While smartphones with internet access have become indispensable for travelers these days, “au Starlink Ferry Wi-Fi,” provided by KDDI and Wire & Wireless, ensures a comfortable experience during long ferry trips.
Tokyo Kyushu Ferry operates a route between Yokosuka and Shin-Moji that takes about 21 hours, so I decided to board the “Hamayuu,” departing from Yokosuka on October 8, to see how practical it is.
au Starlink Ferry Wi-Fi is a service that installs Starlink satellite communication antennas on ferries and converts the signal into Wi-Fi, enabling high-speed internet access via smartphones on board. It is available 24 hours a day for 1,500 yen. The service is free for au users and subscribers to the au Starlink Direct plan.
To use the service, you must access the au Starlink Ferry Wi-Fi website from your smartphone, follow the on-screen instructions to download the profile (configuration file), and connect to the designated network.
Since you might not be able to connect properly and may want to check the user manual or FAQs online, it’s best to complete this task immediately after boarding, while you still have a signal from a ground-based cell tower. If you’re concerned, download the PDF user manual in advance.
Once connected, it’s incredibly smooth—you can use video streaming services like YouTube and participate in online meetings without any interruptions. While actual speeds depend in part on the number of people connected at the same time, I ran several speed tests and found that download speeds averaged around 190 Mbps and upload speeds around 15 Mbps—speeds that are more than sufficient.
On this trip, I stayed in the “Tourist A” (A43-55) room, which is the most affordable capsule-style room. The internet speeds listed above were measured right from that bed, and I really appreciated being able to connect reliably without even having to go out to the lobby. By the way, out of consideration for others, it’s best not to make loud noises, so be sure to use headphones when watching videos.
Since it’s this comfortable, I’d love to bring my laptop along and work remotely. The schedule for this trip has us departing from Yokosuka Port at 11:45 p.m. and arriving at Shin-Moji Port at 9:00 p.m. the next day, so I’d like to make the most of my time during the day.
However, at this time, the service is only available on smartphones and tablets; it cannot be accessed directly from a PC. While you can access the service from a PC by using the tethering feature on certain smartphones—such as high-end models in the Galaxy series—that have a Wi-Fi hotspot function, please note that this is not an officially supported method.
In any case, if they could extend this environment—where the internet connection is more stable than on airplanes or the Shinkansen—to PCs as well, the approximately 21-hour travel time wouldn’t be wasted at all, so I really hope KDDI and Wire & Wireless will consider offering a service for PCs.
Of course, while it depends on the wave conditions that day, whether you can work on a rocking ship also depends in part on your tolerance for motion sickness, and some people might want to enjoy a digital detox since it’s such a special cruise.
Still, being able to share your experiences on board via social media, check information about your destination, or watch your favorite videos to pass the time is only possible because of internet access. If you’ve been avoiding long-distance ferries simply because you couldn’t connect to the internet, times have certainly changed.
© Source travel watch