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Escaping the internet used to be easy.

Hopping on a long haul flight mean't you could forget about your emails, tweets and updating your Facebook profile.

But times are changing.

With new state-of-the-art jets being fitted with WiFi, passengers can now access the web at 35,000 feet.

Daily Star Online recently took a flight across the atlantic and, with our laptop powered up, decided to put this in-flight internet to the test.

The results shocked us.

(Image: DAILY STAR ONLINE) (Image: DAILY STAR ONLINE)

Our flight, onboard one of Boeing's new Dreamliners, took us from from San Francisco to London and our expectations of WiFi in the sky were pretty low.

But having logged in, we found ourselves able to hit the web at decent speeds with the signal staying strong for most of the 5,300 mile journey.

To see just how good the WiFi was we performed a number of speed tests throughout the flight.

Amazingly, we rarely dipped below 7Mbps which is almost four times faster than many UK residents get from fixed broadband at home.

HOW MUCH IS IN-FLIGHT WiFi?

Many airlines including Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and Etihad offer WiFi in the sky.

British Airways is also trialling the service on some of its long haul jets.

Prices start from around £14 for 24 hours.

(Image: DAILY STAR ONLINE)

So if broadband can be pushed to this limit on a plane flying at over 500mph, why are so many Brits still lagging behind?

The Government says that they aim to provide superfast broadband (speeds of 24Mbps or more) for at least 95% of UK premises by 2017.

For the remaining homes it's been promised that speeds of at least 2Mbps will be achieved but this is still 5Mbps less than you can get on a plane.

Broadband is now an essential feature in our homes and Britain's broadband needs to be better, especially as our internet access now lags behind other countries – even the Ukraine is providing better superfast broadband.

Recent data from the Ookla online speed test showed that London's average download broadband speed ranked 26th out of 33 European capital cities.

Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which?, said: "It's not good enough that millions of homes are so poorly served by their broadband provider with speeds that just don't live up to what was advertised.

"Broadband is an essential part of life these days so people shouldn't be persuaded to buy a package which is never going to live up to expectations."

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