FlightWifi

Who actually runs airline Wi-Fi

The airline sells it, but one of these systems delivers it, and the orbit it flies in decides whether your video call survives.

Which Wi-Fi systems are actually good?

Outcome first. The brand on the seatback card matters less than how high its satellites sit, because height sets the lag and the lag is what decides a live call.

System
Orbit
What you get
Flying with
Low Earth orbit (LEO)
Video calls workLow orbit, roughly 20-50 ms
22 airlines
Low Earth orbit (LEO)
Video calls workLow orbit, roughly 70-100 ms
5 airlines
Low Earth orbit (LEO)
Video calls workLow orbit, but not flying passengers yet
None yet
Medium Earth orbit (MEO) + GEO
Video calls usually workMid orbit, roughly 120-150 ms
8 airlines
Geostationary (GEO)
Depends on the fitEmail and browsing everywhere; calls only on the newer multi-orbit installs
45 airlines
Geostationary (GEO)
Depends on the fitEmail and browsing everywhere; calls only on the newer multi-orbit installs
13 airlines
Geostationary (GEO)
Email & browsingHigh orbit, and the lag breaks live calls
39 airlines
Geostationary (GEO) Ka-band
Email & browsingHigh orbit, and the lag breaks live calls
21 airlines
Geostationary (GEO)
Email & browsingHigh orbit, and the lag breaks live calls
4 airlines

Every provider in the registry

Starlink

Low Earth orbit (LEO), ~550 km

roughly 20-50 ms · 41 airlines in the registry

Viasat

Geostationary (GEO), ~35,786 km

roughly 600 ms and up · 39 airlines in the registry

Panasonic Avionics

Geostationary (GEO), multi-orbit on new fits

roughly 600 ms and up on GEO · 46 airlines in the registry

Intelsat

Geostationary (GEO), multi-orbit with OneWeb

roughly 600 ms and up on GEO · 14 airlines in the registry

SES / Open Orbits

Medium Earth orbit (MEO) + GEO

roughly 120-150 ms on MEO · 12 airlines in the registry

Anuvu

Geostationary (GEO)

roughly 600 ms and up · 5 airlines in the registry

SITA OnAir / Inmarsat GX

Geostationary (GEO) Ka-band

roughly 600 ms and up · 22 airlines in the registry

Eutelsat OneWeb

Low Earth orbit (LEO), ~1,200 km

roughly 70-100 ms · 6 airlines in the registry

Amazon Kuiper

Low Earth orbit (LEO)

roughly 20-50 ms expected · 1 airline in the registry

Know before you book.

FlightWifi shows these verdicts inline on Google Flights, Skyscanner and Rift, matched to the exact aircraft on your flight.

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