Yes, Starlink works on boats and ferries. Starlink Maritime, Starlink’s service for ships, brought higher speeds and lower prices than the old ship satellite services. But a ferry or work boat full of passengers and crew often needs more than one Starlink dish can give on its own.
Speedify is software that combines Starlink with more Starlink dishes, 4G/5G cellular or a second satellite service into one internet connection. The vessel gets faster uploads and downloads, and when one internet connection drops, Speedify switches the traffic to the others automatically. With a single Starlink dish and nothing else, Speedify works as an encrypted VPN and cannot stop it from dropping.
Speedify keeps you online when Starlink drops, wherever you are
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How Speedify combines internet connections on any hardware
Get started with Speedify for your business
Speedify offers three commercial paths. They work together, and most enterprise customers use two or more.
01
Speedify Teams
Speedify on every supported OS for every team member
Centralized dashboard for billing, user provisioning, and usage analytics
CSV import/export and a RESTful management API
02
Speedify for Routers
License for supported OpenWrt routers
Powered by Speedify hardware lineup ready to deploy out of the box
Miri, GL.iNet and other partner models
Covers every device on the network, with no per-device install
03
Embed Speedify into your product
A · DIY
Build it yourself with the Speedify SDK.
Integrate Speedify into your iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux or QNX product. Full developer documentation, sample code and supported integration paths. Your team owns the build, and the Speedify SDK handles combining the internet connections.
B · CUSTOM ENGINEERING
Have the Speedify team build it for you.
Why One Starlink Dish Isn’t Enough for a Commercial Boat
Commercial vessels face internet problems that businesses on land don’t:
- Changing coverage: cellular fades as the vessel leaves the coast, and satellite coverage varies by region
- Blocked sky: the vessel’s own structures, equipment and nearby ships can block the Starlink dish
- Weather: storms at sea weaken satellite signals
- No room for downtime: commercial boats need the internet all the time for safety, operations and crew
Starlink for boats is a big step up from older ship satellite services, with more speed and less delay. But business use often needs more than a single Starlink dish can deliver, especially when the vessel can’t afford to go offline.
How Speedify Adds to Starlink on Boats and Ferries
Routers and devices powered by Speedify combine several internet connections into one. With Speedify, vessel operators can:
- Combine internet connections: use Starlink together with more Starlink dishes, 4G/5G cellular or older ship satellite services
- Keep apps running: important apps stay connected when one internet connection weakens or drops
- Put important traffic first: Speedify’s Streaming mode gives calls and live video priority over less urgent traffic
- Spread traffic sensibly: Speedify sends data over each internet connection based on how well it’s working right now
For a ferry or commercial boat, that means a Starlink installation with Speedify stays online as conditions change, across every route the vessel runs.
Hardware Options for Starlink and Speedify on Boats
A Starlink setup with Speedify on a boat can use a few kinds of hardware.
Marine routers powered by Speedify can offer:
- Rugged hardware built for life at sea
- Several ports, one for each internet connection
- Power handling that suits a vessel’s electrical system
- Built-in cellular modems with outside antennas
- Mounts made for boats
Setups with several units suit larger vessels:
- Several Starlink dishes placed so that no single mast or structure blocks all of them
- Cellular antennas placed for the best coverage near shore
- One place to watch every Starlink dish: Speedify’s Starlink Control Center shows live status, speed, ping, obstructions, uptime and dish alerts for several Starlink dishes at once
- Spare hardware for the systems that can’t go down
With this hardware, a standard Starlink installation becomes an internet connection a business can run its daily operations on.
How Ferries, Fishing Fleets and Other Vessels Use Starlink with Speedify
Commercial fishing fleets send catch data, watch equipment, coordinate the fleet and meet reporting rules, even far out on the fishing grounds.
Ferries and cruise ships can combine Starlink with cellular near the coast, so passenger Wi-Fi and the ship’s own systems have more than one internet connection to use.
Offshore energy support vessels keep a steady internet connection to shore by combining Starlink with older ship satellite services, so important data gets through in rough conditions.
Cargo ships can use Starlink with Speedify to plan routes, report their position, send documents and stay in touch with ports and headquarters.
Emergency response teams set up Starlink quickly and combine it with whatever cellular or satellite service is nearby, so command centers keep communicating.
Speedify Is Used on Millions of Devices Worldwide
Speedify has made internet connections faster and more reliable for businesses and individuals since 2014.
15M+
Speedify downloads worldwide75K+
5-star reviews for Speedify on iOS and Android82
Speedify server points of presence in 50+ cities on 6 continents500TB+
Of internet traffic carried by Speedify every weekSpeedify Partners
Speedify works with these companies to bring faster, more reliable internet and networking technology to their customers and employees.
What a Steady Starlink Internet Connection Saves Boat and Ferry Operators
Better decisions at sea: steady internet lets the crew adjust routes and plans as they go, which can save fuel and time.
Lower internet costs: set an expensive older satellite service to Backup in Speedify, and Speedify uses it only when Starlink and cellular drop, instead of sending everything over it.
Crew who stay: reliable internet has become a big part of whether crew members stay.
Fixing problems from shore: problems that used to need a port call or a technician visit can often be fixed remotely over a steady internet connection.
Less downtime: for businesses where lost internet means lost revenue, fewer outages mean less of that loss.
Internet Options on a Boat: Cellular, Marina Wi-Fi, Satellite and Starlink
Boats have always had few internet options: 4G/5G cellular near the coast, marina Wi-Fi at the dock, and older ship satellite services (often called VSAT) offshore. Each has limits.
Cellular only works within range of towers on land, usually 20 to 30 miles from shore depending on the carrier and how high the antenna sits. Marina Wi-Fi is patchy and often crowded. Older ship satellite services have a long delay that makes video calls hard. Starlink Maritime changed that offshore, with fast internet and short delay across the main ocean routes.
For boats near the coast, using Starlink together with 4G/5G cellular through Speedify gives you both: Starlink carries you offshore, cellular adds speed near the coast, and Speedify manages both automatically. When you leave cellular range, Speedify uses Starlink. When you come back near shore, Speedify uses both again for faster uploads and downloads.
Speedify Business Solutions
Speedify Teams
Speedify for Routers
Speedify Embedded Solutions and Integrations
Add Speedify to your own app or hardware with the Speedify SDK. Your product then combines internet connections, fails over automatically when one drops, and encrypts the traffic, using the same technology as the Speedify app.