Delta Airlines has been on the spree to make available the state-of-the-art technology to the customers. In yet another attempt to surpass its own standards Delta has decided to keep fueling its customers by committing to 2Ku, the fastest connectivity experience in the sky, by at least 350 aircraft. 2Ku is Gogo’s industry-leading in-flight Wi-Fi technology that provides consistent, uninterrupted coverage nearly anywhere in the world, including over oceans. This brings Delta’s total 2Ku commitment to more than 600 aircraft in its mainline fleet.

Installation of 2Ku will present customers with faster speeds and bandwidth more than 20 measures that of Gogo’s ATG technology, allowing for video streaming purposes. This summer, customers will be able to use Wi-Fi and in-flight entertainment from taxi and take-off through landing on 2Ku empowered aircraft.

Delta operates the world’s largest Wi-Fi-equipped fleet, with more than 3,500 connected flights daily, together with its entire fleet of 660 domestic mainline aircraft. More than 1,000 Delta aircraft, including a good number of Delta Connection two-class regional jets and 99 percent of its international fleet are equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi service, offering access to more than 370,000 customers per day.

“Delta customers have expressed an interest in their time in the air being as productive as their time on the ground, and 2Ku satellite offers a vastly upgraded in-flight Wi-Fi experience,” said Tim Mapes, Delta’s Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. “By committing to more aircraft with 2Ku technology, we’re providing Delta customers with faster and more reliable in-flight connectivity as a part of Delta’s commitment to always delivering the industry’s best onboard services.”

Delta Airlines rolled out its baggage handling RFID technology lately which has gained accolades around the world to substitute the old-fashioned barcode scanning system. 2Ku installations have already started on the 737-800 and A319 fleets, and additional Delta fleets will be retrofitted with the new system. By the end of this year, it aims to enable around 35 aircraft with 2Ku technology fully operational.

2Ku is next-generation technology that uses dual Ku-band satellite antennas – one receiver for the upward link to the aircraft, and the other for the downward, return link to the ground and presents reduced drag and fuel burn compared to other Wi-Fi systems. Gogo started working on its satellite-based service, 2Ku and in February signed a deal with satellite operator SES to provide capacity. Gogo has put forward a 2Ku proposal for 200 aircraft for AA, although no decisions have been made yet, Gogo president Michael Small said in a statement to Reuters.

Wi-Fi on U.S. domestic routes is already widespread although air-to-ground (ATG) technology can mean service is slow. Gogo’s 2Ku technology is designed to be open so it’s compatible with multiple satellite networks, which means the technology will be upgradeable over time without having to upgrade the aircraft. This flexibility will help ensure Delta is future ready and ahead of the curve from a technology perspective.

Competition from new satellite-based services has put more established aviation connectivity providers under pressure. In the cabin, having Wi-Fi connected systems also makes for easier upgrades of in-flight entertainment and can bring in more revenues from entertainment, services and advertising. Delta is on a lookout for an edge above others and let us watch them what they have in future for us.

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An online presence is a quintessential driving factor in today’s world. Travellers feel the need of this attendance more earnestly. With the lack of community Wi-Fi, hopping online seems like an uphill task. Maximum Wi-Fi spots are either for office or personal use, which again leaves the people on the go with lesser choices. The team at Access has a different thought process and has put down a service that allows access to neighbouring Wi-Fi hotspots for a traveller.

At Access, a wide Wi-Fi hotspot network is established. The app connects to the local Wi-Fi hotspot and gives an access to anyone who wants to use it. The community of Wi-Fi networks is extensive as it includes cafes, public places in the city and across the nation. The Access community allows the user to hop onto their bandwagon of Wi-Fi hotspots from corner to corner in the city without the requirement of a password.

In dialogue with Jaikishan Jalan, founder and CEO of Access:

Any remarks on the state of Wi-Fi networks in India?

There are about 99.2 million broadband users in India according to TRAI data as of March 2015. But most of these are office and home Wi-Fi or for the personal use only. By the end of 2014, India had only 30,000 commercial Wi-Fi hotspots and virtually no community (Public) hotspots. However, with the focus on “Smart Cities” under the vision of our Prime Minister, we expect the Wi-Fi market to go up to 2 million commercial & community hotspots by 2018. However, every Wi-Fi is an individual system, a network of these Wi-Fi is still missing.

Travel + Wi-Fi – Your comments

Travel and Wi-Fi don’t go well. Wi-Fi is available usually at home and office, or you may know which of your favourite hangout place or café is nearby, who provides high-speed Wi-Fi. The problem starts when one goes on travel, at a new place or city, even within not so known vicinity one does not know where they can access free high-speed Wi-Fi.

What are the problems travellers face?

