We’ve all been there. One minute you’re at the gate, either on the 4 bars of 5G or enjoying the airport’s free Wi-Fi. The next minute, you’re settled in your seat, waiting to take off, and you’re lucky if you have 1 bar of 5G. And forget about any Wi-Fi signal because you left the gate’s signal behind when you went beyond the limits of the gate, and the plane won’t start its Wi-Fi until you’re well on your way.
It’s frustrating because we’ve become so dependent on our phones…not only for communication via voice, but also for social media, news, you name it. Not having adequate phone access for those 15-20 minutes (or more if you’re delayed) can be a very frustrating experience. So you’re waiting to take off and your email’s sluggish, your Facebook won’t load and forget about Twitter (Oops…”X”) being any good.
Wi-Fi set aside, why is basic cellphone signal so crappy on an airplane’s tarmac, anyway?
In a nutshell, it’s because there’s no signal there.
Airports are generally “dead zones” when it comes to phone signals. You need cell towers to have cell signal/data, and when was the last time you saw a cell tower near an airport? You don’t, because the towers aren’t allowed to be too close to airports because of height restrictions near airports, planes constantly moving around the zone, etc.
The Atlantic waxed poetically about it back in 2019:
Airports are giant swaths of empty space where large vehicles exit and enter the sky. That makes them poor candidates for cellular-antenna towers. Towers might grace the airport’s edges, but the expanse of airfields, and the distance to the terminals, makes coverage a stretch.
To compensate for the lack of cell service, most airports use distributed antenna systems (DAS): these small access points for cellular service boost the phone signal strength from the nearest cell towers.
DAS works well in indoor, controlled spaces such as airport terminals, but outdoors, where planes are constantly moving? Not so much.
On top of being out of range of whatever tiny, little signal there may be, once you’re out of the environment of the gate, the problems start:
- What little signal you MAY be able to get from DAS needs to be shared by everyone on the plane who’s trying to get signal…which slows things down for everyone
- You’re also in a metal can, which can also interfere with said signal
The crappy signal just outside the gate varies from airport to airport. But can you do anything about it when you only have 1 bar of EDGE? Unfortunately, no. Just know you’ll have a few minutes (or more) of being unable to do much on your phone that requires a signal, so prepare beforehand. But you should be pretty OK once the plane takes off and you have Wi-Fi access (well IF you have Wi-Fi access).
Feature Photo: Pexels/Public Domain
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3 comments
I don’t remember this ever being an issue really before 9/11. So i always assumed it was a security measure put in place then to prevent terrorists from easily communicating on the planes
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’ve wondered about this but never thought to ask. I had kind of figured that the planes acted as kind of a Faraday Cage. Good to know the real reason.
I’m confused. I always get a solid 5G connection from my wireless carrier Tmobile when I am inside the plane. Never had a problem.