Walt Mossberg Reviews GoGo In-Flight Wi-Fi (Verdict: Fast, But Not Fast Enough)

Walt just tested GoGo, the in-flight Wi-Fi service, on a bunch of laptops and smartphones during a flight from San Francisco to Denver. The service distributes, via Wi-Fi, a high speed mobile phone data signal pointed at airplanes, which Mossy rated at around 600kbps down and 250kbps up. This was quick enough for Walt to browse the web, send emails with iPhone rumour attachments, and talk on IM to his ladies, but it couldn’t keep up with streaming video on Xtube Hulu. Also, VoIP is blocked, and mobile calls aren’t possible either. Still, Mossy thought it did well enough for someone who can’t stay off the grid for a few hours. GoGo costs US$10 for flights under three hours, and US$13 for longer ones. It’ll begin rolling out in the next few weeks on American Airlines, with Virgin soon to follow. [AllThingsD]