A few days back I met a vendor. She wanted to give me an online demo of her product. We both were in a not so familiar city; we had to hop two to three places in search of good high-speed Wi-Fi (Free / chargeable). So if there would be services which can tell me where can I get free Wi-Fi near to me, it would be a great idea and if it’s a network, where I even do not need to go through the hassle of passwords and OTP’s, I would love it.

Why is connecting to Wi-Fi important in the age of 3G?

Who wants 3G when Wi-Fi is available? 3G is a good to have, when we are commuting, or on the move, but cannot replace or compete with the price, speed and reliability, that Wi-Fi offers. Many a times in an indoor environment, such as café or a hotel room we do not get appreciable signal of 3G, but Wi-Fi works fantastic.

What are the problems you’re solving and how it impacts the potential plans for the company?

We are trying to solve a problem, we all face every day when we are out of our Wi-Fi comfort zone at our home or office. Many times we have to rely on a mobile network, which is very unreliable considering location variations. We generally have no clue where can we get a free high-speed Wi-Fi around us, even if it’s next lane. We are creating a large network of existing Wi-Fi across the city, in collaboration with local business owners, who already either have Wi-Fi for their personal office use or provide Wi-Fi (protected) for their customers. It will provide seamless, secure connectivity across the networked Wi-Fi without the hassle of passwords and OTP’s.

We are working towards making the whole earth a massive Wi-Fi network. Furthermore, we dream of no dependency on mobile networks at all not even for calling by leveraging this network.

From L to R: Access Founders, Viraat & Jaikaishan Jalan

Access was founded by Jaikishan and Viraat who have more than 7 years of experience in technology space. Jaikishan has in his kitty some companies like Google, Microsoft and has a thorough knowledge in creating scalable software products for consumers. Viraat has over 9 years of experience in signal processing and built a company straight out of college. Both know each other for more than 14 years from IIT Dhanbad where they started their graduation in 2002.

Exclusive Access Traveller Program

Access has announced to support full-time travellers. They are offering to cater 5 full-time travellers by sponsoring them with INR 5000 per month for 6 months. In return Access requires them to share 30 Wi-Fi hotspots per month through Access platform. To learn more about enrollment details, visit here.

Download the app here.

The post In conversation with Jaikishan Jalan, CEO and Co-Founder of Access on how community Wi-Fi space is evolving appeared first on TravHQ.

It is easy to fall prey to data theft and with everything, from our photo albums to bank accounts, moving online, it isn’t something that can be ignored. The risk goes up even further while travelling as we connect to various unknown networks. Data connectivity might not be spot on at all times and one might have to rely on some coffee shop network to upload photos or book a ticket. Every hotspot won’t provide the same level of protection as a home or work network. Attackers can use sniffing tools and gather data from a network. People often face issues like compromised card details or passwords and using public Wi-Fi’s are a major contributor.

While you can’t avoid using the internet when required, you can follow these simple tips to be safer on a public Wi-Fi:

#1- Disable Sharing

You may choose to share your music, photos, files and everything else on your home and work network but make sure you disable sharing on your laptop before you connect to a public Wi-Fi. The setting can be easily toggled for both Windows and Mac. Unless you disable it before you use public Wi-Fi, one can easily gain access to your data. The newer versions of Windows usually ask you to choose the kind of network you are connecting to and apply the settings accordingly but make sure you ensure the same.

#2- Get VPN

Using a VPN network is the most secure way to use internet on a public network. A VPN network basically transfers all the data through a secure network so the personal information associated with your device and all your data is safe. Plenty of VPN services are available for free for both laptops and mobile devices. If you want more options and control over which country your traffic is routed through, opt for a paid VPN service.

#3- Use secure connection

An increasing number of websites have started to use HTTPS which encrypts the data before transmitting over the network. Websites using HTTP transfer content in plain text making it easier for prying eyes. While you won’t find all the websites running on HTTPS, you can use plugins like ‘HTTPS everywhere’ for your web browser. It automatically switches a large number of websites from HTTP to HTTPS and protect you to a large extent.

#4- Two step authentication

Adding an extra layer of security to your accounts will save your accounts from being compromised. Most of the popular websites and services like Gmail and Facebook have the option of adding an extra step along with the password. Usually it is some code sent to you on your phone or email. This way even if someone has your password due to network security loopholes, they won’t be able to access your account.

#5- Confirm network name

When sitting in Starbucks, don’t just connect to the first Wi-Fi network that says Starbucks in its name. If there are multiple networks and you aren’t clear on which is the right one, confirm with the staff of coffee shop / library / hotel so that you don’t end up connecting to a fake network set up to capture user data.

So the next time you are connecting to any public Wi-Fi while travelling to a new place, make sure you have ticked items off the security checklist.

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