(Credit: Tarcisio Schnaider/Getty Images)
Download rates for Starlink in the US might be on the rise, following a year of largely stagnant speeds for the satellite internet service.
During Q3, median download rates for Starlink in the US hit 64.5Mbps, according to Ookla’s Speedtest data, "a marginal decline quarter on quarter," Ookla says.
Still, it's a small improvement over 2022 numbers; median downloads were at 59.85Mbps in December 2022. And median download rates are showing "strong increases" this quarter, moving from 70Mbps to 79Mbps between September and November 2023.
(Credit: Ookla)Ookla reports the numbers as SpaceX works to expand Starlink. In September, the company reported that Starlink now serves over 2 million customers, up from a million in December 2022.
Signing up new customers risks straining capacity, which has resulted in slower speeds for some US users. Indeed, in Q4 2021, the median download rates for Starlink topped 100Mbps in the US, according to Ookla. So to improve capacity, SpaceX has launched hundreds of additional satellites into space.
Speeds have yet to return to 100Mbps. Nevertheless, Ookla says SpaceX is “successfully managing to balance capacity and demand,” citing the marginal speed improvements, which have also included better upload and latency quality.
(Credit: Ookla)
(Credit: Ookla)“Median upload performance continues to track upwards, hitting 9.72Mbps, while median multi-server latency reached a low of 60ms,” Ookla said. The company added that “almost 60% of Speedtest Starlink samples were recorded in urban locations in the US,” even though Starlink is designed mainly for users in rural and remote areas, where access to high-speed broadband can be limited.
Starting in August, SpaceX itself also began publishing its own speed test data for Starlink through the company’s official website. The most recent data suggests users in the eastern parts of the US are encountering slower download speeds ranging from 35Mbps to as high as 120Mbps. Meanwhile, subscribers in California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona have been receiving speeds from 61Mbps to as high as 172Mbps.
(Credit: Starlink.com)To improve Starlink’s broadband quality, SpaceX is also preparing to sell a new “Gen 3” Wi-Fi 6 router for the service, along with a larger “standard” dish.
Disclosure: Ookla is owned by PCMag parent company Ziff Davis.