In early 2019, Elon Musks SpaceX was approved to release 12,000 satellites into area to create a low orbit network of satellites with an objective to bring budget friendly high speed internet to the United States and the rest of the world.
When Starlink web was initially announced, SpaceX promoted it as being faster than existing internet services. In March 2020, Elon Musk did a Q&A session at the Satellite 2020 conference and gave some more details about the service, sharing that it will be quickly enough to video game with.
” Were targeting latency below 20 milliseconds, so someone might play a fast-response computer game at a competitive level,” Musk commented.
When Musk shared on Twitter a rough timeline for private and public beta testing, the internet started expecting the outcomes of the screening and those numbers are now starting to come in.
Ars Technica first reported on a Reddit thread revealing outcomes of 11 anonymized speed tests by Starlink users, with outcomes assembled into the graphic below.
Image: Reddit user Snnackss
Beta users for Starlink satellite broadband service are supposedly seeing download speeds from 11Mbps to 60Mbps and upload speeds from 5Mbps to 18Mbps, with tests carried out with Ooklas speedtest.net tool. Ping rates ranged from 31ms to 94ms, with later reports showing latency of 21ms and 20ms. The FCC requires latencies below 100ms, while Ookla advises 59ms or lower for video gaming.
The speeds reported up until now are listed below SpaceXs original goal of using 1Gbps speeds. The speeds being shown in these early tests would be an improvement on the majority of internet services presently provided in rural locations, which was a concern for SpaceX from the start. Early this year, PC Mag reported that lots of rural areas had internet speeds of 7 Mbps or lower..
As Ars Technica mentions, beta testers were needed to sign non-disclosure contracts, so we likely will not get the complete details of beta test results right away.
To remain on top of Starlink news, go to Starlink.com to sign up for the newsletter..
Did you know we now have a FREE app for iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire? Click HERE to download our app.
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more news, ideas, and evaluations. Required cable cutting tech support? Join our Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for assistance.
Jess Barnes.
Jess Barnes went to Edinboro University and invested years operating in nonprofit before using up freelance writing in 2012. Jess has been working for Cord Cutters News because 2017.
Ping rates ranged from 31ms to 94ms, with later reports showing latency of 21ms and 20ms. The FCC needs latencies listed below 100ms, while Ookla suggests 59ms or lower for gaming.
The speeds reported so far are below SpaceXs original goal of using 1Gbps speeds. The speeds being shown in these early tests would be an enhancement on most internet services currently offered in rural locations, which was a top priority for SpaceX from the beginning.
