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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday August 15 2020, @05:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the not-too-shabby dept.

SpaceX Starlink speeds revealed as beta users get downloads of 11 to 60Mbps:

Beta users of SpaceX's Starlink satellite-broadband service are getting download speeds ranging from 11Mbps to 60Mbps, according to tests conducted using Ookla's speedtest.net tool. Speed tests showed upload speeds ranging from 5Mbps to 18Mbps.

The same tests, conducted over the past two weeks, showed latencies or ping rates ranging from 31ms to 94ms. This isn't a comprehensive study of Starlink speeds and latency, so it's not clear whether this is what Internet users should expect once Starlink satellites are fully deployed and the service reaches commercial availability. We asked SpaceX several questions about the speed-test results yesterday and will update this article if we get answers.

[...] Beta testers must sign non-disclosure agreements, so these speed tests might be one of the only glimpses we get of real-world performance during the trials. SpaceX has told the Federal Communications Commission that Starlink would eventually hit gigabit speeds, saying in its 2016 application to the FCC that "once fully optimized through the Final Deployment, the system will be able to provide high bandwidth (up to 1Gbps per user), low latency broadband services for consumers and businesses in the US and globally." SpaceX has launched about 600 satellites so far and has FCC permission to launch nearly 12,000.

[...] Although the Ookla speed-test latencies for Starlink don't hit Musk's target of below 20ms, they are below the FCC's 100ms threshold. For competitive online gaming, Ookla says players should be in "winning" shape with latency or ping of 59ms or less, and "in the game" with latency or ping of up to 129ms. The 35 best cities in the world for online gaming have ping rates of 8 to 28ms, an Ookla report last year said.

Latency tests are affected by the distance between the user and the server. The Ookla tests revealed on Reddit showed the tests going to servers in Los Angeles and Seattle; SpaceX's beta tests are slated for the northern US and southern Canada, but a Stop the Cap story says that testers so far are in rural areas of Washington state only.


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Saturday August 15 2020, @08:19PM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday August 15 2020, @08:19PM (#1037224) Journal

    The target market for Starlink isn't municipal.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 15 2020, @08:22PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 15 2020, @08:22PM (#1037226)

    If it proves successful and grows in scale, the cost will come down.

    Air travel didn't start out for the lowly plebes, either.