✈️ Tested on: China Southern Airlines
🛫 Route: Shanghai → Singapore
🕐 Duration: ~5 hours
📅 Date: June 2025
💰 Plan: Starter Tier – ¥159 RMB (~29 SGD / 21 USD)
In June 2025, I flew from Shanghai to Singapore with China Southern Airlines and tried their in-flight Wi-Fi. I opted for the Starter Tier, which promises internet access for the full flight at a flat rate of ¥159 RMB (~29 SGD / 21 USD).
Despite my skepticism, the service was stable throughout the entire flight—surprisingly usable for productivity tasks that don’t rely on video or real-time collaboration.
📊 Real-World Speed Test (via Cloudflare)
- Download speed: ~388 kbps
- Upload speed: ~212 kbps
- Latency: ~1.29 seconds
- Jitter: ~313 ms
- Packet loss: Not measurable (ICE timeout)
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🎓 Verdict: Usable for MBA Study
The speeds were far from impressive but more than sufficient for lightweight study workflows. I accessed course materials, completed quizzes, and followed reading assignments—all from my phone.
✅ Perfect for:
- Reading articles or PDFs
- Messanging
- Browsing course content
❌ Not ideal for:
- Zoom / Teams meetings
- Video streaming
- Large file transfers
🧠 TL;DR
If you’re flying China Southern Airlines and debating whether to pay for Wi-Fi on the Shanghai → Singapore leg, here’s my take:
For ¥159, it’s worth it if your needs are text-heavy.
Set expectations right—this is functional, not fast.