A Starlink user terminal in the snow. Image: Steve Golson / YouTube
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)’s satellite internet service Starlink continues to deliver lightning-fast download speeds to its users. Starlink is currently in its beta rollout phase, and users across the United States have signed up for the service. The internet test results of the service Wccftech received show that although Starlink still performs better than its competitors, HughesNet and Viasat, the speed still varies; an event that reflects the beta nature of the deployment.
Starlink Delivers Leading Download Speed for California Users
Thanks to a reader from Sonoma County, California, who was kind enough to give us the results of his Internet speed test results for SpaceX’s service, we can briefly look at what the service can currently provide.
The results show a fluctuating level of scores, the bottom of which is still starting higher than what SpaceX’s competitors offer. Data from PCMag in October last year revealed that HughesNet and Viasat were able to deliver the average download speeds of ~ 20 Mbps and ~ 25 Mbps respectively.
Starlink, on the other hand, more than doubled HughesNet’s download speed to the lowest score of our California reader. Of the six results we share, the lowest download speed for SpaceX’s satellite internet was 44 Mbps – which also increased to 46 Mbps and 47 Mbps in the following tests.
In details that SpaceX shared with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in October, the company revealed that the average download speed for the service stood at 80 Mbps and rose from 43 Mbps in September.
Although the 40Mbps range is the lowest point of today’s test results, the high-end reflects the results we discussed earlier. A Montana user, for example, shared his test results in January this year with a download speed of 190 Mbps. This result was surpassed by Seattle and New York earlier this week, which reported download speeds of 230 Mbps and 240 Mbps respectively.
The highest download speed our user was able to achieve was 200 Mbps, which is consistent with what others also reported. All of these tests were performed on an Apple iPad Mini and the test with the highest score was done approximately four days after the first five tests.
SpaceX markets Starlink as a service that promises to bring Internet connectivity to rural and other underserved regions of the United States. Unlike other satellite internet providers, the company plans to operate thousands of small satellites in the Low Earth orbit (LEO). It is one of the lowest orbits of a spacecraft, and the company’s decision is influenced by the desire to reduce the latency (the time required for a signal to move to and from a user terminal) and to quickly uproot the spacecraft. in case they do not work.
For the latter front, the company has also signed an agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) whereby the two will share data for NASA and Starlink satellite parameters to prevent accidents. SpaceX will also work with the space agency to adjust its satellite launch schedules to ensure an orbit that does not overlap with NASA’s manned and unmanned missions.
The company is also fighting inside the halls of the FCC to get approval for its third Starlink amendment. This amendment proposes lowering the satellite heights and changing the angle of the ground station – changes that SpaceX’s competitors such as Amazon and DISH have argued by claiming that it will significantly affect their services.