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Elon Musk’s Starlink internet speed drops as subscribers grow

North Korea conducts 'final-stage test' for spy satellite: state media
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Elon Musk’s low-cost satellite internet service Starlink is rapidly expanding, from Antarctica to Royal Caribbean cruise ships, but its speed has decreased in almost all countries where it operates as more people use it.

According to a new report from network intelligence firm Ookla, median download speeds for Starlink fell between Q2 2021 and Q2 2022 in Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, the UK, and the US, falling between 9% and 54% as more users signed up for the service.

Starlink’s data upload speeds have also slowed, with speeds decreasing across the board.

However, during Q2, Starlink achieved a median download speed of at least 60 Mbps in North America, which is more than enough for at least one connected device to do most everything on the internet, including streaming video, downloading games, and video chatting with friends and family.

Satellite connectivity is coming to mobile, thanks to Starlink’s new partnership with T-Mobile and new satellite-enabled mobile devices.

Starlink isn’t stopping there; they’re also looking to expand into airplanes, cruise ships, and automobiles.

“But they’re not the only satellite provider making moves; Viasat is launching its Viasat-3 fleet, OneWeb is combining business with Eutelsat, and Amazon is sending 3,236 Project Kuiper satellites into orbit,” said the report.

Starlink latency performed slightly better, remaining relatively flat (though high when compared to fixed broadband) in most countries.

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire, announced this week that Starlink, his rocket company’s satellite Internet division, is now operational on all continents, including Antarctica.

He also stated that “another batch with lasers reaches orbit” after the company confirmed the deployment of 54 Starlink satellites.

Starlink can provide speeds ranging from 50 to 200 Mbps.

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Jike Eric

Jike Eric has completed his degree program in Chemical Engineering. Jike covers Business and Tech news on Insider Paper.







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