Hello Live From Virgin Australia’s First Wifi Fitted Aircraft!

by Zac George
a screenshot of a website

Good morning everyone! I’m currently flying to Canberra from Brisbane onboard Virgin Australia’s first wifi fitted aircraft and let’s just say, the results are pretty damn impressive.

I’ve talked a little bit about VA’s wifi in previous posts and it’s fantastic to try it first hand and put the wifi through its paces.

As the post says above, the airline has partnered with Gogo and it’s 2ku connectivity. As a comparison, Qantas uses NBN and the Skymuster satellite. Funnily enough, Qantas is supposed to have a faster speed onboard but Virgin is giving them a run for their money.

Below is where the actual switches are for the wifi:

a white box with buttons and a screen

Virgin Australia Wifi

Obviously, when the light is green it means the wifi is available.

a white box with a green light on

Virgin Australia Wifi

Connecting to the wifi is very simple and fast. All you have to do is connect to the ‘VirginAustralia’ network and it will prompt you to connect to the network. It’s the same network that you use for inflight entertainment.

a screenshot of a website

While the trial is running the wifi is free and it’s not yet known how much it will cost once it gets fully integrated.

a woman smiling at the camera

So what are the speeds like?

What’s impressing me the most about the wifi is how consistent the speed is. This is what the speeds were like on the ground taxiing in Brisbane:

a screenshot of a speedometer

These were the speeds on takeoff and climb out:

a screenshot of a speedometer

And these are the speeds while we are at our cruising altitude of 38,000 feet:

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I was also able to stream Suits on Netflix and watch youtube videos in HD.

a man in a suit and tie

As an added test I also tried a facebook call and was trying to be discreet as possible. The connection was strong and I could hear the person on the other end of the line very clearly.

I’ll be in Canberra for about 3 hours then I’m back to Brisbane on the same aircraft to try it again!

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3 comments

Harrison Mendes April 19, 2017 - 10:02 am

Wow. Do they mention wifi is onboard? What routes usually? I’m guessing not Syd – Mel – Bris

Zac George April 19, 2017 - 10:29 am

They mention it to just Business guests at the moment, apparently, the official public trial hasn’t yet been announced.

Wizard April 20, 2017 - 11:45 am

I do hope one cant speak on the phone when using it, just imagine those babbling away while your sitting there, in another language or speaking loudly the mind boggles yikes.

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