Between the first and second quarters of 2022, Starlink's median download speeds in the US fell from 90.6Mbps to 62.50Mbps. Starlink's median upload speed in the US went from 9.3Mbps to 7.2Mbps in the same period.
Starlink's US customers' median latency went up from 43 ms to 48 ms. Ooka has released a report on Starlink speeds around the world. According to the report, "Starlink speeds decreased in every country we surveyed over the past year as more users sign up for service." Here you can find the Q1 report.
The Q2 report points out that Starlink performance is still pretty good despite significant decreases in speeds in many countries.
Speedtest Intelligence reveals that median download speeds for Starlink fell across Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, the UK, and the US, dropping between 9 percent and 54 percent from Q2 2021 to Q2 2022 as more users signed up for the service. However, Starlink still reached a median download speed of at least 60Mbps in North America during Q2 2022, which is more than enough for at least one connected device to do most everything on the Internet including streaming video, downloading games, and chatting on video with friends and family.
Upload speeds also slowed on Starlink, with speeds decreasing across all of the countries we've tracked over the past year. Latency fared a little better with latency remaining relatively flat (though high when compared to fixed broadband) in most countries. New Zealand was the outlier, with latency dropping 23 ms. For most users, we still suspect these dips are still worthwhile for areas that have no service, slow service, or few affordable options for fast Internet.
On its website, Starlink says users should expect download speeds of 50 to 200 Mbps.
The Federal Communications Commission cited user- initiated speed tests as the reason for rejecting Starlink's application to receive almost $1 billion in broadband funding. The FCC doesn't know if Starlink can meet the grant's required speeds.
The FCC said that Starlink's speeds have been declining from the last quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2022, including upload speeds that are falling well below 20mbps. The data from the speed testing service is often used by the government.
AdvertisementStarlink's "recognized capacity constraints" are one of the reasons why the FCC is skeptical. When Starlink gets into the million user range, it will face a challenge serving everyone, according to Musk. According to Musk, Starlink had 500,000 users in 32 countries.
Starlink asked the FCC to reverse the grant decision because they said the agency lied about speed tests. As more satellites are launched, Starlink said speeds would improve. The Starlink Network will have more capacity in the future than it did at the time of the speed tests.
There are more than 3000 satellites in the sky. The internet provider has permission from the FCC to deploy over 12,000 satellites, and is seeking permission to launch tens of thousands more.
Starlink slowed down as the number of users grew. A Texas user was quoted in a July PCMag article complaining about the low download rates on his Starlink dish. There were more users complaining of slowness on the Starlink subreddit.
Despite the fact that Starlink is getting slower, the second quarter data shows that it is clearly better than Viasat and HughesNet. In the US, Viasat had a median download speed of 23.7Mbps and a median upload speed of 2.8Mbps. HughesNet had 22.6Mbps downloads, 2.5Mbps uploads, and 716 ms of Latency.
The best broadband is wireline. The median download speed in the US was 150.1Mbps, the report said.
Starlink is appropriate for people who don't have a cable or fiber connection in their home. Starlink users who are getting slower-than- expected speeds have reason to be frustrated.
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