Early speed test results for Elon Musk's Starlink satellite network leaked

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is currently in the process of lofting thousands of satellites into Low Earth Orbit to create the Starlink ISP,  with Elon Musk promising “fibre-like” broadband speeds.

The company currently has 597 satellites (of 12,000 in total) in orbit and is in the early testing phase as it tries to hit deadlines which would open up a massive government fund for subsidized rural broadband in USA.

Now the results of some speed tests taken by users of the network on Ookla have been uncovered by Redditors which shows speeds are somewhat lacking compared to the promises.

The speeds range from 30Mbps to 60Mbps and uploads on 5Mbps to 18Mbps, which is roughly in line with fibre to the curb, but well outside the gigabit speeds we expect from fibre.

There is better news with the latency, however, with latency ranging from 30-50 ms, with lows of 20 ms and highs of 94 ms, which is much better than the 600 ms to 2000 ms normal for old satellite networks.

Of course, we know the network is still in the very early phase of its roll-out, but these numbers will let current ISP’s breathe a sigh of relief that they will not be completely disrupted.

via ISPReview