How Fast is Starlink Broadband?

A recent analysis of Starlink broadband speeds from Ookla gathers huge numbers of speed tests from across the country. According to the study, the US average download speeds on Starlink have improved over the last year, from an average of 65.72 Mbps in first quarter 2021 to 90.55 Mbps in first quarter 2022. But during that same timeframe, upload speeds got worse, dropping from an average of 16.29 Mbps in first quarter 2021 to 10.70 Mbps in first quarter 2022. It’s likely that some of this change is intentional since internet service providers (ISPs) have a choice for the amount of bandwidth to allocate to download versus upload. It seems likely that overall bandwidth capacity and speeds are increasing due to the continually growing size of the Starlink satellite constellation – now over 2,500. Starlink subscriptions are climbing quickly. The company reported having 145,000 customers at the start of the year and recently announced it is up to 400,000 customers worldwide. This fast growth makes me wonder when Starlink will stop calling the business a beta test.

[Doug Dawson is president of CCG Consulting.]