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Gogo Showcases 2Ku Connectivity With Test Flights Over Austin for SXSW

March 16, 2016  | Written by Kristina Velan
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Gogo Jimmy Ray

APEX Insight: Following the announcement of Gogo’s first airline deal in China, APEX Media tested the Internet provider’s satellite-based connectivity on board its test plane at SXSW in Austin, Texas. In addition to offering media and engineers the chance to test Gogo’s 2Ku satellite connectivity firsthand, the test flight also featured trendy in-flight entertainment, streaming via Netflix. 

On the way to try out Gogo’s 2Ku Wi-Fi yesterday, onboard its Boeing 737, Jimmy Ray, I suddenly realized I didn’t have my passport with me. Little did I know, a flight attendant would soon be handing me a Gogo-branded “passport” that outlined the company’s services and granted me access to the test lab (a driver’s license check and swift metal detector scan were the only pre-boarding procedures).

Gogo pilots
Jimmy Ray’s pilots

Named after one of Gogo’s founders, Jimmy Ray first took to the skies about a year ago. Formerly a Russian commercial aircraft, it’s now used for engineering testing and showcasing Gogo’s connectivity products to airline customers and media. Gogo engineers Jerry Wloch and Saj Sasi were on board the test flight to monitor the performance of Gogo’s 2Ku Wi-Fi, described in my newly-acquired “passport” as “groundbreaking satellite technology delivering industry leading speeds.”

According to Wloch, the 2Ku tests have been “very successful” so far. Jimmy Ray recently completed its first transcontinental 2Ku test flight, passing through four countries in one day: Germany, Ireland, Iceland and Canada. “When the plane is traversing large distances, the Wi-Fi signal switches from satellite to satellite. It’s called beam switching, and it’s similar to how a cell phone signal jumps between towers – except that it happens instantaneously when you’re using your cell phone on the ground,” explains Wloch. “Our goal is to minimize the duration of each beam switch.” This means that the connection may cut out for up to a minute for passengers using Gogo’s 2Ku Wi-Fi on long-haul flights. When this happens, Gogo plans to notify anyone who is live-streaming that the loss of connectivity is temporary, via a message on their screen.

Speaking of live-streaming, I watched some great-quality live soccer and hockey on Gogo’s IPTV – in terms of both athleticism and connectivity. And watching a movie on Netflix onboard Jimmy Ray at 30,000 feet was comparable to watching it on the couch at home – almost. In technical terms, the download and upload speeds recorded by my Speedtest app ranged from 2.29 Mbps to 8.69 Mbps (download) and 0.27 Mbps to 0.48 Mbps (upload). To benchmark, the app measured the LTE connection on my cell phone the day before at 13.27 Mbps (download) and 4.86 Mbps (upload).

Gogo 2Ku Wi-Fi Speedtest Results
Gogo’s 2Ku in-flight Wi-Fi speeds, recorded by the Speedtest app. Note: the March 14 results are a measure of ground-based cell phone LTE connection and are included for comparison.

LoungeBuddy’s CEO, Tyler Dikman, was one of the other 12 passengers on the test flight, which took off shortly after he participated in a SXSW panel called “Nonstop Connectivity: Striving for Ubiquity” alongside Gogo CCO Ash ElDifrawi and TripAdvisor CMO Barbara Messing. According to Dikman, the expectation that connectivity will be available at every step of the journey is growing: “Wi-Fi is no longer a want to have, it’s a must-have.”

As the hour-long test flight wrapped up and Jimmy Ray came to a halt on the runway, one of the LoungeBuddy contest winners joked that this was the first flight he’d been on where passengers weren’t rushing to disembark. As in-flight Wi-Fi becomes faster and more widespread, it’s possible that this is what the future of commercial flight will be like: Picture passengers wanting to stay in their seats to finish the last 10 minutes of a live broadcast.

What’s next for Gogo’s 2Ku Wi-Fi? Gogo announced its first airline deal in China earlier this week after partnering with Shareco Technologies to supply 2Ku inflight connectivity on 50 aircraft. Aeromexico is currently in its alpha testing phase and will launch 2Ku “very soon,” says Gogo’s vice-president of Communications and PR, Steve Nolan. “Seventy-five planes will be equipped with 2Ku Wi-Fi by the end of this year and at least 800 planes will have the technology installed by the end of 2018.” How much will it cost passengers? “That depends on the airline,” says Nolan. “There will likely be a higher tier service for streaming and a lower tier service for browsing and e-mail.”

Where’s Jimmy Ray off to now? Planespotters, keep an eye out for the Gogo plane in London, before it heads to Hamburg for the Aircraft Interiors Expo at the beginning of April.