Video: Wi-SKY promises in-flight 45Mbps downloads, does nothing for your troubled conscience

So, we know you're as giddy as a child on Christmas morn' every time one of your flights turns out to have WiFi. But what if we told you that those puny 900+kbps transfers could soon be dwarfed by download rates as high as 45Mbps? This is Wi-SKY's claim, made during a presentation at the Immarsat Aeronautical Conference. According to Electronista, the technology relies on a series of radio towers that are each capable of broadcasting a distance of up to 54 miles. The company has yet to announce any airline partnerships or a timeline for deployment, so don't expect to do any bandwidth-intensive tech blogging from the skies over Laramie any time soon. But we do have an octane-fueled, high-adrenaline video for you. Peep it after the break.

[Idlemind @ Jun 4th 2009 4:53PM]

Great! Speedy downloads as I crash and burn, never to be found again......

[Matt @ Jun 4th 2009 4:55PM]

Hey, at least you'll get that last Twitter in..

"Falling towards the ocean, be right back."

[Idlemind @ Jun 4th 2009 4:56PM]

thats hilarious..... thanks... :P

[Ernesttechuser @ Jun 4th 2009 5:15PM]

Hmm, how best to make flying even more unbearable .....

1) Allow people to use mobile phones.

2) Give everybody wifi access.

Great! :-(

[mgsrocks1 @ Jun 5th 2009 12:18AM]

That's funny. I wonder if Samuel L. Jackson is going to star in wi-fi on a plane. I'm sick of these slow mother fucking speeds on this mother fucking plane!

[Wolfticket @ Jun 4th 2009 4:57PM]

Passengers now know as peers.

[ttlj @ Jun 4th 2009 5:00PM]

From looking at the video their current technology seems to offer 45Mbps to the whole plane, so 50 passengers all trying to stream HD and we're back down to "regular" 900kbps downloads.

[cbilly @ Jun 4th 2009 5:01PM]

Cool. Now I know I'm allowed to use Streets and Trips with GPS on an airliner.

[Raimundo O. @ Jun 5th 2009 2:37PM]

it's going to be weird now to download something from the ground to the air and upload stuff to the ground from the air ... :p

[pepsiprs @ Jun 4th 2009 5:04PM]

Great, that's all we need, people talking / video conferencing in the air. I've heard of a few flights in europe allowing cell phones (which sounds annoying enough), but now it's going to get insane.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about internet in the air. It's the noise from others that I'm concerned with when I take a red-eye and want to pass out.

[conan151091 @ Jun 4th 2009 6:57PM]

Don't worry, I think they still ban video conferrencing on the plane. They only allow IM and chat by text (and of course super high speed downloading too).

[Idlemind @ Jun 4th 2009 5:04PM]

all these advancements and I still cant use my bluetooth headphones to watch a movie on my laptop? (without "interfering with the planes electronics")

[cbilly @ Jun 4th 2009 5:06PM]

Just noticed they're only at 20k feet. Head up to 35,000 cruising alt and watch it return to 900 kbps. Awesome

[ShogunMaster @ Jun 4th 2009 5:19PM]

Anything downloaded over international waters is legal, right?

[Jonathan @ Jun 4th 2009 5:27PM]

Wouldn't work over water anyway since it uses towers and not satellites...

[topspeed @ Jun 4th 2009 5:58PM]

They'll just use relay planes, just like the military uses in-flight refueling aircrafts. They can also be unmanned and solar powered, maybe not solar powered by it would be nice.

[SonicEarth @ Jun 4th 2009 5:30PM]

Airplane!

[Wolfticket @ Jun 4th 2009 5:43PM]

Do you like movies about gladiators?

[Samboini @ Jun 4th 2009 6:03PM]

I like my coffee how I like my men; black.

[topspeed @ Jun 4th 2009 6:08PM]

I do to. 300 was also great. The had no high-speed internet then, imagine. Which gladiator movie do you recommend?

[Wolfticket @ Jun 4th 2009 7:27PM]

You ever seen a grown man naked?

[Shiz @ Jun 4th 2009 7:52PM]

"I just wanted to say good luck, we're all counting on you."

[chrisk1590 @ Jun 4th 2009 5:30PM]

I guess it's cool that they can do this, but it's totally unnecessary. They need 45Mbps on land first.

[David @ Jun 4th 2009 5:42PM]

What Fujitsu model is that in the picture?

[Wolfticket @ Jun 4th 2009 9:36PM]

Fujitsu M2010 netbook, I think.

[va jj @ Jun 4th 2009 5:46PM]

that... and proved everyone with privacy filters so i can watch porn and jizz in my pants.

[evilspoons @ Jun 4th 2009 8:08PM]

Every 54 miles? Yeesh. That means on a flight from Edmonton (my home) direct to LA, you'd need to have 25 towers exactly along the flight path.

This doesn't seem reasonable except on the most common flight corridors. They can't possibly make THAT much money selling in-flight internet.

[Kalson @ Jun 4th 2009 8:33PM]

Our kids will laugh at us one day when we tell them of the days we had no internet on planes. LOL

Quote of the Day: "Don't treat others as YOU would like to be treated. Treat them how THEY would like to be treated" - Jang Kalson

[dosguy @ Jun 4th 2009 11:22PM]

I AM serious and stop calling me Shirley!

[jam @ Jun 4th 2009 11:57PM]

I don't care as long as the keep bringing the Whi-SKeY

[superhobo @ Jun 5th 2009 6:54AM]

Looks shopped.

[Rob @ Jun 23rd 2009 10:40AM]

Yes the pixels are all wrong, and I've seen many a 'shop in my day...

[TheAirlineBlog.com @ Jun 14th 2009 2:22AM]

Yes. Yes. Yes. As long as you give me a power plug to chage my laptop, I will be a happy camper. I don't care if I am in the center seat in the last row. Give me that internet and I will be happy :)

David
http://www.theairlineblog.com