Qantas WiFi (aka Qantas inflight Internet)

[moa999]

Interesting. So possibly QF deliberately not activating it for SE Asian flights despite satellite being available for the majority of journey. Wonder why

 

[sudoer]

Interesting. So possibly QF deliberately not activating it for SE Asian flights despite satellite being available for the majority of journey. Wonder why

I reckon when they eventually offer wifi on international routes it'll be a paid service, and they'd rather not offer something for free today (albeit best effort and only available for part of a trip) if they intend to start charging for it down the track.

 

[Daver6]

Had a wifi enabled 737 between PER and SIN a few times, never enabled.

 

[sudoer]

Had a wifi enabled 737 between PER and SIN a few times, never enabled.

I wouldn't expect it to be enabled on routes like PER-SIN and BNE-POM, as the service is only operable over the Australian continent. If it were turned on for PER-SIN, I'd expect a patchy service for the first ~45 minutes and then it'd stop for the remainder of the trip.



MEL-DPS is technically capable of operating for the first 2000 of 2700 miles.

 

[Cheesy]

There were a few chuckles on VZV Sunday evening for SYD-CHC, when the CSM said "Although this is a WiFi enabled flight, the service will become unavailable once we cross the Australian coast line." So about 30 seconds after becoming airborne then!

 

[Welshie]

First time using wifi on a plane (QF843) and I’m impressed. Seems comparable to 4g, far better than I expected.

Did I hear a rumour this was coming to international flights some time soon? That would be awesome - my experiences of wifi on other carriers (EK, SQ) has been pretty poor.

 

[DavidFlynn]

Did I hear a rumour this was coming to international flights some time soon? That would be awesome - my experiences of wifi on other carriers (EK, SQ) has been pretty poor.

If so, t'was an ill-founded rumour – Qantas doesn't plan international WiFi until 2021.

 

[DavidFlynn]

I reckon when they eventually offer wifi on international routes it'll be a paid service, and they'd rather not offer something for free today (albeit best effort and only available for part of a trip) if they intend to start charging for it down the track.

I'd like to see 30 minutes free for all users (as a sampler), an hour free for business class and Platinums, and at least two hours free for first class (this assuming a single-speed service, different arrangement for a two-speed service).

 

[snabbu]

After trying out the wifi about 6 months ago I thought it was almost unusable.
This week I tried it again on VXH and XZJ and was thoroughly impressed. Youtube was flawless on an iphone with no buffering whatsoever.

 

[moa999]

so, t'was an ill-founded rumour – Qantas doesn't plan international WiFi until 2021.

And will seemingly still have a gap over Asia until 2022/2023 given the ViaSat3 Asia satellite will be the last one of the threr launched.
https://spacenews.com/viasat-books-ula-atlas-5-for-a-viasat-3-satellite-launch/
Viasat, SpaceX Enter Contract for a Future ViaSat-3 Satellite Launch | Viasat, Inc.

 

[henrus]

Did I hear a rumour this was coming to international flights some time soon? That would be awesome - my experiences of wifi on other carriers (EK, SQ) has been pretty poor.

EK is always poor as it's a 0.864mbps connection (no joke) shared across the entire aircraft. Once you've got more than 5 people connected then it's pointless. Even messenger was timing out on the last flight.

SQ I've had speeds up to 7-8mbps download (other times it's been 0.3mbps) but now that their highest plan is $28 for 200mb it's not as good as it used to be when it was $21.95 for the entire flight, no data limit.

VA can be hit and miss, Domestic I've had speeds up to 10mbps but trans Tasman it's been between 1-3mbps download (though I still managed to use ~300 MB in one flight. Free domestically but $12.99 Trans Tasman or to the Pacific Islands.

Iceland Air has to be some of the fastest in-flight WiFi though... The fastest download was 46.32mbps, the fastest upload 0.67mbps and the fastest ping was 666ms. It was €4 for the entire 3-hour flight from Amsterdam to Reykjavik.

