Wi-Fi on long haul flights?

Zeebedy · 4 Jul 2018 at 19:37

Hey guys,

End of the month I am traveling to Brazil for family circumstances and would like to know if there is likely to be on-board Wi-Fi for the main journey (11-12 hours).

Now, I am aware that there are charges, just if anyone knows the South America routes and the ability to get internet?

Cheers guys!

neil_g · 4 Jul 2018 at 19:40

Airline?

Zeebedy · 4 Jul 2018 at 19:56

I think it will likely be Lufthansa, BA or TAM airlines. Cheers.

Dunks · 4 Jul 2018 at 19:56

Check your airlines website...

In my experience the WiFi is rubbish (LHR to Bali) once people start logging in.

agnes · 4 Jul 2018 at 21:42

Don't bother using wifi for the first couple of hours. It gets bogged down so badly by everyone updating their social status (urgh). After that you should be fine. Don't expect youtube streaming speeds, but enough to get some messages out.

NoobCannon · 4 Jul 2018 at 22:17

Hope you got good life insurance going to
Brazil.

MagicBoy · 4 Jul 2018 at 22:21

NoobCannon said:
Hope you got good life insurance going to
Brazil.

Really ... was there any need for that?

agnes · 4 Jul 2018 at 22:22

NoobCannon said:
Hope you got good life insurance going to
Brazil.

MagicBoy said:
Really ... was there any need for that?

In fairness, if you don't know where you're going, you can get in a real bad spot real quick. But for the most part, it's harmless.

Zeebedy · 4 Jul 2018 at 22:27

I have family over there, and been twice before, and I can say the people are not much worse than any other place that is poverty stricken.

Rotty · 4 Jul 2018 at 23:04

I have used it on many planes, it's very slow and unreliable but you can do a few basics

Zeebedy · 5 Jul 2018 at 12:56

Rotty said:
I have used it on many planes, it's very slow and unreliable but you can do a few basics

Damn! Was hoping for some YouTube action, oh well..

Dunks · 5 Jul 2018 at 12:57

rip-the-jacker said:
Damn! Was hoping for some YouTube action, oh well..

So does everyone else using it, that's why it's crap.

Jimbeam3678 · 5 Jul 2018 at 12:59

There are different variants the one which is used in on the new A350'sis meant to be far better than the system used on internal flights around America. Have a quick Wiki about explains all, how much better it is I have no idea.

Worth checking out though as it might be useable

OzyOly · 5 Jul 2018 at 14:06

The last long haul flight I was on was an A380 in April. It was good enough for email and phone calls (VoIP) but was not useable for streaming.

Rotty · 5 Jul 2018 at 15:34

Yes Emirates a380 was probably best I have used but still couldn't be called good

paradigm · 5 Jul 2018 at 16:05

Rotty said:
Yes Emirates a380 was probably best I have used but still couldn't be called good

Came to post exactly this. Was usable for messaging people, and browsing OcUK, but beyond that pretty pointless.

Em3bbs · 5 Jul 2018 at 17:18

BA don't have any in flight wifi so you'll be out of luck if you fly with them. Wifi performance differs massively between airlines/providers, I was able to stream F1 qualifying without many issues on a JAL flight. I usually fly Delta or Virgin though and they seem to be OK for general social media/website browsing but not much else.

Adam · 5 Jul 2018 at 17:24

I’ve flown long haul with BA a few times recently and none of the planes including an A380 had WiFi available.

Begbie · 5 Jul 2018 at 17:29

Always found if you have to pay its usable, if it's free then just forget it. I'd whatsapp and it'd send eventually...

MagicBoy · 5 Jul 2018 at 17:34

Here's an idea, download stuff before you go!