How do I log on while in flight?

Stephen J. Wilcox steve at opaltelecom.co.uk
Thu Jun 27 20:59:35 UTC 2002



I seem to recall a program on the Discovery Channel [ ;Pp ] where cellphone,
FM/AM radio, walkman and CD player emitted radiation possibly could interfere
with some old equipment on old aircraft (ie probably precautionary rather than
real risk) .. I forget the detail but on an affected plane it did sound fairly
nasty!

Think it was a similar thing in hospitals.. ?

Steve </trivia>

On Thu, 27 Jun 2002, Leigh Anne Chisholm wrote:

> 
> The FCC prohibits communication using a cellular telephone while in an
> aircraft in US airspace.  In Canada, I don't believe there is such a
> regulation.
> 
> >From doing research on this topic earlier this year, I came across news
> articles that say that several aircraft manufacturers have tested the use of
> cellular telephones on aircraft systems and found no effects whatsoever.  So
> why the FCC ruling?
> 
> Likely it's because of the design of the cellular network - which from what I
> understand, is far more dense in the US than it is in Canada (which might be
> why the CRTC doesn't have such a prohibition).  The problem is what happens
> when a cellular device is based above the cellular system antennae - there is
> an ability to connect to multiple systems simultaneously, and that's something
> the system wasn't designed to see happen.  Additionally, there's the hand-off
> factor, of the negotiation process of what happens when you leave the range of
> one cellular tower and enter the range of another.  In an aircraft, that
> happens at a rate greater than would be if the cellular phone were used in a
> car - so again, there's a problem there.  The Airphone system found on
> commercial aircraft was designed to overcome these limitations - which is why
> they CAN be used onboard commercial aircraft systems.
> 
> So, besides it being illegal, you run the risk of taking down your service
> provider's cellular network - and from what I've heard, this doesn't make them
> very happy.
> 
> In summary - don't do it.
> 
> 
>   -- Leigh Anne Chisholm
>      Network Engineer
>      Applied Design Networks
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-nanog at merit.edu [mailto:owner-nanog at merit.edu]On Behalf Of
> > Scott Weeks
> > Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 2:11 PM
> > To: nanog at merit.edu
> > Subject: How do I log on while in flight?
> >
> > I was wondering if any of y'all could give me pointers to services I could
> > use to log into a network during flight on a private airplane. For example
> > a person is in flight cross-country and needs to do a videoconference,
> > send email from his network to interested parties, or any of the normal
> > things we do from the ground.  Is this possible or would it interfere with
> > the plane's other systems?
> >
> > scott
> 
> 




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