Also check for periodic promotions, which can vary from airline to airline. In addition, with its leaner build and availability on almost all platforms, Opera (pictured) handles page refreshes quickly-an important feature when you're trying to get the latest news.Ĭheck out to see what’s available before you fly.

Opera has a built-in feature called Turbo that automatically detects slow connections and adjusts reception accordingly. Just set up a secondary, speedier browser such as Opera for notebooks and Opera Mini for phones and tablets. In-air Internet connections are, by their very nature, slower, but you can easily score some more thrust. The standard address for most mobile sites has an “m” in front of the address, such as m. In most cases, it will load automatically when it is pinged from a phone. If you are connecting onboard with your cellphone, a good option is to use a site’s alternate minimized mobile version. Because bandwidth is still precious with in-air Wi-Fi, don’t plan on streaming any long-form video. Temporarily turning off CPU-hungry Flash and extraneous browser add-ons/extensions can also boost throughput. That also goes for any other apps in the background that ping the Web on a periodic basis. Start by turning off automatic updates on Mac and Windows systems. But there are a few ways you can optimize your throughput by tweaking your laptop, smartphone or tablet. Your bandwidth will understandably vary based on where your plane is as well as the number of passengers connected on your flight. After that, you are online without a security “net.” VPN service, if you have it, is advisable for sending and receiving sensitive data. Although the connection through which you purchase time on the Wi-Fi network is an SSL-encrypted link, that’s as far as encryption goes. Treat onboard Wi-Fi as you would any public earthbound connection at an airline terminal, café or hotel. Just because you’re insulated in a steel shell at 36,000 feet in the sky doesn’t change your need for vigilance of Internet security. And to find the best seats for Wi-Fi on your aircraft, complete with power ports, check out. A few even have a Web form to input your flight numbers to check on specific availability. Each airline has a dedicated Web page with info on its Internet service. If you are absolutely, positively depending on there being Wi-Fi available on your flight, plan ahead.

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