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JetBlue begins Fly-Fi flight testing, on track for Q3 launch
Adding satellite WiFi to an airplane isn't as simple as mounting an antenna up top and flipping the switch on a router -- even installing a cockpit printer requires FAA approval, so as you can expect, the Federal Aviation Administration won't check off on major modifications without some thorough testing. JetBlue's new Fly-Fi service is well on its way to getting a formal green light, though, and is expected to launch before Q3 is through. This week, the carrier is running through a variety of flight tests with one of its Airbus A320s, including maneuvering the plane with some pretty unusual weight loads, such as the rear center of gravity positioning you can see demonstrated above. After that's complete, it's time to wait for FAA certification before moving onto performance testing, and if all goes well, passengers should expect to hook up to ViaSat-1 from 30,000 feet in mere months. Once Fly-Fi goes online, it'll be by far the fastest commercial in-flight WiFi option -- we really can't wait!
Boeing tapped to build ViaSat-2 satellite, launch set for mid-2016
ViaSat-1 recently earned a Guinness World Record as the highest-capacity satellite in (or out of) the world, but it may need to hand off that title come 2016. ViaSat-2, the company's next-gen bird, will double the capacity of its predecessor while also extending coverage to a larger portion of North America, Central America and the Caribbean, along with the aviation and shipping routes between the East Coast and Europe. Boeing will manufacture the new equipment, which will be based on the 702HP satellite platform. Once in orbit, ViaSat-2 will serve residential customers, air travelers and government agencies alike, with a massive seven-fold increase in coverage. There aren't many details beyond that, but you're welcome to dig through the press release, posted right after the break.
FCC proposes boosted in-flight WiFi speed with 14GHz spectrum by 2020
The FCC released a report yesterday detailing plans to free up 500 megahertz of spectrum, in an effort to supercharge our nation's ground-to-air mobile broadband infrastructure. The proposed spectrum would fall within the 14.0-14.5 GHz band, which is currently utilized for satellite uplinks. The FCC references an earlier Qualcomm proposal, which suggests data speeds of 300 gigabits per second with refreshed equipment operating over the new spectrum. With that bandwidth, all of the 15,000 WiFi-equipped aircraft that are estimated to be operating by 2021 would be able to offer significantly improved performance for passengers, and at a much lower cost. Based on verbiage in the report, the FCC's proposed date of 2020 sounds ambitious -- even with the agency completing "a great deal of ongoing work," it could be a decade before we can take advantage of gigabit connections from 37,000 feet in the air. Gogo's next-gen system and ViaSat's promised satellite rollout should be hitting planes before 2013 is through, however, delivering notable improvements of their own.
Visualized: JetBlue and ViaSat test Fly-Fi in-flight WiFi... from the ground
Gogo's ground-to-air transmitters typically mandate evaluating service while jetting around the country above 10,000 feet. Sure, you don't need to waste fuel flying around an empty airliner, but even the company's small jet can burn through quite a bit of cash. ViaSat, on the other hand, can do much of its service testing on the ground, using that fairly ordinary Ford van pictured just above. The reason, of course, relates to the location of the company's transmitter -- namely, the ViaSat-1 satellite, positioned some 22,000 miles above the ground. In the air, planes will actually be nearer to the orbiting device, rather than farther away, and assuming a line-of-sight link from the road, the truck can work out kinks at a fraction of the cost. That white dome atop the van, which is similar to the device that'll soon be mounted on JetBlue's fleet, maintains a constant connection by rotating instantly as the van moves -- if the vehicle's heading changes, the antenna array will turn, too, so it's always pointed directly at the sat in the sky. You may have seen ViaSat's van driving down Southern California's freeways, but the rig has just arrived in Orlando, for some additional testing a few degrees away from the company's Carlsbad home. Assuming all goes well here, you'll be shooting around the web courtesy of Fly-Fi in no time at all.
JetBlue names in-flight WiFi service: Fly-Fi, powered by ViaSat Exede
During an analyst event today, JetBlue shared some more details about its upcoming in-flight WiFi product. The service, which will be powered by ViaSat's Exede, has been coined "Fly-Fi," and the airline plans to begin rolling it out to its aircraft "soon." JetBlue hasn't presented a firm timeline, but says "Barring any setbacks during certification, we expect our first Wi-Fi-enabled flight with customers to take to the skies later this year." That's perhaps not as soon as you may have liked, but based on a speed demo (comparing Exede, Gogo, Row 44 and Panasonic's offering), this new and improved solution will be worth the wait. Take a sneak peek in the comparison video after the break.
