whether the airline invested in in-flight Internet, and at just $12.95 for the average flight, I’m convinced that Aircell is onto something really good here. Sadly I haven’t been able to take it for a spin yet, but as soon as I do, I’ll get a full review posted for you!

(Source: Aircell press release)

Block on in-flight Internet phone calls bypassed – for now

by Scott Carmichael on

When airlines (slowly) started introducing in-flight Internet access to their flights, they were very quick to point out that “VOIP calls” would not be possible. VOIP stands for “Voice over Internet Protocol”, and basically means making phone calls over the Internet. All popular VOIP applications like Skype and Vonage have been blocked.

The airlines, and the provider behind the service obviously do not want a plane full of people chatting on the phone, yelling loudly about how they just made a fortune on the stock market. The other reason is of course because each flight only has a limited amount of data to share between all the passengers. If half the plane suddenly starts calling their aunts and uncles, regular web browsing would become impossible when all the bandwidth is sucked up by phone chatter.

Of course, when you tell people they can’t do something, their natural response is to see how they can prove you wrong. It took a week, but the block on VOIP calls has been successfully bypassed. By using a web service called Phweet, passengers have been able to make phone calls to their friends. The system only works with people who have a Twitter account, but it’s better than nothing. Of course, now this workaround has been published, it will only be a matter of time before the fun comes to an end, and the creative minds will have to find another working solution.

(Source: Wired)

Aircell Gogo inflight Internet service goes live on American Airlines

by Scott Carmichael on

Several weeks ago, I reported that Delta Airlines was gearing up to offer the Aircell Gogo inflight Internet service, but it is American Airlines who beat them to the first operational service.

Aircell Gogo is now offered on select American Airlines Boeing 767-200 flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles and New York and Miami. This puts the total number of flights with the Gogo Internet service at 174 per week.

For just $12.95, passengers get unlimited access to the Internet, but Aircell points out that VOIP (Internet calling) and cell phone calls are not possible.

To use the service, you’ll need a Wi-Fi capable laptop, PDA or smartphone, you can find a comprehensive list of supported devices on the Gogo site. If you plan to travel light, you’ll be able to use your Wi-Fi enabled Blackberry, iPhone or iPod touch to get online, which should help keep you entertained for the duration of the flight.

Aircell is working on a very swift roll out of their service, in addition to American Airlines and the previously mentioned Delta rollout, they are also working to bring inflight Internet to Virgin America.

This service has all the key features of a successful product; it is affordable, it comes at a time where airlines are scrambling to generate some more revenue, and the market penetration of Wi-Fi enabled devices is larger than ever. My feeling is that it will be a huge success, and certainly more successful than previous attempts at airborne broadband.

Source (and image) from Gogo Inflight Internet