Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Taking the train, I hear people practically yell in their phones to talk, so I'm very happy that airplanes will not be subjected to that noise pollution
 
Yes, but what does this have to do with web browsing on a plane?

This ruling and article have absolutely zero to do with browsing on planes, which has been allowed in the US for some years (with approval of the airline itself). You're free to use your phone to browse all you like.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bigsk8r
Imo what should be accepted during flight: Internet, messages with sound off - hell YES. Music, movies, games etc. - only with headphones. Voice calls - please NO... :)
 
Good. Can you imagine sitting next to someone talking loudly on their phone the entire flight? Now multiply that across an entire plane.
They could easily have phone booths/areas on flights where you have to take your phone up to it to make calls. Allows those who want to make calls without annoying those of us who don't want the annoyance.
If they have wifi, those who want to make voip calls will just go the loo.
I can see it now...knock knock, come on you've been in there for half an hour.
[doublepost=1491917469][/doublepost]
No one should talk on the plane at all, not even to the person next to them. All should sit facing forward as still as possible and only taking an equal share of the armrest. No snacks, no announcements, just point A to point B as quick as possible.

(being silly but do agree we don't need phone calls on the plane)
Being a nuisance yes, but I can think of a few reasons as to why someone might want to make a call (In an allotted area on the plane away from passengers)...
* Tell someone that they can leave to pick you up (we have extortionate airport parking fees) (could be done with text though)
* Tell someone that your flight is delayed (could be done with text though)
* Speak to your kids if they are not with you, especially if you are on a long haul flight.
 
"We can't trigger the bomb by cellular, that would be against FCC regulations!"
I realize you're being sarcastic and terrorists do not follow laws but security forces always need to minimize false positives in any situation. Same reason why drones cannot fly willy nilly nearby secured areas. It's that much harder to identify and take down one drone when 99 other drones are also flying around. This is only the first step. Soon, cell phone detection systems will be standardized in all passenger planes followed by full bans of our devices.
 
This ruling and article have absolutely zero to do with browsing on planes, which has been allowed in the US for some years (with approval of the airline itself). You're free to use your phone to browse all you like.

Have you even read the article?

Back in late 2013, The FCC announced plans to introduce a proposal that would allow passengers to use their cellular phones on airplanes during flight for making phone calls and browsing the web.

With Pai aiming to nix it completely, it sounds like cellphone usage while in flight, including data usage for web browsing and making voice calls, will continue to be banned.
 
A few years ago, I had to listen to a woman sitting next to me talking on Skype for about an hour. I could have strangled her.
 
Call me stupid, but why aren't we allowed to use phones on planes? The cellular signal doesn't really interfere with the planes GPS does it?

Because it cuts in on the airline's racket of selling overpriced airline-to-ground phone service and wifi.
[doublepost=1491920774][/doublepost]
A few years ago, I had to listen to a woman sitting next to me talking on Skype for about an hour. I could have strangled her.

But if she has been talking to someone next to her it would have been OK? Get a grip.
 
Next please ban iPads and laptops in flight. I am tired of being stuck next to an ****** who pulls out his giant laptop or iPad Pro and has his elbows in my space during the entire flight.
 
Last edited:
Not surprised. After the Note fiasco I could see them push for requiring checking all electronic devices.
 
Assuming no mountains/buildings are in the way, cell connections operate perfectly at ranges well over 200,000 feet.

Cell towers don't point at the sky because why would they, and metropolitan towers measure latency and only accept connections from nearby devices as a network management/load balancing technique.

If you're somewhere like regional Australia, all of the towers sit on high mountains/hills and will accept connections from any distance. I've made calls and browsed the internet while more than 200,000 feet from the nearest cell tower.

But all of this could easily be changed and very cheaply if the FAA didn't make it illegal to use your cell modem in a flight.

We all could be using our "cheap" cellular data instead of the plane wifi if this law was replaced with a simple ban against using a device to make calls. All our phones are equipped with an GPS that can measure altitude within a dozen feet or so, which means the FCC could even make automatic airplane mode a mandatory software feature for future phone models, and only allow those phones to be used during a flight.

You clearly have zero idea how cellular technology actually works. Yes, mountain top cell sites are designed with longer ranges in mind, however, the antennas still point slightly DOWN in order to maximize signal-to-noise ratio on the GROUND.

You could have done a simple Wiki or Google search to learn these very basic things, but yet you brought ignorance and keyboard courage instead.

You can have the last word. But when you do, perhaps you can explain away this basic reference to antenna down-tilt...

https://www.pasternack.com/t-calculator-antenna-downtilt.aspx

It is not as easy - or inexpensive - as you believe and state...

Peace
 
Definitely agree with this one, but not for the reasons stated. I just don't want to hear someone jawing loudly into their phone next to me while I try to sleep. They should allow passengers to use data though, that seems more like a money grab for whatever wifi services they offer and not the purported safety issue.
 
Yes, we spend that amount of $$$ for luxury travel. Not hearing soon talking for 12 hours .....
I am not saying if you have a 12 hour flight that people are on the phone for 12 hours. I am saying there's no difference between people talking to each other or on the phone. Actually, the difference is less noise when you're on the phone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JGRE
Have you even read the article?

Back in late 2013, The FCC announced plans to introduce a proposal that would allow passengers to use their cellular phones on airplanes during flight for making phone calls and browsing the web.

With Pai aiming to nix it completely, it sounds like cellphone usage while in flight, including data usage for web browsing and making voice calls, will continue to be banned.

Turn your phone on at 30k feet and tell us how many bars you have bro. Current cell towers are made to transmit horizontally, not vertically. Even if you can get signal for a few seconds you'll quickly pass out of the towers range and your call will drop.

Your provider would have to build new towers designed to transmit vertically and also place them in remote areas that planes travel over. Unless you're willing to see your bill increase 10x or more, I don't see that happening.

Use of wifi will continue to be allowed on flights.
[doublepost=1491924152][/doublepost]
They can still do that with apps that work over wi-fi.

Use of VoIP apps is currently not allowed on in-flight wifi because of the bandwidth requirement. In-flight wifi doesn't have the bandwidth or low latency required for things like streaming video or VoIP. One person using VoIP would negatively impact service for everyone else on the plane. Because of this, each user has their connection speed limited to prevent any one person for causing a negative experience for all the others.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bigsk8r
Turn your phone on at 30k feet and tell us how many bars you have bro. Current cell towers are made to transmit horizontally, not vertically. Even if you can get signal for a few seconds you'll quickly pass out of the towers range and your call will drop.

Your provider would have to build new towers designed to transmit vertically and also place them in remote areas that planes travel over. Unless you're willing to see your bill increase 10x or more, I don't see that happening.

Use of wifi will continue to be allowed on flights.
[doublepost=1491924152][/doublepost]

Use of VoIP apps is currently not allowed on in-flight wifi because of the bandwidth requirement. In-flight wifi doesn't have the bandwidth or low latency required for things like streaming video or VoIP. One person using VoIP would negatively impact service for everyone else on the plane. Because of this, each user has their connection speed limited to prevent any one person for causing a negative experience for all the others.

Perhaps I use a satellite phone, anyways that is beside the point. You are making up your own story, have a nice day.
 
You don't really get cell receptions up there, no? If you are just calling while taxiing, then you can do that now in the first place
 
I don't want phone calls on the plane but would rather that the airlines made the decision from customer feedback etc. rather than the FCC making the regulation and closing all doors.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 0924487
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.