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While SpaceX is preparing for Starlink, a big question for the satellite internet service is how fast it will work in the real world.
Well, there are actually some data on speed tests that show that Starlink download speeds can range from 11Mbps to 60Mbps. Apparently, some lucky beta users have visited Starlink on Ookla’s Speedtest website. (Note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, the parent company of PCMag.com.)
As Ars Technica points out, users on Reddit have scoured Ookla’s website and registered about a dozen speed tests with Starlink. The tests, which were mostly conducted this month, show the satellite internet network was able to deliver download speeds of 42.8 Mbps when they averaged together.
The upload speeds, on the other hand, ranged from 4.5Mbps to 17.7Mbps. Almost all tests were performed in Los Angeles, California, except for three, which occurred in Seattle, Washington. As for the latency, the tests ranged from 20 milliseconds to the full 94ms.
The speed tests are well below SpaceX’s goal of delivering 1Gbps internet speeds. Still, many users in the Starlink forum on Reddit point out that even a download speed of 15 Mbps would be a significant improvement over the broadband they are currently using. In the US, rural areas have particularly slow internet speeds and reach 7 Mbps or much lower.
It is also important to note that Starlink’s satellite network remains under construction, so speeds and latency are likely to improve over time.
As for the question of whether the speed tests are real, Ookla told PCMag: “These tests seem to be legal. In general, the information about a connection that is visible to a user during a test is strictly controlled by our QA ( quality assurance) team. ”
Currently, SpaceX has launched about 600 satellites in orbit to power Starlink. But the goal is to eventually launch thousands more to provide global broadband coverage. The company plans to launch a public beta test for interested users in the coming weeks before launching an official launch later this year.
To learn more about beta testing, go to Starlink.com to sign up for the email newsletter. However, the public beta is likely to occur only in the Washington area. It will then launch in the northern US and lower Canada before a global rollout in 2021.
This article was originally published here on PCMag
