In-flight Gogo Wi-Fi that's 10x faster is coming in 2018

Current airplane Wi-Fi sucks. It's borderline usable and very expensive. Trying to get any work done on the super slow Wi-Fi feels like you've teleported back in time to the dial-up era.

Faster in-flight Wi-Fi from Gogo Inc., the largest in-flight internet provider, is coming to U.S. airlines... in 2018, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Gogo, which has partnerships with 17 airlines and provides in-flight Wi-Fi to more than 2,700 commercial planes and 7,000 business aircraft, says it's planning to overhaul its networking equipment to deliver internet at speeds of over 100 megabits per second (mbps); existing speeds only top out at 10 mbps.

The 10x Wi-Fi speed increase would be fast enough for passengers to stream video to their mobile devices.

Faster internet speed isn't the only improvement that'll come with the networking upgrade. Because the new system will be based on wireless LTE technology instead of connecting to cellular towers located on the ground, travelers will also be able to access the internet over water, which could make long international flights more enjoyable.

Additionally, the new faster Wi-Fi will also bring in-flight usage prices down says Anand Chari, Gogo's chief technology officer.

Gogo has been forced to upgrade its aging in-flight internet equipment due to competition from ViaSat, Panasonic and Global Eagle Entertainment. These competitors all provide faster in-flight Wi-Fi connections at half the cost.

Faster in-flight Wi-Fi and lower prices is a win for consumers. It'll be two years before the upgrades will roll out to the majority of Gogo's airline partners, but just imagine being able to stream the infectious Pen Pineapple Apple Pen video or whatever viral video will be making the rounds then. The only downside is you won't be able to tell your boss you couldn't work on the plane because of the slow Wi-Fi.

Update: Gogo emailed Mashable to inform us it already offers faster in-flight Wi-Fi via its 2Ku technology, available on Delta, Aeromexico and Virgin America. A Gogo spokesperson says 2Ku in-flight Wi-Fi (100 mbps or faster) is fast enough to stream video such as Netflix. Unfortunately, there only 15 planes outfitted with 2Ku and most of them are Delta planes, which isn't much. Over 1,500 planes across 13 airlines will get 2Ku high-speed internet by 2018.

The networking upgrades to be completed in 2018 are "aimed at smaller regional jets and business jets" that are "too small too small to be outfitted with our larger 2Ku satellite antennas and need something much smaller" the spokesperson said.