‘Rawdogging’ is the latest viral challenge likely seen on a flight near you soon. Participants, including Premier League footballer Erling Haaland, attempt to endure a flight with minimal distractions – no phones, headphones, books or in-flight entertainment (though watching the map of the flight path is permitted). Extra points are given out for longer flights, avoiding drinks and not looking out of the window. For the rest of us (cooked doggers?), however, in-flight Wi-Fi is a blessing.
In just a few short years, the service has gone from a bored passenger fantasy to a rapidly developing $8 billion industry. As with any sector experiencing this kind of overnight growth, it's wise to take a step back and consider the ramifications – how does it work? Is it secure? And how can you best use it?
What is Airplane Wi-Fi?
Airplane Wi-Fi is a way for commercial airlines to provide internet access to their passengers during a flight, usually by connecting to terrestrial cell towers or internet satellites. While the technology has been around for decades (Boeing’s short-lived Connexion internet service debuted in 2000), it’s only become available to most airline customers in the last few years.
How Does Airplane Wi-Fi Work?
Ensuring a reliable, fast mid-air internet connection is an extremely complex process, and different airlines are taking different approaches. In general, there are two methods airlines use to provide internet to their passengers:
Air-to-ground Wi-Fi
This method works just like the Wi-Fi connection on your smartphone – the plane connects to a cell tower on the ground, via a built-in antenna on the body of the plane itself. These airplane antennae are far more powerful than those on mobile phones, so they can establish a connection with land-based cell towers even when flying at maximum altitudes and speeds. This method only provides limited internet access, however. Airlines will often advertise this as a ‘basic’ internet package that supports online messaging and simple browsing, but not streaming. Air-to-ground connections are mainly confined to short-haul and domestic flights, as they’re unfeasible for journeys that cross large bodies of water, mountain ranges or other areas without cell towers.
Satellite Wi-Fi
Instead of connecting to a ground-based tower, a receiver on the plane establishes a link with an internet satellite. This is a more expensive solution that delivers high-speed broadband internet and unrestricted online access. Airlines will often use a combination of both methods to improve coverage during their flights.
The process of installing Wi-Fi on a commercial jet is not straightforward – while airlines are racing to roll out Wi-Fi across their fleets, not every airline will offer internet on every one of their planes. As a product, it’s still in its infancy, and lost connections and slow speeds are still commonplace.
How Much Does Airplane Wi-Fi Cost?
The cost of onboard Wi-Fi depends on the airline. Some companies such as JetBlue and Turkish Airlines include Wi-Fi as standard in the price of their flight tickets. As prices for long-distance flights are already so high, customers usually expect internet to be included. The more familiar people get with in-flight Wi-Fi, the more likely it is to be an assumed service on flights. Remember when some hotels would charge extra for internet access? This is unthinkable now but was a common practice for years. Running a wireless internet network at 35,000 feet is still expensive, and even flights with ‘free’ internet will usually account for it in the overall ticket cost.
Most airlines currently advertise in-flight Wi-Fi as an upsell to the plane ticket, the same way they charge extra for bags, car hire or upgraded legroom. These are often sold as tiered packages, depending on the Wi-Fi speed required. British Airways, for example, offers unlimited free Wi-Fi for First Class passengers. All other passengers are given the option to purchase either a ‘Browse & Stream’ high-speed connection or a basic ‘Messaging’ package that allows limited Wi-Fi access.
This upselling isn’t limited to the airlines – the mobile phone carrier T-Mobile offers access to in-flight Wi-Fi on selected US airlines as a part of their mobile plans. This practice may end when in-flight Wi-Fi becomes seen as a more standard option.
In most cases, expect to pay anywhere between $5-$30, depending on the internet speed and flight duration. Wi-Fi on domestic flights usually costs around $5-$10 (at the time of writing).
Why Can’t You Use Mobile Data on an Airplane?
When you’re on land and want to make a phone call or access mobile internet, your phone sends out a signal that connects it to the nearest available mobile phone tower. The tower then converts these signals into digital data, allowing you to access the internet via your phone. In a plane, the speed of travel and distance from the ground means that it’s almost impossible for a phone to maintain a stable connection to a cell tower. This is why, even if you do leave airplane mode off during a flight, you won’t be able to establish a 4G signal anyway.
On most modern smartphones, smartwatches, laptops, and tablets, it's still possible to turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on in airplane mode. This allows you to have airplane mode on but still connect to the in-flight Wi-Fi and pair Bluetooth devices, like earbuds.
What Does Airplane Mode Do?
First, let’s address the most common misconception – there’s no evidence that turning your data on mid-flight will damage the pilot’s instruments or cause the aircraft to crash. Switching on airplane mode is more about helping people on the ground than those in the plane.
Airplane mode is a single switch that silences all external signals from a mobile device, preventing it from connecting to mobile data or Wi-Fi networks. On land, phones emit a radio signal to connect to a cell tower and join their provider’s mobile network. Mobile phones in passenger planes will attempt to reach cell towers by amplifying this signal to extreme levels, overloading the tower and reducing the available signal for customers on the ground. In some cases, this can lead to weakened or failed connectivity for customers on terra firma.
Mobile signal is almost impossible to connect to mid-flight anyway, so passengers lose nothing by switching their phones to airplane mode. They’ll also preserve battery, as their devices are no longer expending energy trying in vain to reach a cell tower. The cynical reasoning behind this is that if it were known to be a purely selfless act, fewer people would do it. So while turning airplane mode on will not affect anything on board, it’s still worth doing.
Is Airplane Wi-Fi Safe?
In-flight Wi-Fi networks may feel like a secure bubble thousands of feet above the ground, but they are subject to the same risks and breaches as terrestrial networks. Airplane Wi-Fi networks can and have been hacked. In June 2024, Australian police even arrested a man for setting up fake Wi-Fi networks mid-flight and convincing fellow passengers to 'log in' by entering sensitive personal information such as passwords for their email and social media accounts. Take the same precautions in the skies as you would on any unsecured public network: avoid sensitive sites like online banking or cloud storage services, and don’t make purchases.
Using a VPN onboard is a sensible precaution. A VPN, or virtual private network, is a software that obscures a device’s IP address and encrypts online data. This makes it harder for hackers to target a specific device and provides a layer of protection for users on public networks, such as in-flight Wi-Fi. VPNs are not anti-virus or anti-malware software however – they protect your privacy and deter hackers, but do not guarantee online safety in public Wi-Fi networks. It’s also worth noting that most VPNs operate on a monthly or yearly subscription basis. If you're only planning on using a VPN for the duration of your flight, this may not be an ideal pricing model.
What are the Alternatives to Airplane Wi-Fi?
If you absolutely need to get online mid-flight, airplane Wi-Fi is the only feasible option. As previously explained, connecting to mobile data in the skies is usually impossible. Portable dongles or Wi-Fi routers are also a no-go for the same reason that they need to establish a connection will a cell tower to operate.
If you don’t feel like rawdogging the flight, rely on the in-flight entertainment provided and remember to download as many films, albums, audiobooks or playlists as you can before travelling.
The second you land, however, you can already get online in your destination country by using a travel eSIM. These prepaid SIM profiles can be downloaded before you travel, and allow you to connect to mobile internet the second you arrive. View our eSIM data plans for 160+ countries around the world.
