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United Airlines to launch Starlink wi-fi in spring 2025
- freedomben 2y ago> Starlink offers download speeds between 40 and 220 Mbps and upload speeds of 8 to 25 Mbps, which allows streaming and video conferencing during flights. Oh man, I really hope I don't have to sit anywhere near somebody doing a video conference during a flight. We've avoided this minefield previously since phones don't work on planes so it's not been an issue before, but it seems we're about to cross that bridge. Incidentally, I hope this doesn't mean that as employees we'll be expected to attend meetings even when on a plane...
- Beijinger 2y agoFinally, youporn on a plane.
- Klonoar 2y agoMight depend on what state you’re flying over. ;)
- creole_wither 2y agoActually interesting, do ISP levels blocks mandated by government apply to planes in their airspace using satellite internet?
- elashri 2y agoShouldn't the law prohibiting the voice calls on flight be changed first?
- 15155 2y agoWhich law is this specifically? Airfone was a thing for years.
- Jtsummers 2y agohttps://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ254/PLAW-115publ254.pdf https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ254/PLAW-115publ254.p... Section 403, passed in 2018. Search for "41725" for an easier search through the PDF. Installed phones are not prohibited, it's more about restrictions on personal, portable electronic devices brought on by passengers. Crew are also exempted. > ‘‘(2) MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE.— >> ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘mobile communications device’ means any portable wireless telecommunications equipment utilized for the transmission or reception of voice data.
- gostsamo 2y agoCan you imagine being stuck for hours with loud and obnoxious human being who thinks that they are in their right to explain all of their work and family problems to the entire airplane? I hope airlines will forbid such behavior but it might be time to buy noise suppressing headphones for the gun silencers are not allowed on board.
- cryptoz 2y agoSeems like a use case for AI right here; just have the user 'talk' silently, mouthing the words or in a very quiet whisper. I assume AI can read lips pretty well by now right? So turn on your video, have the AI already know how to synthesize your voice, and then just careful mouth the words into the camera. An AI model should be able to live-synthesize your voice that matches what you want to say and I think there would be minimal latency, not any worse than other video conferencing latency. And with headphones on, nobody on the plane can hear the other side, or you. And you could get a live transcript visible to you as well, so you could know if the AI made a mistake in reading your lips and you could correct it. Might look weird but shrug.
- throw5959 2y agoAI can read lips better than humans. Unfortunately, lip reading isn't really possible. Too much ambiguity and way too hard to do it in a recognizable way while not making any sounds.
- bryanlarsen 2y agoThe TOS of airplane wifi I used last week prohibited voice usage.
- perihelions 2y agoIs that consistent with net neutrality principles? Should commercial resellers of network connections be permitted, as a question of law, to set rules dictating the contents and endpoints of those bits? (I'm not happy with the direction of tech culture, that this could be an open question. The first half of the computer revolution was about making cool things for people to use. The second half seems to be about taking those cool things away. I imagine an airline user from 1950's jet age, who would be beyond astounded to learn a human could talk to anyone on the planet from the *middle of the freakin' ocean*, through a series of space-based microwave relays—they would give their right hand to live in that reality. Now that we've created literal magic, we're... simply throwing it away? Bah, humbug).
- itake 2y agopresumably... airlines have been allowing certain messaging providers (whatsapp, imessage, etc) to send text messages during a flight. But you can't send a Signal message or send a photo.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- greggyb 2y agoThey could trivially allow the network to be used for anything, but also have a rule about behavior in the cabin to not disturb any other passengers. They’d be imposing restrictions only on physical actions you take during the term of the contract between the two of you, and while you are in the location that contract specifies. The ticket is the contract. And they can say, “Don’t talk with your voice to anyone not on the plane.” Or however they’d like to word it. Personally, I’d hate to be next to someone on a call on a plane, and I’d hate to be on a call while next to someone on a plane. This is personal preference. It is no better or worse than your personal preference to sit next to someone while they take a call or to take a call while sitting next to someone. Perhaps we’ll see an evolution of plane seating to allow for quiet zones, similar to how some trains have quiet cars.
- laweijfmvo 2y agoNot when all 300 passengers decide they want to stream in “high quality”...
- notatoad 2y agoyeah, i'm assuming this is up to 220Mb/s for the whole plane, not for each passenger. airplane wifi is still going to suck.
- notyourwork 2y agoDelta courtesy of T-Mobile has been solid in my experience. A few times not but in general it works really well.
- freedomben 2y agoI can't remember where or how I pieced this together, but I'm guessing that each plane will have two dishes (which will be bonded together), and Starlink is expecting bandwidth to improve to Gbit speed, so it will probably be 2 Gb/s down for the whole plane. Still not great if every passenger is streaming HD video, but I imagine with some "traffic shaping" (aka throttling) it will be pretty snappy for web browsing and small file downloads.
- inemesitaffia 2y agoNetflix HD isn't that much. And no; two dishes won't give you 2 Gbps. You'll need four in Ku Band (that's what's publicly in use) To get 2 Gbps antennas in Ka, V, E or Q will have to be used.
