How Fast Is SpaceX's Satellite Internet? Beta Tests Show it Hitting Up to 60Mbps

As SpaceX prepares to launch Starlink, a big question facing the satellite internet service is how fast it’ll operate in the real world. 

Well, there’s actually some speed test data that shows Starlink can deliver download speeds from 11Mbps to 60Mbps. Apparently, some lucky beta users have been trying out Starlink on Ookla’s Speedtest website. (Note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com's parent company.)

As Ars Technica points out, users on Reddit have been crawling Ookla’s website and spotted about a dozen speed tests registered to Starlink. The tests, which were mostly conducted earlier this month, show the satellite internet network was able to deliver download speeds of 42.8Mbps when averaged together. 

The upload speeds, on the other hand, ranged from 4.5Mbps to 17.7Mbps. Nearly all the tests were done in Los Angeles, California, save for three, which occurred in Seattle, Washington. As for latency, the tests ranged from 20 milliseconds all the way up to 94ms. 

The speed tests are well below SpaceX’s target goal of supplying 1Gbps internet speeds. Still, many users in the Starlink forum on Reddit are pointing out even a 15Mbps download speed would be a significant improvement over the broadband they currently use. In the US, rural areas in particular have slow internet speeds, reaching 7Mbps or far lower.  

It's also important to note Starlink's satellite network remains under construction, so the speeds and latency will likely improve over time.

As for whether the speed tests are real, Ookla told PCMag: "These tests do appear to be legitimate. In general, the information about a connection that is visible to a user during a test is rigorously vetted by our QA (quality assurance) team." 

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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 on kicking off a public beta test for interested users in the coming weeks before embarking on an official launch later this year.  

To learn more about the beta tests, go to Starlink.com to sign up for the email newsletter. However, the public beta is likely going to only occur in the Washington state area. It will then launch in the northern US and lower Canada before a global rollout in 2021.

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