{"id":328,"date":"2015-03-26T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-26T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sync.gyre.wpengine.com\/?p=328"},"modified":"2022-10-04T15:45:45","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T22:45:45","slug":"syncs-on-a-plane-a-no-internet-use-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.resilio.com\/blog\/syncs-on-a-plane-a-no-internet-use-case","title":{"rendered":"Syncs on a Plane: a no-Internet Use Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most amazing features of\u00a0BitTorrent Sync<\/a>\u00a0is how easily it works over local networks (LAN), and therefore how it\u2019s able to continue to function even without Internet access. Flying through the air in a metal tube is pretty amazing too, but what about a scenario that brings Sync\u2019s local network capabilities to today\u2019s business traveler. Here at BitTorrent we\u2019re doing our part to tackle some of the problems with in-flight connectivity.
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If you travel a lot for work you may have found yourself in a situation with colleagues scattered around your plane, and the in-flight wifi isn\u2019t cutting it for collaboration.<\/p>\n

In-flight upload and download speeds are so slow that sharing anything, of any size through the cloud can be impossible. Once you factor in the wait times to upload from your device through the plane\u2019s wifi to the cloud, and then back through the plane\u2019s wifi down to your colleague, you\u2019ll spend the whole flight waiting without doing any actual work.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how Sync can help:<\/p>\n

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  1. You and one or more colleagues are on the same flight<\/li>\n
  2. You need to share large files or folders (of any type) during your flight<\/li>\n
  3. One of you has a personal wifi hotspot, wireless mobile storage device, or router that allows you to turn off the WAN or cellular connection (basically, it needs to be in an \u2018airplane mode\u2019 state like the rest of your devices)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Because Sync can work without the Internet, all you need to do is set up a LAN for your colleagues on the plane to start sharing files at speeds that clock in up to\u00a016x faster than the cloud<\/a>\u00a0when you\u2019re on the ground, and beats it by an even greater margin when compared to the cloud via in-flight wireless. (Though it also depends on what speeds your router will max out at, of course.)<\/p>\n

    You and your colleagues can all join the LAN and run Sync to share massive files and folders quickly and easily at cruising altitude.<\/p>\n

    Last Friday I used this exact feature to help get this blog post written. Here was my setup:\"BitTorrentI was using a MacBook Air, a Moto X phone (taking the picture, therefore, not pictured above), and I tested it out with two different routing devices shown above – a SanDisk Wireless Media Drive and a Verizon 3G mobile modem. Before I boarded the plane I went into the dashboard for the Verizon device and turned off the WAN connection. This means it is no longer connecting to Verizon\u2019s network \u2014 it is only acting as a wireless router. This means that it is in a state just like the \u201cairplane mode\u201d on other mobile devices.<\/p>\n

    Here you can see that the computer has connected to the SanDisk wifi, but the exclamation point clearly shows that there is no internet connection behind that. You can also see my Moto X connected to the same SanDisk wifi, and subsequently that on the Sync Android app it is recognizing a peer (the laptop) even though there’s no internet connectivity.<\/p>\n

    \"showing<\/p>\n

    I moved an album of music that I had purchased on iTunes into my \u201cMusic to phone\u201d folder that I use to shuttle music onto my Android device using Sync, and after just a few seconds I was ready to enjoy my tunes on my phone.<\/p>\n

    After completing that sample task, I realized I actually did need a way to get the photos and screengrabs from my Moto X back to my computer to finish this post. Still being connected to the SanDisk wifi, I simply added a new folder for this purpose on my Moto X, moved the desired files into that folder, to begin receiving them on the desktop so I could complete my work.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s Not Just About Planes<\/h3>\n

    This is a pretty fun use case to demonstrate, but there are plenty of similar situations where internet-free syncing capabilities could significantly improve how you work. Consider these:<\/p>\n