QF domestic (on the 4-5 flights) has had consistent speeds of 14-15mbps download and 0.4mbps upload with ~600ms ping times but this is to be expected from the KA coverage they've got across Australia. The Qantas one seems capped though, I wouldn't be surprised if it could do a lot more than 15mbps but that's all speed test would get.

NBN Coverage is very limited as it's just over Australia so until more highspeed internet satellites get launched, coverage will continue to be a problem.

 

[bigjobs]

if they're going to offer wifi in flight, then offer it. the half baked product they have now is inconsistent, drops out, won't connect, and can't even cope with a basic website that has just mostly text ...

the challenge of little competition I guess. half baked product offerings.

 

[Silvia]

I had it today from MEL-SYD. What I did notice different from my last couple of flights is that this was heavily promoted by the crew with a video on how to make it work that was shown on the IFE screens. Today it worked pretty well, but in other flights I’ve had it quite patchy

 

[BD1959]

QF domestic (on the 4-5 flights) has had consistent speeds of 14-15mbps download and 0.4mbps upload with ~600ms ping times but this is to be expected from the KA coverage they've got across Australia. The Qantas one seems capped though, I wouldn't be surprised if it could do a lot more than 15mbps but that's all speed test would get.

Currently on XZO - the 610 MEL-BNE - and getting 15.3mbps download, only 0.13mbps upload and 585ms ping time. Working OK for most internet - though I gave up on the QantasSource on my laptop for the airframe and reverted to Flight24 on my phone.

Regards,

BD

 

[hm520]

Lastly, IFE had a grand total of 16 movies in English.. is that normal for a 738?

Via. the screens in the back of the seat/arm rest, yes. If you're connected to the wifi via your own device (whether internet is enabled or not) and open the qantas entertainment app there is plenty more available.

 

[sudoer]

If you're connected to the wifi via your own device (whether internet is enabled or not) and open the qantas entertainment app there is plenty more available.

Interesting - I had always assumed seatback IFE showed the same selection as WiFi entertainment.

In any case, it's ridiculous Q Streaming can only be accessed via an iOS/Android app.. why not make a browser-based option for those with laptops?! I'd much prefer the 13" laptop screen over a 5" phone..

 

[hm520]

Interesting - I had always assumed seatback IFE showed the same selection as WiFi entertainment.

In any case, it's ridiculous Q Streaming can only be accessed via an iOS/Android app.. why not make a browser-based option for those with laptops?! I'd much prefer the 13" laptop screen over a 5" phone..

You're right - not sure why. I was on a flight recently where the only options were 1) watch a movie on my iphone7 (standard size) or crank my neck up and look at the fold down screen (row 4).

 

[albatross710]

Have been enjoying the domestic QF wifi on various flights during the year.

Our Mel - DPS fligth I was getting interested as it was a wifi enabled aircraft. Should have read this thread before the flight. I did see this graphic from he Viasat sales pitch which looks inspiring until I looked closely at the timeline.



Note to QF this pax would be understanding if the WiFi was available on international flights "while over Australia territory".

 

[calmelb]

Have been enjoying the domestic QF wifi on various flights during the year.

Our Mel - DPS fligth I was getting interested as it was a wifi enabled aircraft. Should have read this thread before the flight. I did see this graphic from he Viasat sales pitch which looks inspiring until I looked closely at the timeline.

View attachment 144826

Note to QF this pax would be understanding if the WiFi was available on international flights "while over Australia territory".

I notice that the earliest we’ll notice any sort of qantas wifi is from 2021 when flying from Perth. But chances are they’ll aim for 2022 so they can say all flights have it (like domestic). Though isn’t project sunrise meant to be from 2022 as well?

 

[moa999]

Id hope they install the backbone in the A380s as part of the refurb.
Then you're just waiting on ViaSat to launch the threr satelites.

The Americas and Europe ViaSat3 sats have late 2020 launch dates
Launch Schedule [Series: ViaSat-3] - RocketLaunch.Live

But possibly you can get access to the US/Europe landmass coverage earlier than this.