Starlink is sort of twice as quick as some other in-flight Wi-Fi choice, in line with a new report by the velocity take a look at web site Ookla. (Ookla is owned by the identical mother or father firm as CNET, Ziff Davis.)
Starlink’s speeds within the air are quicker than some web suppliers on the bottom. The satellite tv for pc web firm from SpaceX clocked median obtain speeds of 152Mbps and add speeds of 24Mbps.
These obtain and add speeds have been almost twice as quick as some other in-flight web choice, however latency was the place it actually blew the competitors away. Starlink’s in-flight latency got here in at simply 44ms; the next-closest, MTN Satellite tv for pc Communications, was at 667ms. With these sorts of numbers, you would realistically sport on-line or make a video name on a Starlink-equipped flight.
How is it doable that Starlink-equipped planes lap the competitors so fully? The reply lies with Starlink’s distinctive fleet of 7,000 low-Earth orbit satellites. These function about 342 miles above the bottom, in contrast with over 22,000 miles for geostationary satellites utilized by suppliers like Hughesnet and Viasat.
“That is simply physics, proper? You are going to have a latency of almost a second whenever you’re 22,000 miles versus 300 miles,” Kerry Baker, the creator of Ookla’s report, advised CNET. “What was enjoyable then was to see the information and the airways line up simply as you’d anticipate from the physics.”
Surprisingly, Starlink’s speeds have been truly quicker within the air than on the bottom. In line with Ookla’s velocity take a look at outcomes from the primary quarter of 2025, Starlink customers within the US acquired median obtain speeds of 105Mbps, add speeds of 15Mbps and latency of 45ms.
The opposite main satellite tv for pc web suppliers, Hughesnet and Viasat, additionally recorded quicker speeds within the air than on the bottom, though the most up-to-date knowledge from Ookla on these suppliers is from 2023.
In line with Ookla’s report, Hawaiian Airways and Qatar Airways recorded velocity take a look at outcomes with Starlink within the first quarter of 2025. United Airways additionally started putting in Starlink on its planes earlier this yr, debuting it on some planes on Might 15. Scandinavian Airways inked a deal in Jan. 2025 to outfit its complete fleet with Starlink.
