After freeing up capacity for Starlink on the West Coast, SpaceX is now doing the same for interested users on the other side of the country.
Previously, those in the eastern US had been placed on a waitlist for Starlink’s residential tier, as evidenced by the official availability map on Starlink.com. But on Friday, the map was updated to show the waitlist disappearing for many areas, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa, along with numerous pockets in the southeastern US.
At the same time, a few users formerly on the waitlist reported finally receiving invites to try Starlink. That’s good news for customers who’ve been waiting months to try Starlink, a satellite internet service that can supply users in rural and remote regions with high-speed broadband. (To bypass the waitlist, consumer have to pay more for the pricier Starlink Roam or business tiers.)
Starlink's popularity forced SpaceX to impose a waitlist for many areas in the US to prevent network congestion from degrading the service. However, last month the company began freeing up capacity, particularly on the West Coast. SpaceX also began converting some subscribers on the Starlink “Best Effort” tier to the standard residential tier, which features faster speeds.
The increased capacity occurs as SpaceX launches more satellites to power the Starlink network. Last month alone, it completed four successful launches. Over time, SpaceX also plans on consistently holding Starlink launches every week to every few days to grow the satellite network.
But even though the company is freeing up more capacity, it looks like SpaceX is still preparing to impose high-speed data caps on Starlink in the US, which will force users to pay more for faster speeds after exceeding 1TB each month. Starlink's official website still says the caps will arrive “no earlier” than this month, although no users report encountering the extra charges yet.