Starlink has been live in Devon for 18 months now, we’ve installed loads of Starlink systems over that time and thought it would be a good idea to give you a relatively impartial overview of the system and it’s strengths and weaknesses.
I’m sure most of you who have found yourselves reading this post already know what Starlink is. If you don’t it’s a high-speed satellite broadband service provided my Elon Musk’s SpaceX (https://spacex.com). The plan is to have 40,000 satellites orbiting the earth at 8Km per second beaming internet to every corner of the globe that doesn’t have a tree in the way. Back on earth the signal is received by a Starlink dish attached to your property. Unlike previous generations of satellite broadband it’s actually usable!!
We haven’t had a single complaint regarding service. Impressive stuff.
If there wasn’t a whacking great tree in the way I’d have it at my house.
Is Starlink reliable?
Overwhelmingly yes! There have been a few occasions of outages, but these have been fairly short compared to getting Openreach out to repair a phone line.
What does it cost?
There is a downside to all of this lovely internet. Starlink isn’t cheap. launching 40,000 satellites is understandably expensive. Monthly subscriptions are currently £89 a month and they will charge you £500 for the very sleek looking dish and router. Then you’ll have to get it installed by a professional. (If you’re in Devon we can help! Click here)
Is it FAST?
Yes!!!
100-350Mbps download depending on which satellite is whizzing past. Latency of 30-40m/s which is good news for online gamers. Upload speeds are fairly respectable with a stable 20-30Mbps. Perfect for those long Zoom meetings we all love.
Pro’s
- 100-300 Mbps download speeds with the promise of 1.6Gbps in the future
- 20Mbps upload speed
- Lo-latency 20-40 m/s ping
- Fast broadband with no phone line
- No minimum contract date
- If there wasn’t a whacking great tree in the way I’d have it at my house
Cons
- Expensive equipment
- High monthly cost
- Must have clear sight of north facing sky