In 2012, Boeing replaced airplane passengers with nine tons of potatoes: it solved a Wi-Fi connection problem

Nowadays, having a Wi-Fi network has become essential for human beings. However, there are places where it is very difficult to have an adequate connection. Until very recently, airplanes were part of this group. To solve the problem, they only had to replace humans with potatoes , and Boeing used nine tons of them.

It is well known that 2.4 and 5 gigahertz frequency waves are absorbed by the human body . This means that in a cabin with more than 50 passengers, the signal bounces from one person to another, losing connection at each step. Since potatoes are full of water, they mimic this scenario that occurs with real people very well.

Potatoes as substitutes for passengers on the plane

In addition, the number of passengers and the distribution of the seats in the cabin also influence the quality of that connection. The fact is that the usual situation was replicated, but with potatoes instead of human beings. The airplane was out of service and parked on the ground ; it was not flown to carry out these tests.

A method was created to measure network quality. Its signal strength was mapped seat by seat with technological tools and the connection was adjusted in each of them, thanks to knowing what the real scenario would be like with potatoes serving as a one-off substitute. That test remained in place for the future.

In this way, airlines have gone from taking more than two weeks to adjust the quality of the Wi-Fi connection to just 10 hours. This does not mean that they still use potatoes in every test, but rather that they were essential in the original one. From there, a model was created that has made the work easier to enjoy the best possible Internet network on airplanes.