ViaSat snags Guinness World Record for highest-capacity satellite
After earning top marks from the FCC for its broadband performance, ViaSat has added yet another feather to its cap in the form of a Guinness World Record. According to the august organization, the ViaSat-1 satellite, which powers the 12 Mbps Exede Internet service, is the highest-capacity communications satellite in the world. The reason for the accolade? The orbiting spacecraft apparently provides around 100 times the throughput capacity of a Ku-band satellite and ten times that of a Ka-band, which adds up to more capacity than all North American communication satellites combined at the time of its 2011 launch. While its broadband service still has latency issues, the folks over at ViaSat must feel pretty confident of its recent accomplishments; the company is currently looking beyond its rural customer base and venturing forth into other enterprises, such as in-flight WiFi. Better watch your back, Gogo.
Verizon FiOS, ViaSat Exede lead FCC broadband performance report
How do you pick your broadband internet provider? For many of us, the market dictates our selection, but a few lucky subscribers get to make their own call, rather than opting for the one and only service available in a particular locale. FiOS, Verizon's fiber-optic solution, and Exede, ViaSat's high-bandwidth satellite service -- two common secondary offerings -- happen to be the two frontrunners in the FCC's latest broadband performance report, which rates companies based on actual download and upload speeds compared to advertised bandwidth, among other metrics. More often than not, providers fall short of promised performance, with companies like AT&T and Qwest leading the naughty list. But Verizon and ViaSat are both motivated to maintain subscribers, and exceeding expectations is certainly not a bad way to accomplish that. This is ViaSat's first appearance in such a report, due in no small part to the company's recent Exede broadband introduction, which followed the ViaSat-1 satellite launch in late 2011. We experienced speedy performance during our own test last year, though latency remained an issue. The FCC covers this major downside as well, reporting a measured latency of 638 ms, compared to an average 29.6 ms figure for terrestrial services -- but overall impressions seem quite positive. The FCC has published some 10,000 words on the topic, so if you do in fact have an opportunity to elect your own broadband provider, it might be worth your while to comb through the agency's full report. It's ready for your perusal over at the source link below.
DirecTV, ViaSat launch Exede satellite broadband and TV bundles
Rural dwellers waiting for those promised DirecTV and ViaSat bundles can at last swing into action. The two have launched Exede satellite broadband bundles that slash the monthly internet access rates by $10 during the first year, and waive the $50 setup, in return for signing a 2-year satellite TV contract at a same time: the 10GB, 15GB and 25GB data tiers now cost a (slightly) more reasonable $40, $70 and $120 per month, respectively. The partnership doesn't represent a dramatic bargain, then, although it will let subscribers buy in through either DirecTV or ViaSat if they're already comfortable with either provider. Just be sure to act before the bundles' January 31st expiry date if one-stop satellite service is tempting.
Dish Network launches nationwide satellite broadband service with ViaSat, Hughes, calls it dishNET
Dish Network's long-gestating tie-up with ViaSat and Hughes has finally arrived under the name dishNET. Sounding like an implement you'd use to clean dirty dinner plates, the nationwide satellite broadband service launches from October 1st, targeting customers in rural areas that are underserved with fixed line gear. $40 a month gets you 5 Mbps down / 1Mbps up with a 10GB data cap, while subscribers can get a $10 discount if they pick up a TV package at the same time. We asked the company if this was related to the service based upon its spectrum purchases that was hinted at back in August, and it confirmed this is just leveraging ViaSat Exede and HughesNet.
Congo femtocell pilot could spawn DIY mobile networks for isolated communities
It's nice to get a delivery, but what if your remote village could use the contents to finally talk to the rest of the world? That's what African communications company RascomStar-QAF is cooking up with a pilot network in the Congo's jungles. They're going in to villages throughout the African nation and installing 50 router-like femtocells -- normally used in homes for better cellphone access -- from UK vendor ip.access. Those devices will be connected through the ViaSat orbiting network to RascomStar's telecom gateway in the capital, Brazzaville. Since the femtocell setup is nearly automatic, anyone with limited technical knowledge could do it, rather than the team of engineers normally needed for more complex networks. The result would be a system which could be shipped in a box, connecting previously inaccessible areas to a telecom network -- a lot bigger deal than the WiFi veranda project we were thinking of. To see how it'll all come together, connect to the press release below for more details.
DirecTV to offer broadband to the boonies, teams up with ViaSat and Hughes Satellite providers
Sure, living in the boonies may give you plenty of space to test out high-tech farming equipment, but at what cost? Rural homesteads just aren't suited for ye olde landline broadband and those fancy satellite setups cost a pretty penny. DirecTV understands, and has struck deals with ViaSat and Hughes to bundle their stellar bandwidth with pre-existing triple play packages to help reign in the cost of high-speed internet. Details on availability and price are still scarce, but DirecTV says customers should be able to take advantage of "certain special offers" later this year. Read on for the official press release, or check out our review of ViaSat's Exede service here.
