Wavelengths

As SmartSky Networks deploys its 4G LTE network across the country, we’ve been fielding a surprising number of questions around the ability of our network to support online gaming – something that requires a low-latency and bi-directional network connection. Most inflight connectivity networks struggle to support a positive gaming experience due to their high latency.

In the aviation connectivity industry, we are all striving to provide a better end-user experience, whether that experience is for the passengers in the cabin, the flight crew, or the team on the ground. Our goal is to enable these users to do the activities and tasks that they want and need to do with their devices: send and receive emails, hold calls and video chats, collect and analyze in-flight data. However, confusion creeps in when connectivity is not what one might expect— especially when everyone starts talking about “speeds up to _” as if that is the performance one sees all the time.

As a frequent flyer, my first thought when boarding a flight is often focused around whether there will be space for my carry-on, competing with my fellow passengers for the limited space available. I confess it can be difficult not to be frustrated when several large bags have hogged all the space, leaving me with no option but to check my bag.

Similarly, the aircraft and passengers often experience the same dilemma at 35,000 feet, but for another reason. This competition is for the availability to exchange data on and off the aircraft, or “bandwidth” over the in-flight connectivity service. It is quite likely that you never give a second thought to the physics nor the technological advances that make it possible to connect to the Internet in the sky. But you may ask yourself: given all of these advances, why do we still struggle for “space” in that proverbial data pipe used for in-flight connectivity?

You might not give much thought to your Internet connection's overall speed, but you probably do pay attention to your overall user experience. Most people think speed tests are the key to putting a measurable quantity on user experience – and most only pay attention to the speed to the user, not the speed from the user to the provider. You might be surprised to learn that in addition to latency, upload speed, or speed from the user to the provider, is key to a great Internet experience.

Everyone loves to rate their user experience with connectivity and often have found the inflight connectivity experience of the past to lag behind their user experience on the ground. Unfortunately, this has been generally true on both corporate and commercial air travel. What is it about connecting in the air that can negatively affect our experience on the internet?