Qantas starts international wifi

[moa999]

VH-QPG reported to be off to AUH soon to replace QPF.
Will take 333 fleet to 4/10 (or 12 if you include the AY dry lease aircraft)

 

[moa999]

VH-QPG off on its 2nd leg to AUH, going via PER.
QPF straight into service.

 

[exLXCXFF]

ON QF36, operated by VH-EBC, Wifi has been in full swing since we departed Changi.

 

[elanshin]

Seems like QF has finally sorted out whatever their problem with Japan routes was (as it likely wasn't hardware or satellite positioning). Reports of JP routes having wifi as of last week.

 

[moa999]

Yepm some details from a Reddit thread.

From MontyCarlos

There's no Japan 'license' thing. What they were waiting on was a Viasat contract with China Satcom to be signed so they could access those satellites to support routes to North Asia, including Japan.

 

[elanshin]

Yepm some details from a Reddit thread.

From MontyCarlos

I don't buy that part. Otherwise we would've had internet when we crossed into Australia. There was probably both the satellite and a Japan issue itself.

 

[SYD]

EBM pictured in Sydney yesterday with the hump.

Coming live from VH-EBM despite the app saying “No wifi”

Step 1: Still has a hump!


Alas, several hours over India and the Bay of Bengal before the wifi actually kicked in. At least for now.

 

[MelbFlyer]

I recently flew QF46 DPS-MEL and on the Qantas App prior to the flight, it stated in the onboard experience that VH-VZZ did not have Wi-Fi, but considering it's a 737, I thought this was incorrect.

Incorrect it was, as there was functional and working internet access pretty much as soon as we took off.

Apart from around 20-30mins of no internet access, it worked pretty much the entire flight.

Maybe considering it was an international flight, they put "no Wi-Fi" to allay / reduce expectations?

 

[kpro]

Maybe considering it was an international flight, they put "no Wi-Fi" to allay / reduce expectations?

Very likely. I've had this message in the app as well as an email or SMS when flying internationally on an A332. WiFi was definitely working and available, for the entire flight too.

 

[milehighclub]

Alas, several hours over India and the Bay of Bengal before the wifi actually kicked in. At least for now.

India is still a complete block out when over it.
Hong Kong is the other city with a restriction and automatically turns off when below 10,000ft into and out of HKG.

Otherwise as of about 2 weeks ago - Wifi, where aircraft is fitted, is available on all flights, for the whole flight (some minor black spots in various places but should would most of the flight in addition to the two exceptions above).

 

[elanshin]

Coming live from VH-EBM despite the app saying “No wifi”

Step 1: Still has a hump!
View attachment 492225

Alas, several hours over India and the Bay of Bengal before the wifi actually kicked in. At least for now.

I think thats to do with India not allowing internet over flying the region without special permissions. From memory most airlines don't have internet even though they could from a technical perspective. Starlink is trying to get themselves and their airlines approved recently although we will see how that develops.

India is still a complete block out when over it.
Hong Kong is the other city with a restriction and automatically turns off when below 10,000ft into and out of HKG.

Otherwise as of about 2 weeks ago - Wifi, where aircraft is fitted, is available on all flights, for the whole flight (some minor black spots in various places but should would most of the flight in addition to the two exceptions above).

Is Indonesia a block? I noticed last year a few times that the internet drops out just as we hit Indonesia and comes back a bit later (or is that just a satellite coverage gap).

 

[exLXCXFF]

Is Indonesia a block? I noticed last year a few times that the internet drops out just as we hit Indonesia and comes back a bit later (or is that just a satellite coverage gap).

When I did DRW - SIN late last year, it worked pretty much throughout into Singapore. Drop outs were rare.

 

[AIRwin]

Noticed this message earlier:

 

[significance]

I’m on a flight right now. We were told on boarding that the wifi was down, but here I am.

 

[henrus]

Noticed this message earlier:
View attachment 495344

I think one of the NBN ground stations has been having issues causing no or reduced performance to certain beams. The way it works is one ground station powers a random selection of beams so such outage isn’t limited to a section of Australia but rather random areas. There are around 5 ground stations in total.

 

[kpc]

Flew Syd-Scl yesterday on Qf....whilst 13 hours of no connectivity to outside world was not an issue for me, it will not be great for lots of business / working people. Qf lift your game and get inflight WiFi fir your international routes asap!

 

[simmomelb]

Flew Syd-Scl yesterday on Qf....whilst 13 hours of no connectivity to outside world was not an issue for me, it will not be great for lots of business / working people. Qf lift your game and get inflight WiFi fir your international routes asap!

I wouldn't fly Qantas internationally for this alone. Yet, every single time I've been on Qatar, I've had seamless fast WiFi with zero issues.

 

[AuSammy]

I wouldn't fly Qantas internationally for this alone. Yet, every single time I've been on Qatar, I've had seamless fast WiFi with zero issues

You were lucky.

My last 4 sectors on QR, 3 had no wifi and the remaining one was paid only and FA said don't bother it will only work for around 2 hours of the flight.

 

[simmomelb]

You were lucky.

My last 4 sectors on QR, 3 had no wifi and the remaining one was paid only and FA said don't bother it will only work for around 2 hours of the flight.

Starlink? I haven't had a widebody without it and I fly with them several times a year.
Clearly shows what flights have it when booking, which from what I can see is the entire widebody fleet.

 

[AuSammy]

Starlink? I haven't had a widebody without it and I fly with them several times a year.
Clearly shows what flights have it when booking, which from what I can see is the entire widebody fleet.

Certainly wasn't the case Oct last year. Equipment swaps. Old planes old fitout. No starlink