How Combining Starlink, Satellite and Cellular Keeps Commercial Vessels Online Offshore

Why Ship Internet Still Drops, Even with Starlink

Ship internet used to mean hard trade-offs: high prices, low speeds and frequent dropouts. Starlink changed what ship operators expect. Some problems remain:

• The ship’s own masts, cranes and equipment block the view of the sky
• Storms and heavy rain weaken the signal
• Some ocean regions have gaps in coverage
• Speeds drop at busy times, when many people share the same service
• Short drops every time the Starlink dish switches satellites, about every 15 seconds

These problems still hit navigation, weather updates, crew calls and business systems. Depending on any single provider, even Starlink, leaves the ship exposed.

How Ships Use Several Internet Connections at Once with Speedify

Instead of relying on one satellite provider, ships running Speedify use several internet connections at the same time. Speedify runs on dedicated networking devices, as an app, or inside other companies’ hardware through the Speedify SDK (a kit that lets hardware makers build Speedify into their own products). A ship can combine:

• Several satellite services: Starlink, older ship satellite systems (often called VSAT), and Iridium satellite data
• 4G/5G cellular when the ship is within range of shore
• Radio or Wi-Fi links to nearby ships
• Wi-Fi networks in port and close to shore

When one of these services drops, the ship stays online on the others. That matters most for safety systems and for the work that can’t stop while the ship is at sea.

How Speedify Secures the Data Link from Ship to Shore

Speedify encrypts all internet traffic on every internet connection the ship uses, satellite or cellular, so crew and business data stays private between ship and shore. For ship operators that must keep data on their own servers, Speedify Self-Hosted Servers run Speedify on the operator’s own servers. For private server capacity without running it yourself, Speedify Dedicated Servers give the fleet a server that nobody else shares.

What Hardware a Ship Needs to Combine Internet Connections

Speedify itself is software, but ships are hard on electronics. A permanent setup usually includes:

1. A marine-grade router running Speedify: built to handle shaking, damp air and big temperature swings.
   
2. Antennas and dishes that keep their signal while the ship moves: mounted with a clear view of the sky, so the ship’s roll and turns don’t cut the signal.
   

On that router, Speedify checks every internet connection all the time, moves traffic to the ones working best, and keeps calls and business apps going on the others when one drops.

Installation usually means mounting several antennas with a clear view of the sky, connecting them to the ship’s existing network, and setting up Speedify for the way each vessel works.

How Different Kinds of Ships Use Combined Internet Connections

Commercial shipping: Container ships can use Starlink at sea and cellular near port to keep tracking and logistics systems online, which makes live inventory tracking and maintenance planning from sea practical.

Cruise ships: Passenger ships can use Starlink together with older ship satellite services, so the ship’s own systems and guest Wi-Fi keep working when one service drops.

Offshore energy: Oil and gas platforms can keep safety monitoring, environmental reports and crew calls online on a second service when a storm weakens one satellite service.

Fishing fleets: Fishing boats can use cellular close to shore and Starlink far out to send catch data, check market prices and meet reporting rules.

Speedify Is Used on Millions of Devices Worldwide

Speedify has powered stronger Internet for millions of consumers since 2014

15M

Millions of Speedify downloads worldwide, and growing every day

5⭐️

More than 75,000 5-star reviews for Speedify in the iOS and Android app stores

82

Points of Speedify presence in datacenters around the globe

500TB

Hundreds of terabytes of fast, secure data streamed every week via Speedify

Speedify Partners

Speedify partners with these amazing organizations to deliver better internet and next-generation networking technology to their customers and employees.

What Steadier Ship Internet Is Worth to a Maritime Business

Fewer delays: Fewer dropouts mean fewer jobs held up waiting for the internet to come back.

Safety: Steady access to weather data, navigation updates and emergency communication makes the ship safer.

Crew who stay: Keeping crew is one of the maritime industry’s biggest problems, and reliable internet for calls home helps.

Smarter operations: Steady internet makes onboard sensors, maintenance planning and live monitoring practical, which isn’t possible when the internet keeps dropping.

With Speedify combining every internet connection on board, a ship stops depending on one provider, and the crew and the office on shore get an internet connection they can plan around.

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Power your OpenWRT, GL.iNET, or Miri router with Speedify and combine Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 4G, 5G, Starlink and other satellite internet connections together.

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Embed Speedify software into your app or hardware products and leverage the core channel bonding technology of Speedify in new and interesting ways.

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