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Comment by lordlarm | Hacker News Reader

No competition isn't true, at least for Europe where I know Norwegian are using "Row 44" as can be seen in this report from CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2012/11/15/bus...

The difference between them, which also could explain the AOL-like speeds with Gogo, is that Row 44 used a satelite dish whilst Gogo communicates with ground radio towers. The obvious advantage of Row 44's approach, which is also highlighted in the video, is that by using satellites you can continue providing internet over remote areas and oceans.

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I rarely fly economy but the two Norwegian flights I've been on both had very good wifi (not very fast, but certainly reliable).

Definitely a much better experience than with gogo.

It's a sad thing that one of the worst airlines in Europe has the best wifi.

(I'm really curious as to how my 5k euro emirates 1st class ticket can't cover the expenses for working wifi... I can even shower on the plane for gods sake)

> I rarely fly economy but

How or why is that relevant ?

Because Norwegian is primarily an economy airline and I have very limited experience flying with them so it's rather likely that my views on the wifi quality are at least somewhat biased.

Also, I have to ask. Would you have made this comment if I had said "I fly economy a lot" instead? (Not that anyone does that because of FFPs)

I'd still ask that question. From what I gather, the wifi on a plane has nothing to do with the type of seat you are sitting in.

> It's a sad thing that one of the worst airlines in Europe has the best wifi.

It's usually the same with hotels - wi-fi quality is usually inversely proportional to the quality of the establishment. I wonder if airlines have this problem for the same reasons.

Actually, I can't say I've really noticed this so much lately, but I've mostly been staying with the big chains (Marriott, Hilton and 4 seasons).

Although, often the big chain hotels are the most crowded ones.

I have tried to use Norwegian`s wifi multiple times and i has never been good. It usually works fine in the beginning of the flight. But the latency gets higher and higher as the flight progresses, and is usually unusable for anything after a while.

(And i cannot say that i like that they inject content in webpages either)

JetBlue has a similar satellite-based service in the US.

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