Blogging from 34,001 Feet Over the Pacific

Returning from a very enjoyable yet tiring trip to South Korea (congrats to my cousin on getting married) I'm able to access the internet thanks to Connexion by Boeing. 

Here are a couple of highlights of the service:

• On a 10 hour flight in coach in the window seat, wireless internet access is a saving grace (note power outlets are available below the seat).
• At $26.95 for unlimited access, it is a steal ($2.69 per hour).
• Using Speakeasy's Speed Test, I found the connection speed to come in at 141kb download and 38kb upload (2nd test 216/46).
• Service overall is reliable, though I have experienced a couple of complete outages (less the 5 minutes for any given outage).  These complete outages occured probably once every two hours for me.
• MSN Messenger works well, with the ocassional couple seconds of lag time.
• Interestingly I ran a couple of tests with Skype and it works (not great though). 
  • There is a lot of background white noise, which makes you have to speak a little louder.  The people around me didn't seem to mind, but longer term as more people try this, I can see it being an issue.
  • I compare the quality to the VoiceSteam (now called T-Mobile).  You can talk to someone through the service, but it a toss-up on the quality.
  • I found that longer the conversation went the better the quality of the call.  I think this might have to Skype's technology more then Connexion.

Overall at $26.95 (unlimited access), I would highly recommend this service to anyone with a laptop and a flight greater then 3 hours.

On a side note, Om Malik recently posted about financial issues around Connexion.  I'd love to see someone pick this company up on the cheap and build the service.