In-flight Wi-Fi is terrible—here’s how to make it better

On a long-distance flight, some people like to relax by reading books or movies. But nothing can pass the time better than working hard. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi on the plane is often disappointing.

Unstable connections and expensive daily pass fees may make you feel that the on-board network is not worth the hassle. But master some tips and you can get the job done without spending too long waiting for the email to load.

Get more discounted prices

Airplane Wi-Fi is expensive...if you buy it on the plane. Internet providers know that once you board the plane, boredom will become more urgent, so they will raise the price significantly—a typical daily pass costs about $40. If you purchase a pass before flying, you can save more than 50%. Gogo, which provides Wi-Fi services for Delta, United and Virgin (and other airlines), for example, offers a $19 all-day pass on its website. You can purchase them anytime and they will remain in your account and wait for your next flight.

If you purchase a pass while purchasing a plane ticket, you may save more. Take Delta for example: It allows you to buy a Gogo pass for $16 at checkout. If you are a frequent traveler, don't forget to discount monthly subscriptions.

You may even be eligible for a free pass through your credit card or mobile operator. Lend Edu lists many credit cards that offer free Wi-Fi passes, while T-Mobile offers its customers free Gogo Wi-Fi on domestic flights for 1 hour. Check out travel-related offers related to your card or mobile phone to see what benefits are available.

Forced display of stubborn login page

Many times, I open my laptop in the air, connect to Wi-Fi, and wait for a login page that never appears. It should pop up automatically, but sometimes your computer will have problems, showing only the "Cannot connect to the Internet" page.

If other passengers seem to be able to access the Internet, then the problem is most likely yours. Here are some ways you can try.

If you have changed your Domain Name System (DNS) server for speed or privacy reasons, try switching back to automatic DNS. Sometimes third-party servers can't redirect you to Wi-Fi's login page, and changing them back to automatic mode has solved the issue when I encountered this several times. Next, try clearing the cache or opening the page in invisible mode. Your browser may be using cached DNS entries to try to navigate to the page instead of redirecting you to the Wi-Fi login page.

In many cases, I found that the "gateway" IP address of a Wi-Fi network (i.e. the IP address of the aircraft router) redirects you to the login page. In Windows, you can find this address by clicking the Start menu, searching for Command Prompt and running the ipconfig command. Look for the "Default Gateway" under your Wi-Fi adapter and enter that number in the browser's address bar - usually similar to 172.19.131.2. On your Mac, just hold down the Option key while clicking the Wi-Fi icon in the upper right corner - you can find the IP address under "Router".

As a last resort, try manually navigating to the wireless provider's homepage or login page. If you have visited the site before, it may already exist in your browser history. For example, I had a problem last time I connected, I typed "gogo" into the address bar and the browser automatically suggested airborne.gogoinflight.com. I clicked on it and the login page really appeared. Add this page to bookmark for future reference so as not to get stuck. If you don't know the URL of the login page, try the provider's homepage - they usually allow you to browse their entire website without a pass.

I hope one of these tips can solve the problem and allow you to connect normally again. Just don't forget to change back to your DNS service after you get home.

Make full use of slow, intermittent connections

Once you connect to Wi-Fi, the trouble doesn't stop. Of course, the on-board internet is a miracle of human intelligence, but it is still very slow and often disconnected. Some airlines have better Wi-Fi than others, but no matter how you fly, you can keep it running smoothly by considering the following points.

First, make sure your device is not running any applications that consume a lot of data in the background. When bandwidth is valuable, you don't want to waste it on making updates, syncing data to the cloud, downloading new files, or loading GIFs on Twitter. Go to the system tray or menu bar and close any unwanted data-consuming applications. During this time, make sure your application does not automatically update in the background. Save this process to more reliable Wi-Fi.

Reducing data consumption should increase your speed—at least to some extent—but those occasional disconnects are difficult to fix. The best solution I found is to enable offline functionality. You'll be surprised to find out how many web applications work offline in some form. Therefore, you should set it up before you leave.

For example, you can configure Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs to run offline so that you can continue to work even if your connection is broken. You can save articles to Pocket for later reading offline, with the added benefit of preventing ads and other page elements from slowing down your experience. If you want to watch Netflix or stream music, you can download shows and playlists before you go. This way, you can use on-board Wi-Fi for necessary purposes. Even if it breaks, you can accomplish some things.

Lastly—it's not about speed, but it's just as important—don't forget to stay safe on public Wi-Fi. Most on-board Wi-Fi is unencrypted, meaning your activity may be vulnerable to snoops. Remember to use HTTPS websites and VPNs to keep your data secure.

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