Elon Musk's satellite internet got faster over the summer.
Elon Musk's satellite internet got faster over the summer
Folks who are tired of relying on underground cables for fast internet might finally have a good alternative.
In general, the kind of fixed broadband internet that powers much of the United States — you know, internet that uses cables and whatnot — is still the best way to go online. Starlink's growing satellite internet network, operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX, is starting to catch up.
Speedtest released its second quarterly report of 2021 measuring Starlink's median download speeds and latency for its growing customer base of about 90,000 users, and the trends are promising. [Note: Speedtest and Mashable are both owned by the same parent company, Ziff Davis.] For the first three months of the year, the median download speed for Starlink internet in the U.S. was 65.72Mbps. Now, just a few months later, that's ballooned to 97.23Mbps.
If you're curious how that compares to other satellite internet providers in the U.S., Speedtest says competitors HughesNet and Viasat came in at 19.73Mbps and 18.13 Mbps, respectively. That's...a significant margin between first and second place. That said, fixed broadband still reached a higher nationwide median speed of 115.22Mbps, so there's still a ways to go before Starlink is really neck-and-neck with more traditional internet connections.
Latency is one area where Starlink still needs to make serious strides to compete with fixed broadband, unfortunately. For those not in the know, latency is a measurement of network responsiveness in milliseconds. High latency causes lag in online video games and video calls, to give a couple of common everyday examples. Starlink's median latency came in at 45ms, well below the fixed broadband equivalent of 14ms. By contrast, HughesNet and Viasat measured in the hundreds in this regard, so it's still an improvement.
There doesn't seem to be a quick and easy explanation as to why Starlink's speeds jumped so much between Q1 and Q2, but it's reasonable to assume increased deployment and ongoing maintenance have caused the network to settle in and improve over time.
Starlink recently outlined plans to launch newer, more advanced satellites that should, in theory, improve upon the metrics listed above. So anyone looking to boost their internet signal in rural areas should keep an eye on that in the months ahead. Whether or not you feel that's worth the amount of satellite pollution Starlink is creating is up to you.
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They don't cover our area, and anyway, it costs a hell of a lot of money monthly, and for the installation!
ReplyDeleteKannattaako verorahoilla tukea laajakaistaa joka paikkaan Suomessa ? ”For the first three months of the year, the median download speed for Starlink internet in the U.S. was 65.72Mbps. Now, just a few months later, that's ballooned to 97.23Mbps.”
ReplyDeleteReally c an’t wait
ReplyDeleteElon Musk's #satellite internet looks like a real contender.
ReplyDelete@ElonMusk #internet
When @VoiceLife_inc @SpaceX @StarlinkUpdates @Fueled_by_Verge @vergecurrency ?? 👀🚀😃😜🛰🛰
ReplyDelete''Starlink internet in the U.S. was 65.72Mbps. Now, just a few months later, that's ballooned to 97.23Mbps.'' is progress no?
ReplyDelete“SpaceX also emphasized to the FCC its plans to begin launching Starlink satellites with its massive Starship rockets”
ReplyDeleteThis is massive, >400 Starlink satellites per launch. With this announcement competitors like OneWeb and Project Kuiper are toast.
New Glenn will be here soon and beat starlink with Kuiper! /s /j
DeleteHahaha, you wish. Anyway, I wish BO the best of luck but ain't no one stopping SpaceX and Starlink. Come to think of it. Amazon didn't award Kuiper’s first 10 launches to BO.
DeleteMaybe they know something we don't know.
/s = sarcasm
DeleteWhy cant starlink go public?
ReplyDeleteI need some starlink shares
DeleteMuch Wow #doge #dogecoin
ReplyDeleteMy cousin got it and said it works well. Live on a road with few houses that is a suburb of Charlotte NC. Phone and cable wanted 5 figures to run a new line. Mind boggling how close they are to a major metropolitan and how big this could be for rural America.
ReplyDeleteSome starlink customers in the South Island, New Zealand have reported 1.3Gigabit speed. What speed is the starlink equipment? 2.5, 5, 10 Gigabit?
ReplyDeleteAiming for 10 eventually..
DeleteIt’s prices are a bit high still. Spectrum is still beating them. Hopefully they will be able to compete with spectrum eventually so we can say buy buy no I mean by by. ;) Too many price increases with them.
ReplyDeleteWe have major connectivity issues in Iran, and the government is promising to make it worse.
ReplyDeleteDo you know if it can work here or no? Obviously without government approval.
Its just too bad its not available in the northern hemisphere for customers who actually need it yet. Best I have available where I live is 10 mbps, but people i know with starlink already had access to high speed from other companies. frustrating.
ReplyDeleteHere in Germany many people are happy about it, because the floodings destroyed the connection. Starlink can keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThis is great. I’m curious to know the % of world’s population (7.9B) best suited for Starlink (ie more rural areas around the globe) versus 5G (ie city/dense)?
ReplyDeleteI was excited for starlink living in the country but will have symmetrical gigabit fiber for $79/mo by next year to get off xfinity @ $125/mo for 250/12. But the Pacific Ocean and bandwidth is a big problem for starlink…
ReplyDeleteIt will literally change the world for us rural folks. Remote work from anywhere, no longer confined to the cities/burbs with decent broadband.
ReplyDeleteTotally changed internet for my household. Been running solely on Starlink for the last two weeks and my speeds are over 4x what my traditional ISP gave me.
ReplyDeleteI want to see what the experience is like when they have millions of users sharing that bandwidth.
ReplyDelete400 satellites at once? Only 4 launches would bring about the same number of satellites that are at the orbit right now! Just Wow!
ReplyDeleteStarlink is far better than our local provider super excited to be part of the beta
ReplyDeleteI’m curious when mine is going to come. Sent the pre order in back in Feb.
ReplyDeleteWe are waiting for Starlink Kit ♥‿♥
ReplyDeleteShort viasat?
ReplyDeleteAre we able to cooperate with starl?
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed my invite is forthcoming!
ReplyDelete