Swa wifi streaming for hbogo/netflix?

I read something that kind of perplexed me, that hbogo and Netflix were not available over wifi on southwest flights. Has anyone tried using these services in flight? I really don't understand how they could do that, and why. I was planning on knocking out 3 episodes of Game of Thrones on my way out

 

It's because they take up a ton of bandwidth, which is limited and shared. Game of Thrones is easily available for download as a torrent if you're ok with doing that. Then just save them to your tablet.

 

But why would it be different than streaming live tv from dish that they offer?

 

I'm not a tech guy but the Dish signal would be coming in separately from the internet wouldn't it? Then it's just a matter of streaming a local signal like you might do at home if you stream something from your PC to your TV. It doesn't depend on the bandwidth of your internet connection. Plus if they partner with Dish Network, they're going to allow it.

But maybe someone more technically inclined can elaborate.

 

stupid question, sorry!

I haven't flown southwest in a few years, and saw where they say they have inflight tv.
Okay, it shows a picture of someone holding what looks like an ipad.
Am I right in assuming you have to have an ipad from home?
I took a Frontier flight last year that had small TV's in front of each seat on the back of the chair.
I don't have an ipad, but do have a laptop.
Suggestions so we can do something on our four hour flight to Vegas?
I hate to carry my laptop through the airport as it is not super light. Just trying to justify if I should buy an ipad or what?

 

LOL, I had the first few episodes of Game of Thrones on my laptop for one of my Vegas trips. Had never seen it before so I didn't know what to expect. After about 15 minutes I had to quickly slam down the lid so the young kid sitting next to me didn't get an eyeful.

I assume it is not an issue to filter out certain domains from their network. Workplaces do it all the time.

 

When I flew SWA in December, they still had the free live shows and some on demand. Also a live flight tracker which I love. It's just a few stations/shows, but I find stuff I like. I use an ipad, but any wifi enabled device should work. You have to pay for wifi beyond that limited free use. Don't know about netflix streaming. I wasn't going to pay for wifi to try it.

 

The official reason is because of bandwidth. But I suspect it is more because they would rather have you do their pay per view than watch whatever you want for "free" after paying the wifi connect fee.

 

That's what I would do. Have your laptop/tablet preloaded with the shows you wanna watch, that way you don't have to deal with WiFi.

 

Lame. I just redeemed a cpl DL codes from blu rays, so I'll just watch movies I own and say screw there wifi charge