The Engadget Interview: ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg on Exede and the future of in-flight WiFi
When you think about satellite internet, dismal speeds, ridiculous latency and astronomical fees are likely first to come to mind. But the only technology capable of blanketing our entire planet in connectivity is now able to provide a fast, consistent and affordable experience, thanks to one market-leading company, and the vision and leadership of Mark Dankberg. Launched from Dankberg's home in Southern California, ViaSat lit up on the map in 1986, and spent the first two decades focused on government and corporate contracts. Last year's launch of ViaSat-1, however, beamed the company straight toward the top of the North American satellite broadband market, bringing high-speed internet to the rural masses. Pair the company's Exede household product with airline contracts for in-flight WiFi, and you have one ever-growing infrastructure giant. We sat down with Dankberg -- ViaSat's CEO since inception -- at the company's Carlsbad, California headquarters, learning about the Exede service launch, a portable newsgathering rig and what the future of in-flight WiFi may look like on airlines like JetBlue and United. Join us past the break for the interview in full, and an inside look at how ViaSat plans to transform the entire satellite internet experience.
ViaSat Exede review
Broadband in the boonies has long been an unreasonable ask. As slack-jawed farmers are fond of telling lost tourists "Ya can't get there from here," broadband-starved country bumpkins have heard from cable companies, "We don't offer service in that location." Options have been few, like paying said cable company thousands to run some copper a few miles down the road, or making a second mortgage payment for a dedicated T3 line.Over the years satellite internet has been offered as an alternative for broadband in places where bears do their business, but as we've seen it's never really worked. Bandwidth has been low, latency high and pricing on the tall side of average have made services like WildBlue and HughesNet untenable to all but the most dedicated wilderness lovers.Now a new player approaches, and the offerings certainly sound compelling. It's called Exede from ViaSat and it promises speeds of up to 12Mbps down and 3Mbps up -- comparable to your average household "broadband" connection. However, with monthly fees ranging from $50 to $130 depending on how much data you need, this has the potential to be considerably more costly. Worth it? Put on your best pair of overalls then click on through to find out.
Satellite web surfing at 40Mbps with ViaSat SurfBeam 2 Pro (video)
If you've been relying on a satellite modem for your daily dose of the Internet, you're probably all too familiar with sub-1Mbps download speeds and an overall painful experience. That's exactly why we've been so impressed with ViaSat and its new 12Mbps down, 3Mbps up Exede residential satellite broadband product. Yesterday, we journeyed deep into Camp Pendleton near San Diego to test out those 12/3Mbps speeds on the go-anywhere SurfBeam 2 Pro Portable, and now we're back to play around with the enterprise setup's more stationary sibling, the SurfBeam 2 Pro. The modem functions in much the same way as ViaSat's less-expensive household version, though there's a bit more horsepower under the hood.The sample we saw at the company's Carlsbad, CA headquarters is also provisioned for faster service, delivering throughput in excess of 40Mbps down, letting you transfer files from the web at speeds you'd typically only be able to meet with a fiber connection. That may be a bit excessive for regular web use, but if you need to download software, movies or other large files in remote areas, that extra speed will likely be more than welcome. Join us past the break for a quick look a Exede, followed by a demo of the enterprise version and its 40Mbps downloads.
Live from Camp Pendleton with ViaSat SurfBeam 2 Pro Portable (video)
There's no power outlet, land-based internet connection or even a decent cell signal in sight, yet we're posting this live, at fast broadband speeds. We're miles deep into Camp Pendleton, connected to ViaSat's SurfBeam 2 Pro Portable mobile satellite transceiver and sending data to and from ViaSat-1 located more than 20,000 miles above our heads. SurfBeam 2 wasn't designed for us to kick back and surf the web in the middle of nowhere at speeds that we could barely achieve while tethered to a cable connection just a few years ago, but we're doing just that, with ViaSat's roughly $20,000 go-anywhere satellite broadband rig. We first heard about Pro Portable last month at CES, which the company is marketing towards military, emergency management personnel and even broadcasters -- that's right, the sat truck of the future fits inside a hand-carry suitcase, and sends HD video from the world's most remote locations right back to broadcast centers at record speed, nearly eliminating that lag that makes certain CNN reports painful to watch.Pro Portable really can go anywhere -- disassembled, it fits inside a fairly modest suitcase, but screw it together and you have a full-size dish. There's also a four-port Ethernet router and an optional battery pack, which provides up to four hours of juice. Think of it as Exede broadband for far-off-the-grid types. Sadly, Pro Portable isn't priced low enough to make its way into your on-the-go blogger kit, but it costs a small fraction of the million dollars you can spend on a sat truck, which rents for thousands of dollars a day. It's also far more transportable and discrete, offering consistent 12 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds nearly anywhere in North America. How can SurfBeam 2 hold up during a bandwidth-intensive HD upload? See for yourself just past the break -- our 230MB hands-on video made its way from the ground to space and back to Viddler in just shy of 13 minutes, and our Skype video call looked fantastic, without any noticeable lag.
