Ookla finds Starlink now averages over 100 Mbps

Research from Ookla finds that Starlink now averages over 100 Mbps in 15 countries.

The results, from Q4 2021, suggests that SpaceX’s satellite system continues to beat median fixed broadband speeds in most locations:

In Q3 2021, Starlink’s median download speed was 87.25 Mbps. That increased to 104.97 Mbps in Q4 2021—achieving the FCC’s “above baseline” performance tier of its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.

While the US is looking to increase satellite broadband competition, Starlink currently dominates the competition in speeds and latency.

Compared to Starlink’s 104.97 Mbps download speeds, HughesNet and Viasat achieved just 20.92 Mbps and 21.81 Mbps, respectively.

It’s a similar story with latency, historically a major problem with satellite systems.

Starlink achieves 40ms latency – viable for most applications, even multiplayer gaming – while HughesNet and Viasat have a latency of 725ms and 627ms, respectively.

Of course, the disparity in speeds and latency is due to Starlink’s use of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Most rivals currently use much higher geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellites.

You can dig into Ookla’s full report here.

(Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash)

Related: SpaceX sends more Starlink terminals to Ukraine but experts warn of targeting

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Tags: broadband, latency, Networks, ookla, report, research, satellite broadband, spacex, speeds, starlink, study