Inmarsat's European short-haul wi-fi spacecraft launches

Re:Inmarsat's European short-haul wi-fi spacecraft launches by bri3d on Thursday June 29, 2017 @11:23AM (#14664000)

Almost all modern phones allow WiFi to be enabled while the phone remains in flight mode (keeping the cellular modem disabled), and this is allowed by FAA/FCC and, I think, every airline's rules in the US as well.

The reason that phones are banned on planes is no longer due to concerns about interference with the aircraft (which have been, by and large, debunked), but rather because the terrestrial cell network is really not suited to supporting phones at altitude.

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Re:Inmarsat's European short-haul wi-fi spacecraft launches by tjohns on Thursday June 29, 2017 @01:03PM (#14664876)

Some airlines (e.g. Lufthansa) also install GSM microcells in their planes.

They allow you to completely disable flight mode, once you're at cruising altitude -- and therefore out of range of the terrestrial cell network.

(Whether your cell provider will actually allow your phone to associate with the in-flight microcell is a different issue...)

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