The US authorities are concerned about the potential risks associated with the development of WiFi on aircraft. In a report published in mid-April, the Congressional Investigative Office (GAO) found that the presence of WiFi and entertainment devices could be a safety hazard. Today's aircraft are ultra-connected, particularly the latest models from Boeing and Airbus, and Internet connections could be hacked to take control of aircraft in flight. The arrest, also in April, of Chris Roberts, an engineer specialising in security, underlines these concerns. A hacker in his spare time, Chris Roberts claimed in a tweet sent from the plane he was travelling on to be ready to hack the screens to display the message "put on your oxygen masks". A joke, of course... but a joke. The specialist told FBI investigators and Wired magazine that he had hacked into aircraft entertainment systems a dozen times. For some experts, this seems technically feasible, but going so far as to take control of the aircraft in this way is more than unlikely. For Airbus and Boeing, such intrusions are strictly impossible, as the cockpit and in-flight entertainment Internet networks are completely separate.
Hotels - WiFi is better in Europe
Nordic Choice has come out on top in the Hotel WiFi Test website's ranking of wireless Internet quality in hotel chains around the world. The Scandinavian chain is ahead of Radisson Blu and Renaissance thanks to two key factors: 100 % of its establishments offer WiFi free of charge and, above all, 85 % of them offer an excellent quality connection. In other words, according to the site's criteria, a bandwidth with a downstream speed of 3Mbps and an upload speed of 500 Kbps. The study also shows that WiFi access is better in Europe than in the United States. For example, 73 % of Hilton hotels on the Old Continent offer adequate WiFi, compared with just 25 % on the other side of the Atlantic.
The top ten hotel chains for their wireless internet offer
WiFi to recharge smartphones?
Researchers at the University of Washington are looking to solve a major problem for many mobile travellers - recharging smartphones and other connected devices. One of their teams has tested a technology that uses energy from wireless routers remotely, with encouraging results. Known as "power over WiFi" or PoWifi, the technology enabled them to charge a camera and batteries several metres away from the router.
