(Credit: Nndanko via Getty Images)
SpaceX's Starlink is imposing a severe speed cap for customers on the Priority plan that can throttle their internet speeds down to 1Mbps.
The company updated Starlink.com and sent out emails about the changes, which include removing access to “Unlimited, Standard Data.” Instead, SpaceX is instituting a hard cap once a Priority user exceeds their monthly data allotment. The satellite internet service will then reduce download speeds to 1Mbps or less for downloads and 0.5Mbps or less for uploads
(Credit: Starlink.com)The Priority plan debuted in 2023 as a way for customers to receive the fastest speeds at a consistent rate in exchange for a higher price. For example, a US user could pay $140 per month for 40GB of priority data. Importantly, once the priority data was used up, the customer could still receive relatively fast broadband through Starlink, but at slower “standard” speeds.
It looks like SpaceX is taking things further by establishing a hard speed limit. However, 1Mbps is unusable for regular internet needs.
SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The company is marketing the Priority plan to business customers, who usually have higher budgets. In an email explaining the changes, SpaceX signaled it wants to push Priority customers to spend more to buy blocks of 50GB or 500GB of priority data once their cap is exceeded.
(Credit: Reddit user SuperDupednerd)“If you run out of your included monthly Priority data and have not opted-in to be automatically charged for additional blocks of data, your speeds will be reduced to approximately 1 Mbps download and 0.5 Mbps upload,” the company noted.
The official Starlink website also says it'll charge $25 for each 50GB of extra data used on a local priority plan. Users only have to pay $125 if they bulk buy 500GB of additional priority data.
(Credit: Starlink.com)Starlink users on the Residential and Roam plans don't need to worry; they can continue to receive unlimited data at regular speeds under the service’s fair use policy. In the meantime, many consumers on the Priority plan have taken to social media to complain.
"Guess I’ll swap back to residential,” wrote one user on Reddit. Others say they subscribed to the Priority plan because it lets you set up a public IP address, making it useful for businesses or developers wanting to host a server. “I just needed a public IP. Now there are zero, null, nihil, oh, reasons for me to pay for a priority service… I’ll change to residential,” another user said.
Still, some users are having trouble switching from Priority to the Residential tier due to the lack of network capacity, forcing them to consider the pricier Roam Unlimited tier.
In addition to the speed cap, SpaceX has also changed pricing for the Priority plans, mainly increasing them by $40 or $150. Only the base “local priority 50GB plan” has been reduced to $65 per month; it previously started at $140. Another change is that SpaceX has split the Priority plans into "Local Priority" and "Global Priority," which is suited for business customers wanting to use Starlink globally or even on the seas.