- harrall 2y agoThe bridge has been crossed for a few years. I watch streaming video over plane Wi-Fi. Sometimes over the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean.
- svachalek 2y agoThat's typically a CDN node on the plane though, not a live 2-way connection.
- harrall 2y agoI’m watching videos from my Plex server sitting in my living room, on the other side of Earth… …or random skate videos on YouTube which won’t be replicated. So it’s not the on-plane CDN. It’s true that the upstream probably isn’t too great for streaming but I also upload media over plane Wi-Fi just fine.
- notyourwork 2y agoReally? I doubt that. How large is a node on the plane?
- koolba 2y agoBuffered streaming is quite different than a two way call. The latency on traditional airplane WiFi would make video calls more like a two way radio with “Over!” pauses in between.
- harrall 2y agoSure, but my point isn’t that over technical specs. Plane Wi-Fi is already good enough to let people do some seriously rude stuff but yet I have not heard of it being a problem. United, who are the ones quoted to be adding Starlink, has already invested some of the most I have seen in on-plane Internet so this is just a gradual upgrade for those who fly United.
- bobmcnamara 2y agoI did this once. I explained the situation ahead of time to a coworker in the same meeting and that I'd answer any questions via chat. A little surprised it worked as well as it did.
- mlacks 2y agoJust did Starlink on Hawaiian Airlines. TOS requests you avoid video and the cabin staff enforces it
- dghlsakjg 2y agoUnited, and all major carriers I've flown on recently, already offer wifi (good enough to stream YT, in my experience, so presumably already good enough to attend meetings), this isn't a new service announcement. This announcement is just that they are going to be trialing using Starlink as an ISP in addition to the other providers they already work with.
- bigbones 2y ago> good enough to stream YT, in my experience, so presumably already good enough to attend meetings YT needs bulk throughput while meetings need latency and quality. YT can seem smooth for much longer despite massive amounts of retransmission and packet loss, meetings fall apart rapidly with even a tiny bit of those
- mark212 2y agoyou really have to try it. On a flight to Hawaii in October, I was getting speeds of 300+ mbps and latency that felt like my home wifi. It's just seamless and feels like an entirely different product than any other connectivity I've had in the air.
- mrWiz 2y agoThe transpacific United flights I’ve been on have all blocked audio and video streaming.
- jasondclinton 2y agoStarlink has been deployed on JSX for almost a year now and I've taken quite a few flights on their Bay Area to LA and Vegas routes. Despite 20 people on the planes, no one has ever been on a video conference, though I could see it becoming an issue with a broader consumer base.
- arcticbull 2y agoTons of the Hawaiian flights have it now too. It's such a game changer. Most people are on YouTube, it looks like -- no video calls I've seen.
- Klonoar 2y agoI just did an Antarctic cruise that had StarLink. While it sucked to have internet access - like, I wish I could’ve been fully disconnected - it did allow me to run my stuff remotely and ultimately have more time out there. Pretty wild how well it works.
- ericrosedev 2y agoFlew on Hawaiian last month which had starlink. During the announcements they asked everyone not to do voice or video calls, and said they would disable the internet if they saw people doing it. Will be interesting to see different airlines policies as broadband becomes available on flights
- metalman 2y agothey will have to block the signal in the bathrooms, or those will be used as an "office" by the true optimise and take advantage of everything crowd
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago> or those will be used as an "office" by the true optimise and take advantage of everything crowd Easily solved with a fine and, for repeat offenders, a ban from the airline.
- kylehotchkiss 2y agoHalf the call: “yeah I’m on a plane”
- aliasxneo 2y agoElon Musk streamed Path of Exile 2 from an airplane using Starlink a few days ago. It was surprisingly decent.
- robertlagrant 2y ago> It was surprisingly decent Much better than Diablo 4, that's for sure.
- wrboyce 2y agoA private jet with a prioritised Starlink connection, no doubt. Alas, most people are not the richest person in the world.
- lttlrck 2y agoI streamed on Starlink on Hawaiian last month. For free. From coach. It was fine.
- Salgat 2y agoIf anything I'd expect performance to improve on a plane. Aside from the cabin itself, it's line of sight. What I'm really curious about is how well LTE over Starlink will work.
- UtopiaPunk 2y agoThat's cool, but what I'd really like to see is something like Starlink on Amtrak trains. I would be happy with slower but much more comfortable train rides if I could do my work on the train.
- noja 2y agoCan’t you use a mobile data connection?
- umeshunni 2y agoNot if it's going through remote, unpopulated areas (like the California Zephyr).
- infotainment 2y agoAdmittedly, I felt this actually added to my enjoyment of the Zephyr ride -- total disconnection.
- aednichols 2y agoMobile data sucks even in the densely populated northeast parts of the Amtrak system. Cell network congestion and dead spots where the railroad takes a path away from population centers and highways.
- UtopiaPunk 2y agoYeah, and I'm not in the northeast, so for me, an Amtrak ride almost always means riding through long stretches of rural (and sometimes practically wilderness) areas. Mobile data connection goes in and out, very unreliable.
- greenavocado 2y agoNo, absolutely not. It constantly cuts out in the Northeast
- davidf18 2y ago