WiFi in the air

Posted March 1, 2016

Qantas this week announced that it will begin trials of free, in flight Wi Fi on its domestic flights in Australia later this year.

The Internet is now so pervasive in our lives, that free Wi Fi around cities, and now on airlines is not considered a luxury, but a necessity – a bit like running water 150 years ago maybe?

Wi Fi on board aircraft has been a reality in the USA since 2008. Significant technological improvements just a couple of years ago though, have dramatically increased speed (bandwidth) and reliability of the service, making a better experience for customers and opening opportunities for the airlines too.

With constantly “connected” (Internet aware) aeroplanes, continual real-time diagnostics, communications and predictive maintenance can be improved while safety and incident investigation to an extent that could even see the demise of the infamous black box.

Imagine too the possibilities this opens up for couriers and luggage handlers. As the Internet of Things becomes a reality, real time tracking of deliveries will show the exact location of all items, not just the list time it was scanned at some depot somewhere. We could also expect warnings, maybe even on Twitter if our luggage is about to be shipped in the opposite direction to where we are heading!

Like all public WiFi there will be safety and security concerns. You don’t (shouldn’t be) doing your online banking in McDonalds or Starbucks and likewise, you ought not to trust airline WiFi to that either.

The following safety tips apply and will become more and more relevant.

• Install firewall and anti-malware apps on your mobile devices and promptly install App and OS updates.

• Use long strong passwords of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols and different passwords for each site. Don’t automatically save them.

• Never connect to an unfamiliar wireless network. Even if the name looks like the real one, check to make sure it’s not a fake.

• Disable features that allow your mobile devices to automatically connect to any wireless networks within range.

• Turn off file sharing to prevent hackers from stealing sensitive information from your smartphone or tablet.

• Turn off WiFi when you’re not using it.

• Use a virtual private network to encrypt your data when you use hotspots in the air and on the ground. VPNs create a private network across the public network which prevents hackers from intercepting your sensitive information. The Federal Trade Commission, the FBI, and the Better Business Bureau recommend using VPNs at public WiFi hotspots.

As with any so many miraculous – potentially life changing – at least absolutely remarkable advances, it doesn’t take long for the nay-sayers to appear. There will always be the entitled few, with petulent about how useless WiFi on aeroplanes is, how it’s slow and unreliable.

Such judgemental and critical complaints about the sorry state of WiFi on flights reminds me of this – a few years old now but still just as relevant I feel….