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As SpaceX prepares to launch Starlink, a big question for satellite internet service is how fast it will perform in the real world.
Well, there is actually speed test data that shows Starlink can provide download speeds ranging from 11Mbps to 60Mbps. Apparently, some lucky beta users have tried Starlink on Ookla’s Speedtest website. (Note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, the parent company of PCMag.com.)
As Ars Technica points out, Reddit users crawled Ookla’s website and spotted a dozen speed tests recorded on Starlink. Tests, most of which were carried out earlier this month, show that the satellite Internet network was capable of delivering download speeds of 42.8 Mbps on average.
Download speeds, on the other hand, ranged from 4.5 Mbps to 17.7 Mbps. Almost all of the tests were performed in Los Angeles, California except for three, which took place in Seattle, Washington. Regarding latency, the tests ranged from 20 milliseconds to 94 ms.
Speed tests fall well short of SpaceX’s target of delivering internet speeds of 1 Gbps. Still, many users of the Starlink forum on Reddit point out that even a download speed of 15 Mbps would be a significant improvement over the broadband they currently use. In the United States, rural areas in particular have slow internet speeds, reaching 7 Mbps or much less.
It’s also important to note that Starlink’s satellite network remains under construction, so speeds and latency will likely improve over time.
As to whether the speed tests are real, Ookla told PCMag, “These tests appear to be legitimate. In general, information about a connection that is visible to a user during a test is rigorously verified by our QA team. (quality assurance). . ”
Currently, SpaceX has launched around 600 satellites into orbit to power Starlink. But the goal is to launch thousands more to provide global broadband coverage. The company plans to launch a public beta test for interested users in the coming weeks before embarking on an official launch later this year.
To learn more about beta testing, go to Starlink.com to sign up for the email newsletter. However, the public beta will likely only happen in the Washington state area. It will then be launched in the northern United States and in Lower Canada before a global deployment in 2021.
This article originally posted on PCMag here
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