inflight wi-fi

Virgin America in-flight Internet to go up a big notch

Virgin America and Gogo announced today that the carrier will be the first airline to offer Gogo's next-generation ATG-4 service. The two companies debuted the in-flight Internet access almost three years ago, and in May 2009, Virgin offered fleetwide Wi-Fi access via Gogo service.

According to Gogo, the new ATG-4 service will increase Wi-Fi capacity by about four times the current performance. This means you can download files faster and can even stream HD content without much latency, while flying. The companies say this improvement is achieved via the addition of directional antenna, dual-modem, and EV-DO Rev. B technology.… Read more

Free Wi-Fi for the holidays on Virgin America

Travelers flying on Virgin America over the holidays will get free in-flight Wi-Fi thanks to Google, the companies said Monday.

Google and Virgin America are teaming up to offer free Wi-Fi Internet service for all Virgin America passengers traveling between November 10, 2009, and January 15, 2010.

The Gogo Wi-Fi service, which was rolled out to Virgin America's entire fleet of planes in May, is normally available for $12.95 for flights of over three hours. It's $9.95 for flights between one and a half hours and three hours. Flights of less than an hour and a … Read more

Wi-Fi takes off with travelers

Wi-Fi Internet access could help airlines win over customers who are looking to stay connected while en route, a recent survey concludes.

According to a study published this week by Wakefield Research for the Wi-Fi Alliance, about 75 percent of frequent business travelers surveyed said they'd choose an airline based on whether the flight has Wi-Fi or not. Half of respondents said they'd even consider moving their reservation by a day to get on a flight that offered Wi-Fi. And more than 70 percent of those surveyed said they'd rather have Wi-Fi access on board a flight … Read more

Musings from 20,000 feet

SOMEWHERE OVER PENNSYLVANIA--I know in-flight Wi-Fi isn't really new anymore. But, it's my first time and, like many before me, I can't resist using the opportunity to send my missives out to the world.

It's particularly liberating after spending the last two hours trapped on the tarmac at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. OK--perhaps trapped isn't the fairest verb to describe any existence where there is water, sanitation facilities, and live satellite TV. Still, as we waited for a runway to clear, we had no way to get food or connect to … Read more

Blogging from 25,000 feet

Update at 7:35 p.m. PST: Photos from the flight and a few extra observations have been added.

For an aviation geek like me, the simple act of flying is more then enough reason to get on a plane.

So when sassy airline Virgin America offered CNET the chance to test its new Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi service, I jumped at the chance. And yes, I'm writing this 25,000 feet or so (we're still climbing) above the Northern California coast. We're cruising on an hour-long demonstration flight out of the San Francisco International Airport. Check out … Read more

Virgin America plans Wi-Fi launch party in the sky

Virgin America is teaming up with YouTube for its big coming-out party for its Wi-Fi in the sky service.

The California-based airline will launch its Gogo Inflight Internet service on November 22 in a flight over San Francisco. To show off how robust the in-flight Internet service is, the company is planning to stream a live video feed from the plane down to the ground to an audience attending the YouTube Live concert in San Francisco.

The Gogo service will be available to all passengers on a single Wi-Fi enabled plane starting November 24. And by the second quarter of … Read more

American Airlines launches in-flight Wi-Fi

American Airlines passengers will now have Wi-Fi access on some flights.

The airline said Wednesday that it has finally launched its in-flight Internet access service via Wi-Fi on 15 of its 767-200 airplanes. The service, called Gogo, will be offered on nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami. The cost is $12.95 per flight. Passengers will be able to sign up when they boot up their browsers.

The airline will be restricting the use of voice over IP services, such as Skype, and it will still restrict the … Read more

iPass to add in-flight Wi-Fi roaming

Mobile Internet aggregator iPass it teaming up with in-flight broadband provider Aircell to give its customers access to broadband on planes.

On Tuesday, iPass announced that it would offer Wi-Fi roaming with Aircell Gogo, an in-flight broadband service expected to launch soon in the United States. Aircell's service is expected later this year on American Airlines and Virgin America.

iPass provides mobile Internet access for a monthly fee. Users can connect via Wi-Fi, dial-up or Ethernet using a single user password. Monthly services include all three connectivity options and cost between $29.95 per month for unlimited Wi-Fi in … Read more