Starlink Internet Speed: Does Starlink offer fast enough service?

Starlink promises to revolutionize rural Internet access by offering its users the kind of performance they’d typically only get from terrestrial sources like cable or fiber. This is a huge leap forward from conventional satellite systems, but it’s also a new technology, and that means it’s constantly evolving.

So what kind of Starlink internet speed results can you expect, and is Starlink true to its promises? Let’s take a closer look.

Starlink, like most ISPs, tends to be pretty vague with its promises. In the beginning it gave ranges like 100-220Mbps. Most official Starlink material now says Up to 300Mbps for downloads. Likewise, it promises up to 10Mbps for upload speed.

So does the predicted Starlink internet speed correspond to reality? Yes and no.

Starlink’s ambitious plans include covering almost every inch of our planet through a constellation of satellites. As these satellite cells fill up, rates will vary from region to region. If you live in an area with no wait lists, you’ll likely see speeds much more in line with the company’s promised literature.

In talking to some online friends who have it in an area with no waitlists, download speeds of 160-300Mbps and upload speeds of 8-15Mbps are typical, although they may still fall slightly below those during peak hours. Latency will also stay pretty close to the 25-50ms limit. But what about those waitlisted areas? Here’s where things get harder to predict.

Thankfully, I have access to a Starlink Residential plan in an area currently on the waitlist. Running some speed tests at different times of the day over the last week, I found that the average speed during off-peak hours was 100-150Mbps in my region. Sometimes it hit that sweet 200-300Mbps range, but that wasn’t often.

What about peak hours? Things drop most at a 50-120Mbps range during busiest times, like prime time. Regardless of the time of day, my upload speeds were generally between 6 and 12 Mbps. Latency was a bit more of a mixed bag, although I typically got pings of around 25-65ms.

Of course, this is only with Starlink Residential. Plans like Mobility and Business get better priority, so expect slightly higher results than Residential. As for those with Starlink Roam? This is listed as a best-effort service and sees the worst priority. While I have access to Residential through my sister, I am using Starlink Roam as my area is currently on a waitlist. As you can imagine, I see much less consistency in speed.

Because Starlink Roam can be used virtually anywhere, its speeds will vary. For me, in my waitlisted cell, I tend to get download speeds of around 20-80Mbps during most of the day. My upload speeds are much more consistent, usually around 3-9Mbps. Meanwhile, pings are usually around 25-65ms. It can really vary.

At the end of the day, no Starlink doesn’t match the speeds promised for most users. As it adds more users, there will be slowdowns. Thankfully, the company is constantly adding more satellites. This is truly meant for those who don’t have better options. For someone like me, the negatives don’t matter much.

I have had Starlink Roam for a whole year. In that time, he’s had some bad days, but has been consistently very usable. Even during the worst of times, I tend to get at least 10Mbps. I previously had Hughesnet, which promised speeds of 25Mbps. In reality, high pings made speed irrelevant. With Starlink, I rarely have any major issues with streaming or anything. And when I do, I just remember that it’s still a dozen times better than what I used to get with Hughes or (spotty) LTE coverage.

If you want to play online, you’ll typically need a ping of at least 149ms or lower. This will still have moments of lag but will be playable. In reality, for best results, you’ll want a ping of 50ms or lower. In most cases, Starlink more than lives up to it. My pings are often in the 25-50ms range. Even when it gets higher, I’ve never seen much worse than 100ms.

So yes, Starlink is capable of gaming. Just keep in mind that your actual results may be a little less impressive during peak hours. However, traditional satellite service is unable to play online. That makes this win pretty significant for Starlink.

Starlink against the competition

We’ve already mentioned that Starlink’s speeds may not be as impressive as cable or fiber networks. Those aren’t really who Starlink should be competing against. Starlink is for those who only have slower landline, satellite, or DSL wireless options. In most cases, Starlink will provide faster speeds and much better pings.