They also encourage you to provide info on yourself (create an account, provide birthday) to even use the screen on the seat back…

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[–] 58 points 2 years ago (9 children)

Plane WiFi is a modern technological marvel and you're lucky to be able to have it at all.

Not so long ago sat phones were the domain of the super rich, because they were paying several dollars per minute. Then it was down to 10 dollars for two hours of multiplexed satellite access. And now apparently it's down to where advertising will work. That's amazing.

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  • [–] 15 points 2 years ago* (4 children)

    Any plane internet I've used has been spotty and terribly slow, but then again, I haven't bought it in years because of previous experiences. I can stand to be without it for 2.5 hours.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I've been on some United flights that let you stream 4k video with no issue. It's pretty uncommon, but it's amazing when it's there.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Was this 4k video from an arbitrary source, like a random YouTube video? Or from United's website?

    I haven't flown outside is Southwest in a while, but they have a bunch of licensed video content that is hosted locally on the plane. And therefore cheap.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Plane wifi, in the Continental US, is typically done via cell networks. The plane just has stronger receivers and transmitters than your cellphone.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    It's illegal to use your cell phone's cell modem on a plane, because of an FCC rule, not an FAA rule. The cells in the cell network are designed for traffic on the ground. At cruising altitude, your modem can see way too many cells at once.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago*

    I doubt the ads are streamed over the internet, this could easily be done with local storage.

    With a possible quick database update over the internet to log views

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