For the third quarter in a row, download speeds have dropped for SpaceX’s Starlink system in the US and Canada, according to Ookla’s Speedtest.com data.
In Q3, the median download rate for Starlink subscribers in the US fell to 53Mbps, a decrease from 62.5Mbps in Q2. In Canada, the Q3 median download speeds reached only 65.8Mbps, down from 75.7Mbps.
The new data from Ookla, which was published on Wednesday, highlights the ongoing congestion issues facing Starlink. Back in Q4, the median download rate for the satellite internet system topped 100Mbps, amid signs the broadband quality was only going to improve.
But since then, the download speeds for Starlink have fallen due to an influx of new customers, which has stretched the system’s network capacity. In some cases, users in the US have seen their download rates plummet to under 5Mbps, well below the advertised speeds for the service.
In its report, Ookla notes: “Over the past year, as we’ve seen more users flock to sign up for Starlink (reaching 400,000 users worldwide during Q2 2022), speeds have started to decrease.”
In addition, the latency for Starlink has been increasing to 67 milliseconds in the US and 77ms in Canada. However, Ookla says upload speeds for both the US and Canada have remained largely unchanged at 7.2Mbps and 9.2Mbps, respectively.
To address the congestion issues, SpaceX will start enforcing a high-speed data cap for users in the US and Canada starting next month. This will involve potentially throttling customers’ internet speeds once they exceed a 1TB monthly cap. To receive more high-speed data, subscribers can pay $0.25 per GB or simply settle for “basic access.”
On top of all this, SpaceX has also decreased the advertised speeds for Starlink. Expected download rate for residential Starlink subscribers can now range between 20 to 100Mbps, a significant downgrade from the original 50 to 200Mbps speeds.
To address the congestion issues over the long-term, SpaceX is working to launch a second-generation Starlink network, which will span nearly 30,000 satellites. The company still needs approval from the FCC, but it's facing objections from rival companies, environmental organizations, and some astronomers.
Disclosure: Ookla is owned by PCMag parent company Ziff Davis.