Qantas starts international wifi

[dylarr]

Was on VH-XZD as QF157 MEL-AKL last night, but not expecting the WiFi to be available for anything more than just Qantas Entertainment. Was very pleased to find that, save for some brief interruptions, internet was available for most of the flight.

My last TT was only a few weeks ago ex-WLG and it was not available on the in- nor outbound sectors.

I also had this experience on 738 VH-XZN SYD-CHC the week prior to last - functional Wi-Fi for most of the flight. No announcements or mention that the flight was Wi-Fi enabled or anything, and it worked most of the way right up to landing with a few dropouts during certain times. Was very surprised.

 

[moa999]

functional Wi-Fi for most of the flight

Be good to get some speed tests.
I'm assuming speeds would be lower than over Australia (NBN Skymuster) as it's an earlier gen satellite with broader beam spreads.

The hardware is presumably ordered for the 787, A380s and remaining 330s
From what I recall earlier it's an easier job on the 787s as they were delivered with an access panel pre-installed.

 

[dylarr]

Be good to get some speed tests.
I'm assuming speeds would be lower than over Australia (NBN Skymuster) as it's an earlier gen satellite with broader beam spreads.

Forgot to grab a speed test but it was good enough for my travel companion to live stream Collingwood vs West Coast on Kayo.

 

[Beano]

16 down 1 up on WLG-BNE today. (As we speak). No announcement but hinted early on that you could fill in your arrival card online as no cards had been loaded. Tried it and found it worked, hence the message.

 

[NZflygirl]

Be good to get some speed tests.
I'm assuming speeds would be lower than over Australia (NBN Skymuster) as it's an earlier gen satellite with broader beam spreads.

The hardware is presumably ordered for the 787, A380s and remaining 330s
From what I recall earlier it's an easier job on the 787s as they were delivered with an access panel pre-installed.

Also flew TT 737. Able to connect on the ground before departure, got 10 down 1 up, after half way across I had 17-18 down and 1 up. No drop outs. Was very happy with this. I'm not sure when it switched off but it was still on well into descent and I think when we were lining up for final approach. I have a screenshot of 5 down and 0.5up around the time of landing in AKL.

JAL's panasonic was 21 down and 5 up.
Air NZ's domestic starlink recently was 276 down and 47 up.

 

[NZflygirl]

16 down 1 up on WLG-BNE today. (As we speak). No announcement but hinted early on that you could fill in your arrival card online as no cards had been loaded. Tried it and found it worked, hence the message.

Do you recall if you had internet at the gate in Wellington? Do you recall how far into the flight you decided to try the wifi? Although I guess with no announcement you may not have tried. I had the "no wifi" symbol in the app but based on reports here decided to try it out.

I think I'm a little bit surprised that QF chose to turn on Asia first rather than TT. Asia has patchy coverage outside of Australia and A330s still needed wifi installs whereas the 737s were ready to go and by reports so far works well.

Edit: went back and found the post why Asia was selected first.

 

[serfty]

Other than a 5 minute hiatus/reset as we entered Bass strait, WiFi was available QF157 Friday night all the way to AKL. (VH-XZL)

 

[serfty]

AKL to MEL tonight on QF158 Wifi was announced with the advice the may be a temporary halt as we cross into the mainland while they change things.

 

[Mattg]

Other than a 5 minute hiatus/reset as we entered Bass strait, WiFi was available QF157 Friday night all the way to AKL. (VH-XZL)

On QF157 right now (VH-VZK) and the wifi has been working for most of the flight. Had the same announcement about it dropping out for a few minutes as we left Australia.

 

[Beano]

Do you recall if you had internet at the gate in Wellington? Do you recall how far into the flight you decided to try the wifi? Although I guess with no announcement you may not have tried. I had the "no wifi" symbol in the app but based on reports here decided to try it out.

I think I'm a little bit surprised that QF chose to turn on Asia first rather than TT. Asia has patchy coverage outside of Australia and A330s still needed wifi installs whereas the 737s were ready to go and by reports so far works well.

Sorry, can't remember when it started but I got the impression it was immediate given that they were announcing before take off that you could complete your ATD online because they had no arrival cards. I logged in once seatbelt signs were off.

 

[henrus]

In the article one thing to note about the following:

This did indeed happen. I assume the brief outage is because the network switches over from a land-based connection to a satellite-based connection at that point.

The switch is from the NBN satellites (which cover Australia) to the Inmarsat satellite network. Whilst Inmarsat covers Australia I assume Qantas/Viasat gets better pricing from the NBN deal therefore more bandwidth for less.

 

[kpc]

Last Fri, Mel-Akl (VH-XZL) and on Sat, Akl-Mel (VH-XZN), there was Wifi all the way across the Tasman....it did drop out for periods of time but when available, I could stream the AFL footy on Kayo Sports I did not test the speed.

What was also interesting, as I did not have a NZ SIM card for my overnight stay in Akl, the WiFi worked whilst still on the ground in Akl

 

[anat0l]

At this point, I wonder when wifi will be such a standard offering that lack of it will be grounds for demanding compensation.

I'm sure that Mr Smith whose connection to a meeting dropped out due to patchy wifi cost him a large contract won't be able to successfully sue Qantas for lack of service leading to material loss and demand for compensation, but people have written in and claimed compensation for sketchy or no IFE (because the latter had become so standard).

 

[Beano]

At this point, I wonder when wifi will be such a standard offering that lack of it will be grounds for demanding compensation.

I'm sure that Mr Smith whose connection to a meeting dropped out due to patchy wifi cost him a large contract won't be able to successfully sue Qantas for lack of service leading to material loss and demand for compensation, but people have written in and claimed compensation for sketchy or no IFE (because the latter had become so standard).

This is an unlikely scenario in so many ways. A strategic meeting over unsecured internet as well as lots of other things!

 

[anat0l]

This is an unlikely scenario in so many ways. A strategic meeting over unsecured internet as well as lots of other things!

True, but it hasn't been unheard of (pun intended) for people to make phone calls on board a plane while still on the ground, even after they have been told to knock it off and go to plane mode. Their excuse is usually that the call can't wait and a very important deal is hanging on it.

Most people who aren't in the industry don't know or care enough to realise that plane wifi, like any other public wifi, is unsecured.

 

[sudoer]

people have written in and claimed compensation for sketchy or no IFE (because the latter had become so standard).

A key difference is that all the equipment required for IFE is onboard, with little environmental/external factors that could cause a disruption, and Qantas is responsible for the maintenance of the equipment.

There are too many external variables for availability of in-flight internet to be assured/expected, at least for the foreseeable future. Maybe things will be different in 20+ years.