ViaSat 12Mbps 'exede' broadband gets official date and data bundles, eyes up you rural types
Still fancy some of that 12Mbps satellite broadband ViaSat announced last week? Well, the service finally got a name: Exede. Also, that suggested January 16th date for consumer roll-out has been confirmed. If you're still undecided whether you want some of that "feels like fiber" service, then maybe the freshly revealed package details might sway you? The $50 basic bundle will get you 7.5GB monthly quota which can be increased to 15GB ($80) or 25GB ($130) if that doesn't fill your data belly. Tap the PR if you want to read more.
Dish Network announces Hopper DVR system, Joey set-top box, launches broadband, Test Drive services
Dish Network just made a slew of big announcements at its CES press conference today, introducing the Hopper HD DVR system, the corollary Joey set-top box, and a new, TV Everywhere-based Test Drive service. Let's start with the hardware: the Hopper unit is comprised of three satellite TV tuners, a 2TB hard drive that promises up to 2,000 hours of entertainment, including up to 250 hours of HD viewing and 1,000 hours of SD recording. The device can record up to six TV shows at once, and allows users to watch as many as four recorded shows in four different rooms. When combined with the Joey, users can take advantage of a 750MHz Broadcom processor that, according to Dish, is the fastest satellite receiver on the market. Also announced today is something known as Test Drive -- a new "try before they buy" service that allows customers to get a free taste of TV Everywhere for 24 hours. As of February 1st, users will be able to sign up for Test Drive and stream select TV shows to their PCs, tablets or smartphones at no charge (for a limited time, of course). Also in February, the company will launch a new satellite broadband package, as part of a new service launched with ViaSat. These new packages will offer download speeds of up to 12Mbps, and upload rates of up to 3Mbps. Installation prices will start at $99, with bundles starting at around $80 per month. For more details, hit up the troika of PRs, after the break.
ViaSat residential satellite broadband internet hands-on (video)
Last Thursday, ViaSat announced pricing for its new home broadband service, which is set to deliver 12 Mbps+ download speeds (3 Mbps+ up) beginning next week for $50 per month. We just dropped by the company's demo home just a few feet from the Engadget trailer at the Las Vegas Convention Center parking lot to try it out, and were quite impressed with the speeds we saw, especially considering that data was passing through the ViaSat-1 satellite thousands of miles above the Earth. We've used other satellite internet services before, and while there's still just over a half-second of latency, bandwidth speeds were significantly faster than what we've experienced with other services in the past. HD YouTube videos loaded very quickly, after a brief delay, as did Engadget and many other media-rich news websites. We performed a speed test and registered ping speeds of about 600ms, download speeds of about 30 Mbps and upload speeds of about 2 Mbps, but results aren't as accurate as they would be with a land-based connection because of latency and the way packet data is handled. We also placed a VOIP call, and while the delay was noticeable there, it was still usable. Want to see for yourself? Jump past the break as we step through ViaSat's front door to hop online.
ViaSat details home broadband, 12 Mbps service to roll out on the 16th for $50 per month
Earlier this year, ViaSat launched its ViaSat-1, a 140 Gbps capacity satellite positioned over North America. We've already heard about plans to bring Ka-band coverage to the friendly JetBlue skies later this year, but now the new broadband provider has detailed residential availability as well, through the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative. NRTC members will have access to 12 Mbps service packages starting at $50 per month as soon as January 16th, finally bringing high-speed broadband to areas where fiber and cable services are not available. ViaSat may not be rolling out to consumers for another couple weeks, but the provider will be on-site at CES to demo the service in "residential, commercial airline, and satellite newsgathering" scenarios beginning Tuesday, and you better believe we'll be there to test it out.
ViaSat-1 moves into fixed orbit, aims its broadband ray gun
To advanced aliens and Europeans, ViaSat-1 is no big deal. To Americans and Canadians, however, it's their ticket to more affordable satellite broadband coverage at speeds of up to 10Mbps, as well better in-flight connectivity. The satellite's plasma thrusters have moved it into geosynchronous orbit and its payload has been switched on, so the initial service is on track to begin by Christmas time, with further services in 2012. Want to know more about the tech involved in such extraterrestrial feats? Then look for the detailed PR after the break.
