Videoconferencing at 30k feet over free Wi-Fi on Virgin -- mostly amazing

Virgin America is known for fun plane rides, with the amazing electronics in your seat, the jazzy music in the bathrooms and the calming blue aisle lighting.

But free Wi-Fi on a cross-country Virgin flight this week had me testing just about every application I could think of. I even got a live videoconferencing session going with an editor briefly, although I tried not to speak via voice.

Virgin was offering the free Wi-Fi for the holidays with the help of Google, using the Gogo technology from Aircell. The plane was filled with college students heading home, and when we reached the right altitude, just about everybody seemed to pull out an iPhone or a laptop to link up.  The college woman next to me practically erupted into action, pulling out a laptop, iPhone and fumbling frantically for the power connection under the seats.

I basically did the same things, but I was clearly more cool about it, having located the power outlet before taking off because I knew it would be a bear to find with our row filled with passengers  The seat-back video and music offerings on Virgin flights are already quite enough to keep a person busy, but the Wi-Fi was icing on the cake. Making the connection was simple, and I expect paying for it might be pretty simple as well with an in-seat ability to swipe a credit card.

Once on the Web, I got a chance to check on emails for the upcoming CES show and to look at several news Web sites, including Computerworld's.  I started several IM sessions and found the network totally responsive in loading online videos and ads. 

I asked an editor in the Boston area to launch a live videoconference chat since we both have embedded Webcams on our MacBooks.  He complied and I could easily see and hear him, with very little video disruptions, including the tiling or halting you sometimes see on poor connections.  I didn't want to speak because IP phone calls were specifically forbidden by the Virgin flight attendant, but I did say "Hello" and "Can't talk."  It didn't seem to draw any attention from anybody near me, because everybody was busy typing on a laptop or watching a movie with headphones.  

My experience on the videoconference session from mid-flight made me think that maybe air industry concerns about in-air phone calls are overblown, since there is always plenty of airplane noise, crying babies and so many passengers are immersed in online activities.  Some airlines in other countries are allowing mid-flight phone calls, which can't be much different than the calls that used to be made from seat-back sky phones, or the calls everybody makes at the end of a flight while the plane is emptying out.

I pushed the envelope with the Wi-Fi connection by trying the most bandwidth  intensive application I could think of, which is a virtual dance party in Second Life.(OK, there must be many more intensive ones, but still.)  Once I logged in, I could easily hear the music and the live D.J., and could even see my own avatar dancing away, but I couldn't see anybody else or even the dance club simulation.  I text chatted with others in the virtual club, but the club environment and other dancers never appeared, and I gave up after a few minutes. I could have tried an online bandwidth meter, but forgot to.

I don't understand the various technology components well enough to know whether Gogo was throttling back my Second Life connection and giving priority to email and IM or just sharing the overall airplane's throughput somewhat equally with all the users. Or, Second Life could be automatically throttling back when it senses a limited bandwidth.  Just about everybody on board seemed to be logged on, which would obviously put a strain on the Wi-Fi.

Overall, my in-flight Wi-Fi experience was  the most amazing technology treat I've  had in years.  However, there was a somewhat startling realization of how important  person-to-person live communications with the ground can be, even with my own IM connections with co-workers.  

The college woman next to me had several open IM windows going at once, and was consulting her iPhone to share phones numbers with friends she obviously wanted to see over the break.  I couldn't make out much of what she was texting, and tried to be discreet, but at one point saw she was sexting her boyfriend, which made me embarrassed for looking.  You can't really blame a journalist for trying to look at something private, I suppose, but the experience made me realize how crammed together we were in the coach section.  Even if there is more leg room, the positive virtues of the Wi-Fi can't make up for practically sitting atop your next door neighbor.

In fact, the downside of flying was still pretty evident, despite the Wi-Fi.  There were plenty of screaming kids and agonizing turbulence landing in  L.A.  Finding the power outlet under the seat was difficult, and I've already mentioned the cramped seating.  So, I suppose Wi-Fi taken by itself is cool, but the airline industry might just be using it as a distraction from its deficiencies.