And just because you're paying more

doesn't necessarily mean you're getting more.

You may not get WiFi until you're

10,000 feet in the air,

and when you do get it, it may be slow and spotty.

Even so, people are still willing to cough up their

cash to post pictures of clouds mid-flight,

or do some actual work.

The industry is expected to be worth

$130 billion by 2035.

But if it's such a huge industry,

why does in-flight WiFi still suck?

First, we need to talk about how these planes,

speeding around at hundreds of miles an hour,

36,000 feet in the air, can even get WiFi.

There are two ways:

towers on the ground or satellites in space.

Let's look at the towers.

This method is called air-to-ground,

or ATG for short.

Antennas on the belly of the craft

pick up signals from cell towers on the ground.

The benefit?

You'll get less delay because the towers

are closer to your plane than a satellite.

The downside?

No towers, no signals.

That means when you're flying over

large bodies of water,

above mountains, or passing over

countries with cell towers that restrict WiFi access,

you probably won't get any WiFi.

So, what about satellites?

The big dome-shaped antenna on top of the plane

will pick up signals from the satellites.

These satellite-based systems will either use

Ku-band or Ka-band connections,

which is similar to 3G versus 4G.

There's a whole debate on whether

Ku or Ka band is better,

but they're both way faster than ATG systems.

But when you're sharing internet

with a couple hundred other people,

traveling 500 miles per hour,

36,000 feet in the air,

there's bound to be a hiccup or two.

But towers versus satellite isn't the only thing

that affects whether you'll be able to stream

this week's episode of "The Bachelor" or not.

The quality and price of your in-flight WiFi

actually depend on four more things:

your airline, aircraft,

the in-flight WiFi provider,

and the region you're traveling to and from.

First of all, in an effort to cut costs,

some airlines, like Frontier, don't even offer WiFi.

If your airline does offer WiFi,

it could be free,

or go all the way up to $30 for an all-day pass.

But just because the airline offers WiFi

doesn't mean your plane supports it.

Some aircraft aren't even built with WiFi capabilities.

An American Airlines Boeing 738

might have satellite-based WiFi,

but an American Airlines Boeing 757 might not.

Then there's the provider.

They all offer different speeds, which is

crucial for watching those meltdowns in HD.

And lastly, you'll need to factor in your route.

If you're flying over a lot of mountains or an ocean,

there probably won't be many towers along the way.

And if the plane isn't equipped

to receive satellite internet,

you'll be completely out of luck.

For a while, Hawaiian Airlines didn't want

to invest in in-flight WiFi

because the technology along their flight paths

crossing the Pacific Ocean was sparse,

but communication companies are launching

new satellites,

and Hawaiian is rethinking the investment.

So, why isn't everyone

upgrading their equipment?

For some airlines, it's just not their highest priority.

Upgrading equipment means taking planes

out of service for a few days,

which means airlines lose money.

It also means budgeting for new infrastructure.

Plus, at least one in-flight provider

has 10-year contracts with some of the airlines,

which doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room

for upgrades and changes.

But better and faster in-flight WiFi

is definitely on its way.

American Airlines, for example, is making moves

to invest in better in-flight WiFi.

One survey showed that 67% of passengers

would rebook with an airline

if high-quality WiFi were available.

In other words, good WiFi means

customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Airlines have good reason to upgrade their offerings,

so it might not be a bad call for airlines

to speed up the process.

But for now, you're probably better off saving

your reality-TV binge for when you get home.

Producer: That's how a plane moves....

For sure.