Skype on a plane?
By
Andrew Brennan on August 25, 2008 in Miscellaneous, Mobile.
Earlier this week, American Airlines began offering in-flight WiFi on domestic flights in the US. This is great news for business travelers clearly, but it's also nice for the rest of us who need our regular fix of email, news and YouTube during what would otherwise be dead time. However the service provider, Aircell, is blocking Skype and other VoIP services; this article suggests that it's because 'phone calls' are prohibited by law on flights, not differentiating between calls over the internet and calls over mobile phones.
What a bummer. Skype would be ideal on a flight (so long as you're not being loud and obnoxious and disrupting your neighbors), especially when those air-to-ground phones cost so much. There does seem to be at least one way to push voice over the network through flash, but I'd like to use Skype. So I got to thinking: Aircell does say that it supports VPNs, virtual private networks that allow employees to appear as though they're on their company's network. VPNs usually mask traffic--could Skype possibly work from behind a VPN?
Fortunately for me, I'm actually taking an American Airlines flight this week and do have access to a reliable VPN, so very shortly I'll be able to test my hypothesis and report back. But for now:
- Do you think Skype should be blocked on flights?
- Could there be a lack of bandwidth on the plane's connection to the internet (which I assume is via satellite)?
- Would chatting be annoying for other passengers? Would you find it annoying if someone was on the phone next to you during a flight?
Photo by Yodel Anecdotal
Comments
I don't want to be on an airplane full of people talking on phones, so I would prefer that phone conversations remain banned on airplanes. However, blocking Skype doesn't seem like an effective way to enforce such a policy. Text chat and listening to voicemail messages (with headphones) should be allowed, and _all_ voice communications, not just Skype, should be prohibited.
Because this is a social problem and not a technical one, a technical solution like blocking Skype would not be ideal. For instance, what do you do about the traveller who uses VPN? Should Skype really be allowed only for those knowledgable enough to circumvent security? It would be better to simply tell passengers at the beginning of the flight that they may not use cell phones, much like in movie theaters. Offenders could be penalized somehow, such as with a fine.
oofabz | Monday, Oct 6
okay great that there is wifi on airline services. however one thing. this is just a little add-on, an extra feature offered by airline companies, just like you have the possibility to make a phonecall if you need and you will pay for that.
basically i think that an aes-256 encrypted phone system that can suck up (if you use video-conferencing and why would you not) is not something that belong on an airplane. there are reasons why phoning is not allowed with cellphone on airlines. one of them is interference. the other is security. finally privacy and peace. it's annoying enough to have a loud keyboard or psp gamer sitting next to you on long flights. so i really don't see the point in providing phone over wifi facility. how would the stewardess see the difference between a skype enabled cellphone, wifi pda, mac iphone running skype. why would those devices be allowed to call and cellphone users not ?
it is also greatly annoying to have people sitting next to you conducting video-conferencing calls in cramped airplane seats.
i would suggest that those people go sit in a isolated cell for 20 minutes and then let the other's have their turn in a sound proof isolated cell.
surely undoable. dead end scenario for wifi on airplanes, if you want to use it for telephony...
an airplane is not (to become) a chatterbox.
also i don't want taliban terrorists sitting next to me planning the airplane crash or having it broadcasted live on skype video. hardly funny.
to finish with a yet even more funny comment, i would wonder if you logon with a chinese tom.com skype client on some airline company that provides wifi and on board voip, if it is okay to have that chat tracked ?
tropicaljantie | Friday, Oct 10
I think it would be annoying to have everyone on the plane on the phone, but I disagree with "oofabz", what's wrong with chatting? the typing on a keyboard is definitly not as loud as the turbulance or the guy with the PSP, and how many people using a VPN would you find on a single plane? I think it's alot better than the airline restricting people to that super expensive phone you have to count the seconds as use on the plane.
kado271 | Thursday, Oct 16
I did Skype video/chat with a friend on an AAL flight JFK-LAX last night..... then his brother got on and i got off... Sound quality was not that good but video was great...
nicsummers | Thursday, Jan 15
I use HugesNet satlite for my internet connection, I can hear good on the skype line but the other party has trouble hearing me is there some adjustment I can do
judylewisyilv | Wednesday, Jan 21