If you usually travel by plane, you have probably noticed that it is not easy to connect to the Internet. Not all airlines offer connections, almost none offer it for free and, furthermore, the quality is usually quite poor. However, beyond the Wi-Fi that you may or may not have, we want to talk to you about a mistake that you should not make when connecting to the Internet. You could end up paying a lot of money if you’re not careful.
It’s about using mobile Internet, like you could use anywhere, during a flight. This is not easy, although it is possible. When the plane flies over the ground, it is possible that, from time to time, it connects to a network and you have a connection. But be careful because you could be connecting where you shouldn’t.
Avoid connecting to the Internet via satellite
What’s happening? There are airplanes that have a built-in Internet connection. Basically, as if they had a small antenna, connected via satellite, and allows access to the Internet. The problem is that you may think that you are connecting to a normal network, be it Movistar, Vodafone or whatever you have contracted, but that is not the case.
Basically, it is as if you were roaming in a country where you do not have a free connection. Something like when you take a cruise and connect to the Internet in the middle of the sea. Yes, you will be able to have access to mobile data, but you will pay a lot. Well, something similar can happen during a flight, if you are careless.
This is something that we have been able to verify on a Lufthansa flight. We do not know if this is common on other airlines, but we can confirm that it exists. And yes, if you connect, they will charge you a lot. You can check this by observing that the mobile phone is connected to data roaming, so it does not connect to the normal network.
Also, if you check the network you are connected to, it will not say the typical “Movistar”, “Vodafone”, etc. What you will see is a slightly strange name and possibly accompanied by the airline you are flying with. It is a network that, in reality, is not designed for passengers to connect.
Tips
So what can you do to avoid problems? The ideal would be not to connect during the flight, unless it is to the Wi-Fi network that may be available. Still, if you want to try connecting to normal mobile networks, as long as it is at a time during the flight when removing airplane mode is allowed, you should be careful.
What you can do is turn off data roaming. In this way, your phone will only be able to connect to the corresponding network, within the country where you have contracted that rate. If there was this satellite Internet that we mentioned, you couldn’t connect, just as you couldn’t connect to another network.
It is, basically, the same prevention measure that you should do if, for example, you are going on a trip to Japan and you want to continue receiving SMS, but not have your phone connect to the Internet and they can charge you a large sum of money for each MB you consume. . It’s as simple as that.
