If iMessage is a No-Go with Gogo, Restart

As I was flying on a very delayed flight today, I tried to send an iMessage to my father on the ground, who was waiting to pick me up at the airport. Ordinarily, I have been able to send iMessages from my iPad or iPhone. Today, however, I am using my MacBook Pro, and the beta version of Messages for Mac OS doesn’t seem to connect to the service. Actually, it won’t connect to any of my messaging accounts, such as AIM, GoogleTalk, or other Jabber accounts.

iMessage a No-Go with Gogo

I wonder if Gogo, the inflight WiFi provider, has blocked certain ports that Messages uses. If I remember correctly, most inflight WiFi services block VOIP apps to keep people from yapping away on their computers. (Actually, I don’t know why they do that, but if I were an inflight sysadmin, that’s the main reason I’d block any VOIP ports.)

As a workaround, I sent an email.

Update

Back on the ground. Messages still doesn’t work. Neither does FaceTime for Mac. When I try to add the Chat function to any of my accounts in Lion’s Mail, Contacts, Calendar preference panel, I get the ominous “An Unknown Error Occurred” message.

It turns out that I just needed to restart my computer.

iMessage does work on Gogo so you can text message iOS users from your Mac or iDevice as you fly through the sky.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

2 Comments

  1. I am a very frequent user of gogo on AA. I have always been able to text. Recently, I just bought the “new” iPad, whatever that is (I know its new, because no one makes a case that fits it yet…that’s how you tell if your Apple product is an update…none of the existing accessories work). Now apparently there is a new wrinkle…I can send e-mails from the sky, but NOT texts…that ain’t worth my 22 bucks. Can someone help me here??? Thanks

    1. As lame as it sounds, how about turning off iMessage and then turning it back on again. SMS text messages won’t work because it requires you to be connected to the cellular network via your cell phone.