How do I log on while in flight?
Marc Pierrat
marc at sunchar.com
Thu Jun 27 21:18:46 UTC 2002
Inmarsat has recently introduced a new service called Swift64.
http://www.via-inmarsat.org/swift64_solutions.cfm
This is a bit more sophisticated than todays Airfone:
www.airfone.com
Inmarsat has many products for video over satellite; I believe some of the hazy CNN video streams you get from Afganistan use one of those Inmarsat small briefcase units.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-nanog at merit.edu [mailto:owner-nanog at merit.edu]On Behalf Of
> Scott Weeks
> Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 5:01 PM
> To: Leigh Anne Chisholm
> Cc: nanog at merit.edu
> Subject: RE: How do I log on while in flight?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I was mainly thinking of satellite systems, but failed to remember the
> latency problems associated with them so the videoconferencing example
> wouldn't work. (not enough coffee today... :) So for latency tolerent
> apps does satellite work well when traveling at air speeds? If the
> footprint doesn't cover the entire area traveled how well does hand off
> from one 'cell' to another work? What do the big boys like the president
> and corporate execs use?
>
> Also, that the cellular network could crash if cell phones are used at
> altitude seems like a big security hole to me.
>
> scott
>
>
> 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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