I barely understand how wifi works to begin with, but how do they get it to work (and connect to the internet properly) on an airplane?
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Well the airplane just has a hotspot for you to connect device to for WiFi. For the internet connection they either use an antenna or satellite.
Wifi is the local distribution, just like the wifi at home is just for your house.
At home you would have something like google fiber or at&t internet (dsl/cable/fiber) and that would be connected to a modem/router that provides wifi in your home
The main connection to the internet on planes is via satellite, viasat and iridium are 2 providers for aviation internet for example.
They also have a wifi router in the plane to share the connection with passengers (and for the plane/pilots itself ofc)
Wifi is a wireless network. All you need it a wireless router, which the aircraft have. The aircraft itself is using satellite internet, and it has a satellite transceiver on board.
Everything is fitted with electronics these days. If you can house a router that’s up and functional, you can get wifi anywhere. Same concept of having Wi-Fi in your car or being out and you use someone’s phone hotspot for internet; you can move around, you just connect to Wi-Fi and stay within range.
Wireless internet, or WiFi, on airplanes works in a similar way to WiFi on the ground. An airplane is equipped with a wireless router that creates a local network, and passengers can connect to this network using their devices, such as smartphones, tablets, or laptops.
The router on the airplane is connected to a satellite or an air-to-ground (ATG) system, which provides the internet connection. Satellite internet is provided through a satellite dish on the airplane, which sends and receives data from a satellite orbiting the earth. The ATG system uses a network of ground-based towers to provide the internet connection.
Once a passenger connects to the airplane’s WiFi network, their device can access the internet by sending and receiving data through the satellite or ATG system. The speed and reliability of the internet connection can vary depending on the technology being used, the altitude and location of the airplane, and the number of people using the WiFi at the same time.
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