Starlink Doubled Its Speed In Two Years. It Still Doesn't Meet the FCC's Minimum

CNET

a day ago

Starlink is nearly twice as fast as it was two years ago, according to a new report from the speed test site Ookla. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)
Median download speeds from the satellite internet provider have steadily ticked up over the past few years, going from 53.95 megabits per second in 2022 to 104.71Mbps today. That's an impressive feat considering Starlink added about 5 million customers over the same period and recently passed the 6 million mark globally.
Ookla
'With Starlink's substantial increase to its median upload and download speeds and ability to deliver broadband speeds of 100/20 Mbps to nearly 20% of Speedtest users across the country, the satellite provider is becoming an increasingly attractive broadband option for many,' wrote Ookla's editorial director, Sue Marek.
Starlink accomplished that by drastically increasing its capacity. At the beginning of 2022, the company had about 1,761 satellites in orbit; today, that number stands at 7,607, according to Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer who maintains a catalog of space objects. SpaceX, the company that owns Starlink, has said it eventually hopes to have as many as 42,000 satellites in space.
It's going to need them. Recent changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program could funnel as much as $20 billion in government subsidies to Starlink for providing internet in rural areas. But many industry experts are skeptical that Starlink can add millions of new customers without sacrificing speed.
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That's a reasonable concern. Ookla's data shows that only 17.4% of Starlink customers are currently getting internet speeds that meet the FCC's definition of minimum broadband speeds: 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload. That's also a requirement to receive BEAD money.
While most subscribers are meeting the 100Mbps download speed threshold, Starlink's median upload speeds are just 14.84Mbps. Latency, or the time it takes data to get from your computer to where it's going, is also on the high side -- 45 milliseconds (ms) compared to 12ms for the country as a whole. CNET recommends around 50ms or lower for activities like online gaming.
In Oct. 2024, Maine began offering free Starlink dishes to residents in its 'hardest-to-reach locations.' I asked Brian Allenby, the senior director with the Maine Connectivity Authority, if he was concerned about Starlink hitting that 100/20Mbps benchmark in a previous interview.
"We have a very granular level of reporting through the Starlink portal, and it has all been compliant," Allenby said. "So we don't have immediate concerns about that."
A representative for Starlink did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
States that qualify for a free Starlink dish had higher speeds
The Starlink experience can vary dramatically depending on where you live. Last week, the company instituted a "demand fee" of $500 in the Pacific Northwest to combat congestion in high-use areas. In other states with more capacity available, it's giving customers the $349 satellite dish for free.
Ookla took a look at the areas where Starlink is offering free equipment and found that all of them, except West Texas and Alaska, had median download speeds over 100Mbps. South Dakota, Rhode Island and Wyoming had the highest percentage of customers meeting the 100/20Mbps benchmark, while Alaska, Mississippi and Louisiana had the lowest.