Air New Zealand Plans Free Starlink Wi-Fi, With A Catch

Latency isn't that important for streaming video. For video it's just about bandwidth. Latency is much more key for stuff like gaming and VPNs, where there is rapid back-and-forth exchange of data.

Pre-Starlink, the geosynchronous satellite internet had huge latency owing to the high altitude of the satellites. That system could stream okay, but working through a VPN was impossible.

Interesting, I did not know that.

Will probably be awhile before we see Starling on long haul anywhere - Starlink is very particular about where it can and can not provide service

With Hawaiian Airlines contracting Starlink for its onboard internet service (delayed until early next year, so just a few month(s) away), one would assume there is a lot of connectivity in that part of the pacific but I wonder what the rest of the pacific is like to Asia and Australia beyond Hawaii? Would be great if Qantas could go for Starlink now that Viasat 3 seems to be delayed. Not having WifI on the 13-17 hour long flights to / from the USA to Australia is a real pain when trying to stay productive. Just not sure how robust the Starlink network is. If anyone knows that would be great to hear about.

Starlink is actually well suited to long-haul, over-water service because their coverage and bandwidth is the same everywhere. So in the middle of the Pacific, where only planes and boats are going to use it, the service is going to be really good. Heavily populated areas, in contrast, will have poorer performance, because there is more demand for the system. To be sure, the service is still really good, but it's not efficiently distributed.

Geosynchronous satellite systems don't have the above problem, because they are by definition parked over a certain area and can focus their bandwidth. But they have the problem of high latency.

All in all, Starlink is a good choice for ANZ, even domestically, because New Zealand is pretty sparsely populated to begin with.

Ideally, an airplane wi-fi system combines the benefits of both low-earth orbit satellites like Starlink, and larger geosynchronous ones. Those systems are coming...

Not just that, but a growing number of websites block access if you are trying to access via Starlink (maybe the Elon Musk ick factor) so it isn't always ideal unless you use a VPN.

Why do populated areas get high demand for Starlink though? Surely the fiberoptic is both cheaper, faster and more reliable? I always assumed that the whole point of Starlink is to provide service in areas where it isn't feasible to provide fiberoptics.

In this case, an example of a "populated area" is something like the Eastern Seaboard, which might have lots of people using Starlink if they live out in far suburbs / exurbs / rural areas. Yes, someone in New York City or Boston will be much better served by fiber, but there are still lots of people beyond easy fiber coverage who may choose to use a satellite service. Plus you have greater maritime, military, and other mobile users.

Contrast that to the middle of the ocean, where you have zip, zilch, nada, except for airplanes and boats.

A move in the right direction, albeit a very slow rollout. The consumer is more and more expecting to be connected whenever they want, wherever they are with top quality connectivity for free. One just has to work out if your business model can sustain it. I would have thought Air NZ's astronomical airfares could comfortably sustain a little free Wifi!