VoIP on Airplanes?

[Planet]

Eric Griffiths article (http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/news/article.php/3670291) made me think about the reasons cell phone are banned on commercial flights. One main reason, aside from the technical, security and cost issues related to it... could you imagine the amount of chatter that would be going on during that flight from New York to San Diego? My God it would be like a crime scene in the sky :eek:

[spiderbite]

If I had to sit thru 4 hours of cell chatter in a plane, there would be a crime scene in the sky....;>)

[JPnyc]

Phones I can certainly understand, but if there was wi-fi on a plane, it would make flights a helluva lot less boring, not to mention better for business people.

[wifiwizard]

JPNYC,
Boeing had WiFi on some of their planes as a pilot program. They provided the connection like an ISP but not many used it. I believe they scraped the idea and I believe they did this to soon. I know they did this because my company provided them with the MP Tech Omni's. Now if the plane would have WiFi then you could turn your VOIP phone on and chat away. That would drive me crazy as everyone that gets on a cell phone including me seems to think the guy on the other end of the phone has a hearing problem. Why is it we shout at a cell phone but not on a home phone. LoL...

[umdivx]

The service was Connexion by boeing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connexion_by_Boeing

the main problem was that it was too damn expensive to implement into an aircraft, upwards of $50k per plane just for the equipment needed to get the service.

It would have taken years for most airlines to re-coupe their costs and even make money on it.

The concept was great for international airlines doing 8+ hour flights but for regional carriers it just didn't make sense, who would pay $30 to get online for an hour flight?

Then as far as voip goes, the latency would be way too high to even sustain a coherent conversation with a voip service.

The issue with cell service on A/C is that of the roaming issues, at 10k feet in the air you could at any one given time pick up thousands of cell towers, so the main issue is trying to come up with a system that would only bounce off of one of those thousands of towers at a single time.

Then of course, is that radar and other equipment would interfere with the cellphones, its not that your phone would really cause any issues, its the fact that the A/C equipment would interfere with your phone.

- Josh

[JPnyc]

Well international flights is what I had in mind. I detest being trapped in a small space for eight hours to begin with, but it would go over a lot easier if I had the computer and the Internet at my disposal. I would certainly be willing to pay $30 more per ticket for that convenience. I understand there is also a technical issue involved, I'm just saying that a little extra expense would in no way dissuade me.

[Planet]

There would be more rules, certain sites would be blocked, there would be people watching porn... you know.

[JPnyc]

LOL, I hadn't thought of that, but you're right. I was just thinking of having something to do, other than watching the pathetic entertainment selection most airlines offer. Although I will say that British Airways has really stepped up in that department. They now have a library of films and shows that you can choose from, and some pretty darn good ones in there.

[golfnut]

I would gladly pay for it on a long plane ride and yeah the issue of offensive content would be an issue especially if kids are on the plane.

The other issue though is that if the price of Internet access on a plane was included with the ticket or even optional, I don't think anyone would use the outrageously priced WiFi in airports. I had to pay $7.99 recently for 5 minutes of access to send one stinking email prior to a 4 hour flight. But hey, I had 23 hours and 55 minutes left on my account which my destination airport wasn't linked with :mad:

The initial cost to outfit a plane is a bit steep but I'd bet a lot of folks would use it.

Greg

[wifiwizard]

I posted about Boeing dropping that project. Well we were approched by another company that has been fairly sucessfull but wants to use our antenna technology. The name of the company excapes me but will jump back in when I come up with it. I have sometimmers. Sometime it works and sometimes it does not.

[JPnyc]

My fear is that they will price it out of reach for the average traveler, or make it only available from business class on up.

[gomez]

Internet access would be really nice for business people and those who get easily bored. I would rather browse the net for news and forums rather than getting sleep I don't really need.