I know Mossberg ‘reviewed’ the service a while back, but he was on the plane by himself with a cornucopia of devices. That’s not a real world situation. I was skeptical of the whole thing like most of you were, but after yesterday I’m completely sold. It’s not earth shattering or anything. I mean, it’s only Wi-Fi on a plane, but it’s finally here and better than expected. Let’s start with the good. Getting yourself set up is super easy, but there is one caveat. Managing your Gogo account from a mobile device is limited and you’ll need a laptop to get everything up and running. It’s also not really worth it to pay $13 if you’re only going to be using your BlackBerry, iPhone or Windows Mobile device, but I digress. Setup is simple, but if you do run into some problems there is a 24-hour help desk that’s available to you via IM regardless of whether or not you’re connected. I actually used it yesterday and they got me squared away in a matter of minutes. Also, for the next month or two there will be Gogo reps from Aircell wearing mint green polos on board to help customers out. After that there will be telephone CSRs at your beck and call. → Read More
I guess my mystery device isn’t supported, but I’ll try it out anyway. → Read More
I find myself on AA flight #3 headed to LAX from NY’s JFK. Today marks the first day of Aircell’s Gogo inflight service going live for the masses. It will be available on flights from NYC to LA, Miami and San Francisco. The 8AM flight to Miami from JFK is not a 767-200, so those going south won’t be privy to Aircell’s Gogo service. The flight is full from what I’m told and Aircell had plenty of people on hand at the gate to promote the service. Exactly how many folks will utilize the service is unknown at this point. I’ll be using my MacBook Pro, iPhone 3G and T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve along with one other smartphone that’s Wi-Fi enabled. I’m in economy so it’s going to be a tight squeeze. Hopefully the lady sitting in front of me won’t lean her seat back, but that’s doubtful. I’ve already got my laptop on my lap as is and it’s not pleasant. I wish one of the manufacturers who I requested a sub-notebook/netbook from had gotten back to me. I’m looking at you Lenovo, HP, Asus, MSI and Dell. The service unavailable splash screen reveals that Gogo won’t work below 10,000 feet and is only available within the continental U.S. I will individually test all my devices and then simultaneously to see what sort of bandwidth I’m getting. Speed tests after the jump. → Read More
Hey folks. I’m on American Airlines Flight #3 from JFK to LAX and working from 37,000 feet via Aircell’s Gogo inflight Wi-Fi service. Jump on over to CrunchGear for all the hot, live blogging action and review. → Read More
We’ve covered this topic on multiple occasions and, well, today the service is going live for the masses on AA. The Boeing 767-200 aircrafts in AA’s fleet flying from NYC to LA, Miami and San Francisco will have the service flipped on and we’ll be on a flight from JFK to LAX today. Pricing will be $12.95 for flights with a duration of over three hours. Check back at noon EDT for a live blog/review of the service. → Read More
American Airlines is quite possibly the most horrendous airline on the face of the planet. I’m waiting for my flight to LA at Gate 12 in JFK. I was supposed to leave at 7:15 ET, but it’s been pushed out to 7:50 ET. So feel free to swing by and say hello and possibly buy me a beer. Although, I don’t see a bar anywhere around. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that my flight has Aircell’s GoGo service. Big ups to Samsung for providing me with a Mobile Charging Station! *Why am I not taking Virgin America?* → Read More
http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/452319854 We’ve been a huge proponent of Aircell’s GoGo service for months now and we’re tickled pink to learn that GoGo will finally be launching sometime next month with American Air. I’m extremely jealous that Walt got to test out the service before all of us, but that’s just the way these things work out and it makes me sad. Oh well. Anyway, Mossberg took a test flight from San Francisco to Aircell’s home base in Colorado to test out the service. He averaged 500-600Kbps down and 300Kbps up, which isn’t blazing fast, but good enough if you ask me. It is on a plane and most of us haven’t been privy to such frivolous things in the past. Pricing is set $12.95 for flights over three hours and there’s also a flat-rate of $9.95. Also, we’ve already known this for some time, but I just wanted to reiterate the fact that Aircell’s service will not allow VoIP calls or any calls in general, so don’t think you’ll be chatting away on your transcontinental flights. Oh, you probably want to know which cities will get first dibs on the service, don’t you? Flights going in and out of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami on Boeing 767s will get first crack. Virgin America will follow suit across their entire fleet later in the year. You might wonder about those test speeds and say that it will bomb once everyone and their mother logs on, but Aircell claims that Mossberg’s test flight directly portrays what others will soon experience. He was logged onto the service with eight laptops and six Wi-Fi-enabled handsets. In case you were wondering. → Read More
San Francisco, CA
