In-flight Broadband
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Joined: Jul 2000
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From: Peripatetic
In-flight Broadband
Today, January 15th, Lufthansa began offering broadband Internet service on Boeing 747-400s, beginning with the daily service between Frankfurt and Washington. In the first quarter of 2003, the airlines company will also begin providing Wi-Fi LAN ( 802.11a) service in over 50 lounges.
Connexion by Boeing, a unit of Boeing, in Seattle, Washington, will provide the satellite-based data communications service in the air. The service offera a 20Mbps pipe to the aircraft and 1Mbps from the aircraft, shared between the passengers and the crew. Connection speed per PC should average about 256K.
First-class and business-class travelers can plug their notebooks aircraft's onboard LAN via their seats or, alternatively, use Wi-Fi. Economy-class passengers can connect to the system with Wi-Fi-equipped notebooks. The aircraft carries 50 laptops for customer use. The service is free for the first 3 months, there after the cost is expected to be around $35 a flight.
Connexion has enlisted several other airline customers, including BA, JAL and SAS. BA plans to roll out the service in February.
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Connexion by Boeing, a unit of Boeing, in Seattle, Washington, will provide the satellite-based data communications service in the air. The service offera a 20Mbps pipe to the aircraft and 1Mbps from the aircraft, shared between the passengers and the crew. Connection speed per PC should average about 256K.
First-class and business-class travelers can plug their notebooks aircraft's onboard LAN via their seats or, alternatively, use Wi-Fi. Economy-class passengers can connect to the system with Wi-Fi-equipped notebooks. The aircraft carries 50 laptops for customer use. The service is free for the first 3 months, there after the cost is expected to be around $35 a flight.
Connexion has enlisted several other airline customers, including BA, JAL and SAS. BA plans to roll out the service in February.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 932
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From: Deepest Warwickshire
Reliable wireless broadband anywhere on the planet at anytime? 
Am aware that boeing have been trialling this for some time now. Would be interested to know if the practicalites ultimately live up to the marketing hype as given above. Saw a tv program recently that seemed to suggest limitations to the technology.
Am aware that boeing have been trialling this for some time now. Would be interested to know if the practicalites ultimately live up to the marketing hype as given above. Saw a tv program recently that seemed to suggest limitations to the technology.
