Middle Seats on a Flying WiFi Network

Here’s how the system works.

Row44's WiFi antenna sits on top of a plane's fuselage.

First, participating airlines must affix a teardrop-shaped antenna and to the top of each fuselage. Each antenna is comprised of 64 microwave horns which can move on command, and each is designed to receive a Ku-band, Radio Frequency (RF) signal from one of three different satellites orbiting the Earth.

Once the signal is captured, it is transmitted through two RF cables into an up/down converter (which also includes a power amplifier function), and sent through L-band Intermediate Frequency (IF) cables to a separate modem data unit.

This unit, specially designed by Hughes Network Systems, contains a modem that receives the IF information and converts it to Ethernet, which is then transmitted to a Server Management Unit—a general purpose PC that routes the traffic to various Cisco WiFi hotspots on board the plane.

All of this technology and networking gear can be installed in two overnights and managed remotely. End-users need to have laptops or other devices which are Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) enabled to connect.

Security, Reliability Questions to Answer

As with any network, there are security concerns for users who are handling corporate data. Norm Rose, president of TravelTech Consulting, in Belmont, Calif., said that especially for companies which expect CIOs and other C-level executives to conduct confidential business in mid-air, trusting a system that transmits data over third party transponders could become dangerous.

“One key question is whether or not someone in the middle could swoop in and steal part of the signal,” he says. “Security is a concern at hotspots and this is no different.”

In response to this skepticism, Steve Redford, CTO at Row44, suggested that business travelers transmit all sensitive data over a Virtual Private Network (VPN), something “road warriors” should be in the habit of doing regardless of how or where they connect.

Redford noted that as Row44’s service offerings expand, the company could be faced with an infinitely more controversial problem: facilitating in-air telephone calls via Voice Over IP.

Currently, the Federal Communications Commission prohibits the use of cellular phones while in-flight, thereby eliminating the possibility for passengers to make in-air phone calls without shelling out big bucks to use seat-back phones. With unfiltered Wi-Fi, however, anyone with Skype or VoIP software would be able to chat away for the price of a standard connection.

“Especially when a business traveler connects through a VPN, there’s absolutely no way for us to control what that person is doing online,” Redford says, noting that the company has looked into enabling individual airlines to prioritize certain types of traffic. “If people are using the service to make phone calls and they’re talking loudly, we fully expect other passengers to police themselves.”