SpaceX Starlink has a few issues, as expected, but users are impressed

When SpaceX opened the public beta of Starlink last month, the company told users to expect “brief periods of no connectivity at all” in the first few months. This is one of the reasons SpaceX calls this testing period the “Better than Nothing” beta.

Initial reports from Starlink beta testers confirm that users suffer from this problem to some extent. But Starlink’s overall performance won over beta testers, many of whom previously had no access to modern broadband speeds.

“Link stability is a bit tricky,” Reddit user Exodatum wrote on the Starlink subreddit yesterday. “We get big enough hops to disconnect from connection-sensitive servers every 5-10 minutes, but things like Netflix are working perfectly. We watched. Plane! like an inaugural flow and it was fabulous. “(The buffering deployed by Netflix and other streaming services can keep videos running in brief internet difficulties.)

Exodatum placed the Starlink satellite antenna / user terminal on a picnic table outside the house. Bad weather can have an effect on service. “There is heavy snow in our area, and mostly dense cover with a few breaks today,” Exodatum wrote, adding that download speeds have ranged from 10 Mbps to 30 Mbps and upload speeds from 15 Mbps to 120 Mbps.

Starlink’s speeds and reliability are expected to improve in the coming months, as SpaceX will launch more satellites and tinker with the network. SpaceX told users in beta invitation emails that ” [will] vary from 50 Mbps to 150 Mbps and latency from 20 ms to 40 ms over the next few months as we improve the Starlink system. “

“As we launch more satellites, install more ground stations, and improve our networking software, data speed, latency and availability will improve dramatically. For latency, we plan to hit 16ms to 19ms by summer 2021, ”SpaceX said in the emails.

That’s why they call it a beta

A Redditor in Montana with the BenchingServers username achieved download speeds ranging from 11 Mbps to over 100 Mbps. These tests were carried out during heavy snowfall, but BenchingServers speculated that the wide speed range had more to do with the positioning of the satellites or SpaceX testing the system.

“I really think they were testing something or I had bad satellite coverage at the time because now I’m back to 100 Mbps and above, but the storm is actually more intense,” BenchingServers wrote.

BenchingServers reported that they had to revert to 25 Mbps DSL service to skip a Zoom business meeting because “I had too much jitter”. But the user was not concerned about Starlink’s long-term performance, writing: “I really think it will be good when they fix the issues, which is why [we’re in] beta after all. “

“I would expect improvement on this front as more and more launches fill the constellation, if only because you have a choice of more angles to transmit a signal,” wrote another. Reddit user in the thread.

The occasional issues seem minor compared to the giant upgrade that Starlink provides to many DSL users. A Starlink user named Nickolas Friedrich in central Montana told PCMag that he pays CenturyLink $ 120 per month for speeds below 1 Mbps, but now gets internet speeds as high as 170 Mbps from Starlink . PCMag wrote:

Occasionally, the service will be interrupted for approximately 10 seconds. Or speeds will drop as low as 20 Mbps. This is likely due to the limited number of Starlink satellites in orbit, currently around 800. But overall, Friedrich said, the system represents a massive upgrade from its DSL provider.

“If you were to just use Starlink to watch YouTube or Netflix where they upload a buffer, you will feel like great cable internet in town,” he added. “The download also varies between 10 and 38 Mbps.”

Bad weather hasn’t been a hindrance for Starlink user Curtis Nims in Idaho. As PCMag noted, “He uploaded a YouTube video showing he was playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on the Starlink network during a heavy downpour. Despite the rain, his connection still reached 113 Mbps for downloads and 15 Mbps for uploads. “

Another beta tester from Starlink took the terminal to a national forest in Idaho and got 120 Mbps uploads, 12 Mbps uploads, and 37ms latency, as we reported last week.

Expansion to the southern United States in preparation

SpaceX charges beta users $ 99 per month, plus a one-time fee of $ 499 for the user terminal, mounting tripod, and router. SpaceX vice president Jonathan Hofeller reportedly said the company was hoping to lower the price of the equipment at some point.

The beta of Starlink could expand to the southern United States in a few months. Asked when Florida will get Starlink, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk answered, “Lower latitude states need more satellites in position, so probably in January.” So far, beta invitations have been sent to users in Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington State, and of Wisconsin. Users in Canada are expected to receive invitations as soon as SpaceX received regulatory approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission last month.

Those wishing to receive an invitation to the Starlink beta can enter their email address and mailing address on the Starlink website.