Starlink speeds dip as more people flock to the satellite Internet service

[Shawn Knight]

Why it matters: Starlink Internet service is becoming increasingly popular among consumers seeking satellite connectivity as an alternative to traditional Internet service providers or in underserved / unserved regions. That is great news for SpaceX but the increased signups are having a negative impact on the platform's speed.

According to the latest data from web testing firm Ookla, median download speeds for Starlink fell in France, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the UK and the US from the second quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2022. The dip ranged in severity from between nine percent and 54 percent.

In the US, the media download speed was just north of 60 Mbps. Ookla said that is more than enough for at least one connected device to perform common tasks on the Internet like download games, stream video, and video chat with friends and family.

Among North American regions, Puerto Rico registered the fastest Starlink download speed with a median of 112.22 Mbps. Mexico had the highest Starlink media upload speed at 14.48 Mbps.

It is not just downloads that slowed. Ookla said upload speeds decreased across every country they have tracked over the last year. Latency mostly remained flat year over year, and they are slower than what you would get with a traditional fixed broadband connection for obvious reasons.

Last month, T-Mobile announced a partnership to use Starlink satellites to blanket the US with text message coverage. Beta testing is expected to start by the end of 2023 in select regions. Cruise ship giant Royal Caribbean also announced plans to become the first in the industry to adopt Starlink's technology. Royal is already in the process of installing the tech on all Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises ships, along with all new vessels for each brand.

Apple, meanwhile, partnered with rival Globalstar to power its Emergency SOS via satellite service on new iPhones. The feature, which will be free for the first two years, is expected to debut in November.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/96073-starlink-speeds-dip-more-people-flock-satellite-internet.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Curious to hear how all the satellites damaged or lost to that last solar flair affected the over all speed, especially if there is a lot of satellite to satellite transmission .....

 

[Lounds]

Well this is disappointing and doesn't bode well for when they go Public. It would be significantly cheaper to put 5G masts everywhere than send these satellites into orbit.

 

[Steve]

Well this is disappointing and doesn't bode well for when they go Public. It would be significantly cheaper to put 5G masts everywhere than send these satellites into orbit.

Hello person not from Australia.

 

[Lounds]

Hello person not from Australia.

Hello from the United Kingdom. Point proven just won't be competitive enough within Europe as a whole but I get it'll work wonders for a large land mass like Australia or parts of Africa, South America and Asia, where there's lots of remote towns and villages.

 

[VitalyT]

Wait till Russia starts shooting them down...

 

[toooooot]

4k streaming is a bad thing for the dream of providing internet to all corners of the earth.

 

[Gastec]

Wait till Russia starts shooting them down...

Wait till they start falling down on Russian cities.

 

[Endymio]

It would be significantly cheaper to put 5G masts everywhere than send these satellites into orbit.

You wish to paper the Rocky Mountains, the Sahara Desert, and the Pacific Ocean with 5G towers every 300 meters? There are quite a few people who don't live in cities ... worldwide, there are several million yachters alone who currently have no good Internet alternative except when docked.

Wait till they start falling down on Russian cities.

The satellites are small, and designed to burn up when they deorbit. You can already find videos of this happening online.

 

[p51d007]

Well this is disappointing and doesn't bode well for when they go Public. It would be significantly cheaper to put 5G masts everywhere than send these satellites into orbit.

Not to mention the "orbital debris" even if some of them don't deorbit or break up before they deorbit.
Heck, look at a "map" of the junk floating around our planet, looks like a SHIELD to prevent aliens from attacking. LOL

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Hello person not from Australia.

Or america. Here in the midwest it's flat, yet just 20 minutes from the major city enter there is 0 cell reception for roughly 3 counties, all of which have towns and a highway. Most still rely on landlines....

 

[netman]

"Network congestion could become a long-term problem for Starlink"

There is another long term problem that comes and goes: Bad Weather...!

 

[defaultluser]

"Network congestion could become a long-term problem for Starlink"

There is another long term problem that comes and goes: Bad Weather...!

Both out in space, and also terrestrially:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...-40-spacex-satellites-out-of-orbit-180979566/

Luckily these things are relatively cheap to replace (compared to any other satellite system), but means they are overloading the rest until they can catch back up (thanks to unscheduled rapid termination)

 

[tkabou]

Curious to hear how all the satellites damaged or lost to that last solar flair affected the over all speed, especially if there is a lot of satellite to satellite transmission .....

Well, if you hear about solar flares in the media before they're going to hit, it's a safe bet it's either a FF they're planning, or it's fabricated nonsense. Has ANYONE ever experienced a Solar Flare in their region - honest question?

 

[unf0rgiving]

Well this is disappointing and doesn't bode well for when they go Public. It would be significantly cheaper to put 5G masts everywhere than send these satellites into orbit.

A few things to keep in mind...

Those cellphone towers need some sort of "backhaul" connection to the internet. You cannot just put up a cellphone tower/masts everywhere without a connection.

That backhaul connection can even be a satellite connection.

If that backhaul connection is terrestrial, and you want 5G, it MUST have a 10Gbps capacity at the very least. So E1/T1/DSL/landlines cannot qualify.

Find out for yourself how much it costs to place fiber in a rural area... you would be surprised... then do that for every 5-20 mile radius... with differing land features.

Good luck with your idea.

 

[unf0rgiving]

You wish to paper the Rocky Mountains, the Sahara Desert, and the Pacific Ocean with 5G towers every 300 meters? There are quite a few people who don't live in cities ... worldwide, there are several million yachters alone who currently have no good Internet alternative except when docked.

The satellites are small, and designed to burn up when they deorbit. You can already find videos of this happening online.

That guy will think you can put 5G towers on oceans and it will be cost-effective

 

[DigitaloLIVIA]

Tesla is one of the best Brands.
Kudos to Star Link.