How Much Cabin Wi-Fi is Enough for Your Private Jet?

Seventeen years ago, I had the distinct pleasure of installing a High-Speed Data (HSD) system on a Head of State Boeing 747-SP based in the Middle East. Money was no object in selecting the best system available for that airframe at the time.

Following months of research, negotiations and planning, my team headed to Dublin, Ireland to perform the installation.

The MRO shop, the equipment manufacturer and my team completed the upgrade on schedule, and all the work was overseen by the staff who handled day-to-day activities on behalf of the royal family. You couldn’t have asked for a more orchestrated approach to the project.

The problem was the maximum data rate, which at 256Kbps was unable to handle the bandwidth required by the passengers and crew to send and receive emails and browse the internet.

Although the internet and websites were nowhere near as sophisticated as they are today, splash pages interlaced with graphics, and emails with attachments took too long to load. I discovered from that experience 17 years ago that the solutions catering for the need for speed for the business jet community far lagged what passengers were experiencing on the ground, and that simply throwing money at the problem was not the solution.

Today, significant steps forward have been made in closing the gap. Speed and data rates are the focal points for all cabin connectivity equipment manufacturers, and the first question asked at any connectivity forum or roundtable is, ‘How fast is your system?’.

The presenters are always ready with an answer, beaming with pride. But what they don’t cover, and what the question doesn’t address is the most important outlier, which is ‘What can I do with that type of data speed?’.

You could have the best and fastest system available, but if it doesn’t meet the customers’ expectations, like that system installed in the head-of-state’s Boeing 747, then it’s of little use to you.

It’s time to correlate data rates with achievable passenger expectations. With that in mind, let’s also break down another term that has a silent, but subtle effect on the passengers’ online experience, ‘latency’.

Understanding Private Jet Cabin Connectivity Data Speeds

Before we dive into the data rates, it’s important to note the difference between upload and download speeds.

• Download Speed: The speed at which your device retrieves data from the internet. For instance, if you search Google, the download speed is the time taken from when you hit enter to the data appearing on your screen.
• Upload Speed: The rate at which data can be transferred from your device to the internet. An example would be when you are sharing photos on social media. Upload speed is crucial for real-time applications like videoconferencing.

Typically, the published data rate is the download speed. Download speeds are more relevant to the user since you rely on it for your normal tasks.

With videoconferencing and Zoom calls becoming more common in the workplace, though, upload speeds play an increasingly essential role in the passenger experience.

It’s not unusual to see upload speeds that are one-tenth the download speed in cabin connectivity solutions...

Bandwidth is another term to be familiar with when you’re talking about data speeds. It represents the capacity of a network and is usually measured in megabits per second (Mbps). Data speeds are also measured in Mbps, though here Mbps refers to how fast data is transmitted from one point to another.

Think of it as a two-lane highway with the lanes represented by the bandwidth. If you were the only car on the highway, the speed you travel is unobstructed. Once you have multiple cars in each lane, your speed becomes reduced.

If the highway was increased to six lanes, the congestion would be reduced with more cars traveling at a greater speed. This is a good analogy of a data network that’s labeled “high bandwidth”. It has the potential for more users to exchange data at a higher rate.

But there’s one more qualifier to highlight before we discuss data speeds and their potential performance...

Systems are designed to have 25, 50 and up to 99 connections. That is the maximum number of devices that could connect to the system at any given time. So, if you were to picture the network as a large pizza, the more connections that are made, the smaller the slices become. And the smaller the slices, the less bandwidth is available per device.

The “ideal number of Wi-Fi users” depicted in Table A illustrates the average number of passengers on a private jet.

Table A - How Much Capability Does Your Cabin WiFi Give

Why Does Latency Matter in Jet Connectivity?

Latency refers to the time it takes for data to travel from one point to another in a network and is typically measured in milliseconds (ms). Low latency means there is minimal delay between the sender and receiver, while high latency indicates longer delays.

A good example of latency is when you are watching the news and the in-studio anchor speaks to a reporter covering an event in another country.

Often there’s a lag between the anchor’s questions and the reporter’s answers. It’s essentially the same thing when you click on a link and receive the data your requested – the arrival of the requested data may take longer, depending on how high the latency is.

While latency itself does not directly reduce the nominal data speed of a connection (Mbps), it can impact the perceived performance and efficiency of data transfers, especially in real-time and interactive applications like videoconferencing.

Therefore, while optimizing for high data speeds is important, minimizing latency is equally crucial for ensuring the passengers experience a responsive and efficient network experience.

Distance is usually the main cause of latency, especially when it comes to connectivity in Business Aviation. GEO-based satellites used in aviation are 22,500 miles above the earth's surface, so when you do a Google search the distance is multiplied by two and the signal still must go through the ground-based infrastructure.

Latency in a GEO system is typically 650-750ms. On the other hand, LEO-based satellites which have been introduced to the market in 2024 reduces the latency to 100-150ms because the Satellite constellation is only 350-500 miles above the earth’s surface.

Air-to-Ground (ATG) systems will have the lowest latency effect on data speeds because of the short distance between the aircraft and the ground towers; however ATG is only available within the United States and Canada.

In Summary...

No doubt as you are reading this article it’s easy to come away with the formula for success. By choosing the fastest system with the lowest latency rate, you’re sure have the best passenger experience, right?

Keep in mind that cabin connectivity is not a one- size-fits-all solution. The winning formula we just described will be affected by multiple factors, including:

• Where your aircraft is based. 
• Your normal flight profile for the aircraft (domestic flying, or international?). 
• Classification of the aircraft versus antenna size 
• Your budget for the hardware
• Monthly service fees 
• Your average passenger load 
• How the passengers typically utilize the system.

The introduction of LEO-based satellite systems that utilize a smaller, fuselage mounted, electronically steered antenna (ESA) will undoubtedly present a paradigm shift in the industry. GEO-based Satellite systems were limited to Super Mid-size and Large Jets owing to their large, tail mounted, mechanically steered antennas (MSA).

Now the playing field will be open to all aircraft worldwide. Many more Business Aviation passengers can experience similar connectivity to what they enjoy on the ground.

If you are considering a connectivity upgrade for your aircraft later this year or beyond, rest assured your experience will be one fit for a King. But make sure the solution you pick offers the right data rates and latency levels needed for you to function optimally aboard the plane.

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