Aer Lingus WiFi

Derek Zoolander

website states will be on all transatlantic flights by end March 2013 - anyone know if this is a phased roll-out or will it just be available on the entire fleet in April 2013?

AeroEng1

It is fitted to one aircraft already as far as I know but it will not be available for use until the entire A330 fleet is fitted.

b757

EI-DAA currently has WIFI, EI-EAV is getting it done at the moment. Don't know if EAV is back in service as it was planned to start on the 7th Jan.

The 320's will be getting it done too, although users will have to pay for it. No idea when they will have it, i presume the 330's are the main priority.

coylemj

Can't wait to hear the horror stories caused by some spoiled brat forcing Daddy to give his credit card number for Wi-Fi access only for Jimmy to watch a heap of YouTube videos all the way across the Atlantic.

Or will capping will be enforced, so you'll buy a set number of MB and then it stops?

castie

coylemj wrote: »

Can't wait to hear the horror stories caused by some spoiled brat forcing Daddy to give his credit card number for Wi-Fi access only for Jimmy to watch a heap of YouTube videos all the way across the Atlantic.

Or will capping will be enforced, so you'll buy a set number of MB and then it stops?

Thats how it works with Singapore Airlines right now anyway.
You pay for x MB and then recharge.

munchkin_utd

castie wrote: »

Thats how it works with Singapore Airlines right now anyway.
You pay for x MB and then recharge.

looked up the charges just as a comparison
10USD for 10MB or 25USD for 30MB
http://www.singaporeair.com/jsp/cms/en_UK/flying_with_us/inflight-connectivity.jsp

The basic is a dollar an MB or €0.75 per MB.
In comparison O2 roaming abroad is €0.861 per MB so its actually cheaper to use the internet on a singapore air plane the other end of the world than a few km across the border in Northern Ireland with your providers sister company up there.
http://www.o2online.ie/wps/wcm/connect/O2/Home/Explore+Services/Services/Travelling+Abroad/Tariff+Information/Northern+Ireland/

Franticfrank

I'm not too interested in this. I can understand the business advantages of it but I'm happy to get away from the Internet when I'm flying. Seems like the plane's the only place you can get away from mobile phones and the Internet these days.

IngazZagni

Franticfrank wrote: »

I'm not too interested in this. I can understand the business advantages of it but I'm happy to get away from the Internet when I'm flying. Seems like the plane's the only place you can get away from mobile phones and the Internet these days.

On a two hour flight I would agree but if the flight is 5 plus hours I would probably pay a bit for wifi. It would be a good way to pass an hour or two.

Out of interest approx how much browsing could you do with 10mb? No videos or anything. Like how much does it take to load a boards.ie webpage?

Franticfrank

IngazZagni wrote: »

Out of interest approx how much browsing could you do with 10mb? No videos or anything. Like how much does it take to load a boards.ie webpage?

I agree that it might be useful on a long haul flight if you can make full use of it. For me, 10mb seems quite low...if you're opening boards pages, especially some with photos or browsing Facebook, you'd probably use it up quite rapidly, meaning it isn't worth the price.

L1011

Use mobile versions of sites and turn off images in your browser and 10MB goes a surprisingly long way.

I imagine that we'd be almost expected/required to use it for email if flying for work

coylemj

MYOB wrote: »

Use mobile versions of sites and turn off images in your browser and 10MB goes a surprisingly long way.

+1 and disable downloading of attachments in e-mails.

larry1

Anyone know if WIFI service has commenced on Aer Lingus transatlantic routes yet?

lintdrummer

larry1 wrote: »

Anyone know if WIFI service has commenced on Aer Lingus transatlantic routes yet?

It's not due to be rolled out until the end of next month and it is not available until then.

robclay26

Let's hope it won't be too expensive. Norwegian airlines have free wifi on board. That's a big win win to fly with them
Maybe ei should do it free and attract more customers

b757

robclay26 wrote: »

Let's hope it won't be too expensive. Norwegian airlines have free wifi on board. That's a big win win to fly with them
Maybe ei should do it free and attract more customers

I think it will be free for the long haul, read somewhere though that when WIFI does come to shorthaul you will have to pay for it..

Not to sure.

Locker10a

I wonder if the 757s will get it too

lord lucan

Looks like you'll be able to text and make calls onboard the A330's soon judging by this article.

http://www.aeromobile.net/news-and-media/press-releases/197-inflight-mobile-takes-off-in-ireland

james142

Flew on EI-DAA a week ago. Saw the dome thing on top of the aircraft, guessed it was the wifi antenna. No wifi available on board though.

irishbloke77

james142 wrote: »

Flew on EI-DAA a week ago. Saw the dome thing on top of the aircraft, guessed it was the wifi antenna. No wifi available on board though.

I thought that dome was to do with the inflight entertainment tv's etc

james142

irishbloke77 wrote: »

I thought that dome was to do with the inflight entertainment tv's etc

Are you sure? I never saw this thing ontop of any of their fleet before. I guessed it was for the wifi but I could be wrong. I have a pic I took of the aircraft below.

b757

The dome is for WIFI, not currently activated yet. Not until all 330's have been fitted with it, i think.

Will be free on long haul too..

james142

b757 wrote: »

The dome is for WIFI, not currently activated yet. Not until all 330's have been fitted with it, i think.

Will be free on long haul too..

free?! Just my luck then. SHoulda planned to fly out later in the year

b757

james142 wrote: »

free?! Just my luck then. SHoulda planned to fly out later in the year

Apparently so, short haul wifi will "attract a small fee" when introduced.

Things may change though.

tennis12

Does anyone know if that white part would created much additional drag and use more fuel?

Rocky Bay

tennis12 wrote: »

Does anyone know if that white part would created much additional drag and use more fuel?

First thing I thought of when I viewed the picture.

Tenger

tennis12 wrote: »

Does anyone know if that white part would created much additional drag and use more fuel?

Yes it does. It is about the size of a normal kitchen table. Obviously EI would have factored this additional weight and fuel burn into the decision on whether or not to install the system..

martinsvi

drag from the antenna should be minuscule, I doubt anyone will notice any changes in fuel consumption. Southwest airlines did some tests on their 737 and said that the drag has increased the fuel consumption by about 0.3% I'm not sure if dimensions for EI antennas are the same, but if they are - then on a bigger body, such as a330, the percentage should be smaller.

I flew EI-EAV couple of days ago and found power-sockets installed underneath the seats. I don't think they were there before, not sure. Anyway, they looked operational - there was a tiny light glowing next to socket..

IngazZagni

tennis12 wrote: »

Does anyone know if that white part would created much additional drag and use more fuel?

Ryanair said at a press conference recently that it would create extra drag and thus extra fuel burn and across 1500 plus flights a day that would add up quite a bit. Because of this they won't be installing it on their aircraft in the short term anyway.

Tenger

martinsvi wrote: »

.... I flew EI-EAV couple of days ago and found power-sockets installed underneath the seats. I don't think they were there before, not sure. Anyway, they looked operational - there was a tiny light glowing next to socket..

EI have had power outlets in all A330's since the cabin upgrade in 2008/2009

pclancy

I heard on other airlines the on board WIFI was terribly slow. Certainly not good enough for HD Youtube or anything high bandwidth.

Anyone actually know what the up/down speeds are?

martinsvi

single channel from a satellite will give you 432kbps, it depends how many channels does the antenna and hardware support. Row44 is the best one on the market and does about 10mbit. That's on entire plane. So you have that divided by some 50 pax using wifi at the same time and end up with nothing.