On-board WiFi

A couple of weeks ago I flew LHR-IAD on one of the A330 with WiFi on-board (in this case G-VLUV).
First thing, it was very expensive. £15 for unlimited time, but limited to only 40Mb data transfer.
Second, the crew announced that by filling a survey, we would get 15 minutes for free. Well, no. I completed the survey and then I was redirected back to the beginning, with no voucher code or any way to get the free 15 minutes. I mentioned this to the FSM, and she herself tried completing the survey using my tablet, with the same null result.
Third, it was extremely slow, the only thing I managed to do was to send a tweet. I tried posting a short message to a forum (much like Flyertalk, but a spanish-speaking one), and it was impossible, it would never finished sending it, even though I tried three times with two different browser.

Then, suspiciously quick, I ran out of the 40mb allowance, and that was it. The most expensive tweet ever.

I sent some comments to Virgin customer relations via the website, telling them about this bad experience, but so far I got no response.

Did someone here try the on-board WiFi and had a better experience than me? Or is it that the way it usually works?

I'd check the answer to an (almost)identical post in the VS board on Flyer talk

And the answer to one of the FAQs states

Can I access the Internet?

This is technically possible, but we wouldn't recommend it as your phone company could charge you a lot to stream all of this data. It could get really expensive if you download all of your Facebook photos. You can avoid any potential nasty phone bills by turning off data roaming.

But Tonty, that FAQ is about AreoMobile, not the WiFi that VS are trialing on 2 (i think) A330s

But aeromobile is what comes up when searching for 'wi-fi' on the VS site ?| ?| ?|

But aeromobile is what comes up when searching for 'wi-fi' on the VS site ?| ?| ?|

As it is only a trial, they might not of put it up to avoid disappointment? What other use would WiFi be if you didn't use the Internet?

At the moment it is being trialled on G-VLUV G-VGEM and G-VINE

Yes, I'm the OP on the Flyertalk post.

Believe me, I knew I was severely constrained by the data transfer limit, so I didn't even try to open any image intensive site as Facebook (or even the Android FB client). I only used the Twitter client, accessed that forum where I tried to post, and maybe a couple of two other webpages.
This was mostly unusable, they advertised it as a WiFi internet service, and charged good money for it, so I would expect it would work reasonably well, even if it's in a trial phase.

AA have done it quite right, it's $9.90 for the whole flight, and it works better than my home internet. I know it's for domestic flights when they're flying over or near land, so the technology might be different, but I'm happy to pay if it's a good service.

Maybe I had bad luck and it was a bad day, that's why I'd like to hear from other people who had used it.

[mitchja]

The AA (and VX) WiFi system is a ground to air system. There are masts dotted around on US soil which have transmitters pointing upwards towards the aircraft.

VS (and all other trans-Atlantic) airlines have to use a ground to satellite to aircraft system, satellite is always going to be slower with a much more limited bandwidth and so as more people on the aircraft use it, the same amount of bandwidth is shared between more users, slowing it down even more.

I was happily using FaceBook the other week on board via Aeromobile with just an Edge data connection. It wasn't silly money either as data roaming on EE cost me about £3 for about 20mb (can't remember the exact costs). Yes it was slow, but it was still usable.

I was listening to LBC radio on the way to work and someone sent a message in who was listening to the station on their mobile device while on board a flight from west coast US. So it must have been ok. As mitchja said though over land the service will be better than over Atlantic.

[mitchja]

OFCOM (the UK's telecommunication regulator), have just this week announced plans for a faster aircraft/train/ship satellite based WiFi system.

There's a few details here

What other use would WiFi be if you didn't use the Internet?

I just hope that it is running on a different network, completely air gapped from the one that runs the aircraft - imagine the carnage (and fun) that could be had ii)

I'm good without wifi on board to be honest.... yep I am an odd one that likes to be disconnected for those hours I spend in the air. A good break in my eyes.

I would settle for a good supply of whiskey, consistent service, fair food and a non troublesome seat mate.. a heavy list me thinks