News hardware Smartphone: the real reason for the mandatory airplane mode in flight
Airplane mode is aptly named and even fifteen years after the arrival of smartphones, it is still prohibited to use the network of your mobile phone during a flight. Think you know why? The reason is quite different.
Airplane mode still imposed by airlines
You’re relaxing in your seat, the plane will soon be accelerating. You have an urge to scroll Twitter but when you start your rewarding reading, a steward rushes at you and snatches your iPhone to throw it on the ground and step on it several times. A traumatic experience, but deserved.
In effect, it is forbidden to use your smartphone and in particular the cellular network throughout an airplane flight, from cabin start-up to landing. Everyone knows it, and no one seems to dispute this obligation almost set in stone. The airline staff does not hesitate to remind us of this in addition to all the other safety rules.
At first glance, almost everyone thinks that the reason for this ban is that the waves generated by the cellular connection of smartphones can interfere with the waves necessary for the proper functioning of the plane. Or something like that. But in reality, things have changed and if the rule is still there, it is for a completely different reason.
4G and 5G on the ground could suffer
The prevention of risks against interfering waves from electronic devices is not new. As early as 1992, the American Federation of Aviation and the Boeing company (manufacturer of airliners) concluded a study proving that personal computers or devices do not interfere at all with the aircraft outside of the take-off and landing phases.
To ensure the shot, different frequencies are now used to separate categories of devices like smartphones and computers from aircraft navigation systems. But then why do we always have to activate this famous mode?
The reason has to do with ground cellular data. As planes travel thousands of miles at full speed, devices connected to the cellular network connect to the towers below them. Thus, if 300 people bind at once to this same tower, it can cause significant saturation.
It should not be thought that these are only potentially isolated cases. With about 2.2 billion passengers in 2021, and twice as many in 2019, that’s a colossal number of people who can encroach on networks around the world.
The other (and rather recent) problem that comes closest to popular belief concerns 5G. As we know, 5G smartphones are developing at full speed, where 5G infrastructures take significantly longer. Result: many mobile devices could connect in 5G to the same tower from an airplane. The saturations would only be more violent.
5G has a frequency considerably closer to that used by planes and airports to communicate and assist in landings, which increases the risks.
Few solutions, other problems
If it is impossible to use the network from an airplane, some flights still offer Wi-Fi. But you see me coming these offers are far from perfect. First of all, they are expensive. If we compare with the prices of packages in France, we really have the impression of being fooled. The connection is also poor. Unable to stream anything or make video calls.
A somewhat frustrating situation, but a little less if we consider the other potential problems with the network on the plane. We imagine a whole slew of passengers calling for calm on an airplane, but also the lack of attention to security measures, already sufficiently ignored.