Starlink Flight Test: What It’s Like Using SpaceX’s Broadband for Inflight Wi-Fi
Regional carrier JSX is the first airline in the US to offer Starlink Wi-Fi. We tested it out on a quick roundtrip flight, and it delivered speeds competitive with 4G and sometimes even 5G.
By Rob Pegoraro
DALLAS—A flight to nowhere provided a sign that inflight Wi-Fi is going somewhere, after years of being a complaint generator.
And in the case of JSX’s free Starlink Wi-Fi—the first such offering by a US air carrier—it’s going somewhere fast. That Dallas-based company picked SpaceX’s satellite service as its inflight broadband provider last April, began offering it on some flights in December, and invited journalists here Tuesday for a test flight.
Unlike many current Wi-Fi systems, it started on the ground without a network password or sign-in screen to surmount. A 67-minute hop from Dallas Love Field and back then revealed a serious advance on connectivity that delivered speeds competitive with 4G and sometimes even 5G.
Putting Inflight Starlink to the Test
As measured in 15 runs of Ookla’s Speedtest app during the flight across three devices—a Google Pixel 7, an Apple iPad mini 6, and a Lenovo ThinkPad X13s—Starlink downloads averaged 126Mbps, with uploads at 7.6Mbps.
Ping times averaged 54 milliseconds, less than a tenth of the response metrics I usually see up in the air on Wi-Fi delivered via satellites some 22,000 miles away in geostationary orbit.
The open-source Measurement Lab tool, run in Chrome on the ThinkPad, yielded slightly slower results for JSX’s Starlink over three tests: 78.7Mbps down, 3.5Mbps up, and 23ms ping.
To put those numbers in context, on my United Airlines flight back to Washington, D.C. from Dallas, the Speedtest app on my Pixel 5a clocked average downloads of 5.78Mbps, with uploads inching along at 0.91Mbps and ping times a leisurely 742ms for that geostationary connectivity.
Starlink’s constellation of 3,000-plus satellites operates just 350 miles up, with the service automatically passing a connection from one Starlink to another as they pass overhead at some 17,000 miles an hour.
That it works at all to reach a jet flying at more than 400 miles an hour can seem unreal, but the only time I saw the connection stutter happened during a FaceTime call from that iPad, when a friend’s video vanished briefly. Two subsequent Facebook Messenger calls, including one in which I livestreamed our approach and landing at Love Field, went off without a glitch.
JSX says it will allow voice and video calls pending a final safety signoff from the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA’s press office did not comment on that but did note that the Federal Communications Commission bans cellular calls on aircraft. Starlink and almost all other inflight Wi-Fi systems, however, don’t use those mobile frequencies, and a pending Department of Transportation rule would only require carriers to disclose if they allow inflight calls.
I also had no problem streaming YouTube, using that to rewatch Rocket Lab’s Jan. 24 launch of its Electron rocket from Virginia’s coast. The same went for uploading a 40MB PDF to Google Drive, which took just 66 seconds.
Starlink performance, however, can vary widely. Across those three test devices, downloads maxed out at 260Mbps but got as low as 14.7Mbps, with uploads running from 15.7Mbps to just 1.4Mbps. One ping time spiked up to 145ms.
Note, again, that this was free. United’s normal cost for Wi-Fi is $8 for members of its MileagePlus frequent-flier program, although a T-Mobile deal zeroed that out on my phone. On my American Airlines flight from D.C. to Dallas, the cost was an absurd $15 an hour or $19 for the flight; I didn’t bother paying.
Not Your Average Flight
This test did feature fewer passengers than usual—17, which is just over half of the 30-seat capacity of the Embraer ERJ145. JSX, which began flying in 2016, outfits these regional jets in a luxe configuration with one row of seats on each side of the aisle, at least 34 inches of seat pitch, and power outlets at about knee height on the cabin wall.
JSX’s business model involves setting itself apart from other airlines with a premium, time-optimized service. It operates with an FAA license generally used by charter operators—which doesn’t allow for more than 30 passengers on a flight—and flies out of private-jet terminals where it operates its own security, subject to TSA audits. On board, snacks and drinks are free.
But before signing up with Starlink, JSX had no way to keep its customers connected. At a Q&A session with journalists after landing, founder and CEO Alex Wilcox said JSX “did spend over two years negotiating with SpaceX” after considering other services.
Installing Starlink, a process that consists of attaching the antenna and its low-slung protective dome atop the fuselage and then connecting it to power and a router, takes about eight hours. JSX now has Starlink on 21 of its 37 in-service jets.
As these installations have been proceeding, however, Starlink performance on the ground has been in an ongoing descent, with observed US speeds dropping even as SpaceX has raised prices for some users and made plans to impose a data cap.
Wilcox professed himself unconcerned. “We have a service level agreement for a certain level of bandwidth,” he said of JSX’s deal with SpaceX. “They’re well exceeding it so far.”
Wilcox voiced his confidence in SpaceX’s ability to upgrade its capacity by deploying Starlinks by the hundreds from its new, heavy-lift Starship rocket, which may see its first orbital launch happen in March: “The bandwidth is gonna be there.”
If it’s not always there, JSX passengers may be a little disappointed—but unlike Starlink customers on the ground, they will have free adult beverages to ease the pain.
Disclosure: JSX provided airfare to and from Dallas as well as one night’s lodging. Ookla, meanwhile, is owned by PCMag’s parent company, Ziff Davis.
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com.
