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Originally Posted by Andy Baker
Can people even get a wireless signal while cruising at 20-30,000 ft?
I really don't think so. Heck, I have trouble getting a signal in some spots along my 12-minute commute from home to work.
Andy B.
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I think when you're using a radio on an airplane at 20,000 feet it's similar to having a 20,000-foot tall antenna tower, so you could probably get a decent signal. Cell phone signals (900 MHz - 1.9 GHz) tend to like line-of-sight, so aside from the metal tube you're flying in that's pretty much what you would have. For example, from my house I can hear airplanes talking to Chicago Air Traffic Control but I can't hear Chicago talking to them.
Though I'm a
ham, I'm not really an antenna guru...hopefully somebody who operates "aeronautical mobile" knows more about it
EDIT: I'm guessing they don't want people using cell phones on airliners yet because they would have really strong signals and possibly confuse the towers on the ground. Wireless network (802.11) is much lower signal, so the clients would probably only connect to the plane. The plane itself would then use a different method to get it's Internet access. Just on educated guess...
