Why is plane Wi-Fi so slow?

In-flight Wi-Fi is notorious for being slow or intermittent, or sometimes both. The more connected devices, the slower the Wi-Fi speed. You're sharing the in-flight Wi-Fi connection with hundreds of other passengers yet have a fraction of the bandwidth of your home router.



People Also Ask

The maximum speeds for these systems are currently around 5 megabits per second (which is shared by hundreds of passengers), according to Andrew Zignani, a research director at technology intelligence firm ABI Research who specializes in wireless connectivity.

MORE DETAILS

Airplane mode, when turned on, allows you to turn off all communication functions of electronic devices at once. When traveling abroad, you can connect to Wi-Fi while in Airplane Mode to use the Internet with peace of mind.

MORE DETAILS

Wi-Fi may be purchased prior to your flight by visiting aa.com/wifi or you may purchase once on board. International Wi-Fi is available on all Boeing 777-300ER flights. Wi-Fi can be purchased once on board; currently there is not a pre-purchase option for international Wi-Fi.

MORE DETAILS

Delta and Virgin America tied for the fastest in-flight Wi-Fi at speeds up to 15 Mbps. If you're simply looking for the fastest in-flight Wi-Fi, go for Delta or Virgin America. However, while both these airlines offer in-flight Wi-Fi up to 15 Mbps, they vary in price enormously.

MORE DETAILS

JetBlue and Delta are currently at the top of the crop when it comes to their in-flight Wi-Fi offerings. JetBlue has been offering free Wi-Fi on its flights for years, and it is high-speed too.

MORE DETAILS

Buy Wi-Fi passes in advance Prepurchasing one-hour passes isn't really going to save you much, if anything. But if you're on the market for an all-day flight pass, you can start planning on saving some cash by purchasing it before your flight.

MORE DETAILS

Ka-Band. Ka-Band provides the most advanced high-speed satellite Wi-Fi, boasting up to 80 Mbps per airplane; however, there are significantly fewer Ka-Band satellites in orbit with a smaller geographical coverage, so it's only suitable for some airlines at present.

MORE DETAILS

To provide Wi-Fi, planes need to have a satellite antenna, a network modem, and a number of wireless access points around the interior, says Jeff Sare, vice president of in-flight connectivity solutions at Panasonic Avionics Corporation. And all that hardware has to be maintained in addition to installed.

MORE DETAILS

The amount of data that any given individual uses keeps going up. Multiple airlines reported that passengers will connect to wifi from two, or even three devices during a flight. A single streamer uses the bandwidth of ten non-streamers. And all of this increases the costs to airlines for offering wifi.

MORE DETAILS

There are 2 types of operating systems for airplane Wi-Fi — air-to-ground (ATG) which bounces signals off ground-based cell towers, and satellite Wi-Fi which uses signals from satellites orbiting the earth.

MORE DETAILS

Can I text on an airplane? Yes, but only using a Wi-Fi connection. The ban on using a cellular connection means passengers can't send SMS texts. Any communication has to be over Wi-Fi with a messaging app that provides similar functionality like iMessage, WhatsApp, or Viber.

MORE DETAILS

Inflight Wi-Fi. Upgraded, high-speed Wi-Fi is available to buy on select domestic flights. Browse the internet, check emails and stream video services like Netflix, Hulu and HBO faster than ever before. To see what's on your flight, check your boarding pass or online ahead of time.

MORE DETAILS