WENZVILLE, Mo., 19 Oct. 2013. AirSatOne engineers have upgraded the company’s Flightstream AOC wireless router with new programming to optimize the device for use with Apple products.
Users of the newly released Apple iOS 7 upgrade have experienced connectivity issues with Wi-Fi and captive portals. The Flightstream AOC upgrade works around these problems and also includes an option to block iCloud updates and other bandwidth hungry applications, such as streaming audio, video, and flash, explains an AirSatOne representative.
“When an Apple device connects via Wi-Fi, it assumes it is connected through low-cost, land-based Internet and automatically pushes updates. When a passenger connects to the Wi-Fi on the aircraft, this automatic push is sent over the SatCom system. AirSatOne has documented that a single device connecting to iCloud can use up to 200 megabytes (MB) of data or more, which results in airtime charges around $1,200. The new features in the Flightstream AOC will recognize this attempt and block the connection while allowing the user to have internet connectivity for normal activities,” says John Kerr, software engineer at AirSatOne.
The upgrade is free of charge for existing customers; new units will ship with the new feature.
In-flight wi-fi images courtesy Shutterstock.
