Curious how the internet speeds for Starlink compare across the US and Canada? Ookla, the company behind Speedtest, has mapped out the download rates for Starlink users across North America and finds that your results may vary.
Ookla examined the median download results Starlink users logged on Speedtest.net during the first quarter of 2021.
The investigation shows that Starlink’s download speeds can vary, which aligns with Ookla's earlier findings. "In the US during Q1 2021, median download speeds from Starlink ranged from 40.36Mbps in Columbia County, Oregon to 93.09Mbps in Shasta County, California," the company says.
Interestingly, Ookla also compared the Starlink speeds against existing ground-based internet providers on a county level. In some cases, the improvement was dramatic. In Tehama County, California, for instance, Starlink has been supplying download rates that are 545.6% faster than the competition.
But in other locations, Starlink speeds have been a “disappointment,” Ookla says. In Clay County, Missouri, the service has been providing speeds 67.9% slower than rival providers. That said, Clay County—which includes Kansas City, Missouri—does have fiber internet providers. So it's probably not the best comparison to make on a county level.
In Canada, Starlink’s median download speeds ranged from 53.6Mbps in Ontario to a high of 80.6Mbps in Saskatchewan.
Ookla also compared Starlink speeds to existing providers in the country. But it's important to note that Canadian provinces are far larger than US counties, and thus encompass more competition.
“In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Starlink customers reported median download speeds 59.6% and 38.5% faster than those for all other fixed broadband providers combined. In Québec, median download speeds were nearly equal, with Starlink performing only 3.4% slower. In B.C., Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick, on the other hand, Starlink’s median download speeds were 20.9%, 24.2%, 29.5% and 40.7% slower than other fixed broadband providers, respectively,” Ookla says.
The other factor the company examined was Starlink’s latency. In general, Ookla found the median latency was almost always higher than the fixed broadband providers, which is to be expected. Starlink works by beaming the internet data from satellites in orbit to a dish at the subscriber’s home. As a result, the internet data usually takes longer to transmit compared against a fiber-optic cable or a local cellular signal.
“Median latency values on Starlink were observed from 31ms (Kittitas County, Washington) all the way up to 88ms (Otsego County, Michigan),” Ookla says. "For comparison, median latency values for all other providers combined ranged from 8ms (Fairfax County, Virginia) to 47ms (Daviess County, Kentucky).”
Nevertheless, Starlink's latency rates are drastically better than other satellite internet providers. In November, Ookla provided data to PCMag that showed rivals HughesNet and Viasat's Exede averaged 728ms and 643ms in latencies.
Starlink is also still in beta, and thus a work in progress. However, the satellite internet service is promising it'll only get faster over time. For example, SpaceX plans on upgrading the service's download rates to 300Mbps later this year. Whether those speeds can be sustained in regular daily use is another matter, though. The company is also eyeing 1Gbps and then 10Gbps speeds once SpaceX has refined the technology and launched more satellites into orbit.
"(Elon) Musk’s Starlink experiment is certainly fascinating and we applaud any effort to get better service for rural residents," Ookla writes in the blog post. "That said, it’s clearly early days for Starlink. We’ll be watching to see how performance improves as more satellites are launched and as more users join the service."
(Disclosure: Ookla is owned by PCMag parent company, Ziff Davis.)