According to Speedtest data gathered from users in Canada and the United States, the SpaceX Starlink beta test speeds can be both good and bad, but the latency numbers aren’t good, yet, especially in Canada.
Ookla, which is well known for its internet Speedtest website and app, has posted to its blog data from its Speedtest Intelligence gathering unit which shows how Starlink compares to traditional Internet Service Providers (ISP) with respect to download and upload speeds and latency.
The good: download speeds
With respect to speed tests, the data is mixed as you might expect for a beta service. SpaceX is still launching satellites and the Starlink constellation, even with nearly 1400 active satellites in orbit, still does provide full coverage. And it’s important to understand that context here when looking at the data provided. So speed tests can sometimes be blazingly fast, and at other times slower than their terrestrial competitors.
“Starlink’s Q1 2021 median download speeds in Canadian provinces showed a smaller range than in the U.S. with a low of 53.61 Mbps in Ontario and a high of 80.57 Mbps in Saskatchewan. Percentage difference when compared to all other fixed broadband providers also showed a narrower range. In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Starlink customers reported median download speeds 59.6% and 38.5% faster than those for all other fixed broadband providers combined. In Québec, median download speeds were nearly equal, with Starlink performing only 3.4% slower. In B.C., Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick, on the other hand, Starlink’s median download speeds were 20.9%, 24.2%, 29.5% and 40.7% slower than other fixed broadband providers, respectively.”
The bad: latency
“A reasonable latency is critical to effective internet use. If your latency is too high, you might be the one on the video call with the tinny voice who’s answering questions when the conversation’s already moved on. If you’re a gamer, you already know that latency can cause your characters to stutter-step around at critical moments. Starlink plans to use low-Earth orbit satellites with laser links to radically decrease latency in rural areas. What we’re seeing so far, though, is that Starlink’s latency is higher than the alternatives, often much higher.”
“In Canada, Starlink’s latency was higher in all provinces surveyed during Q1 2021. With median latency values from 34 ms (B.C.) to 61 ms (Saskatchewan), Starlink’s latency was 209.1% to 369.2% higher than that of all other providers combined.”
Traditional ground based ISP’s shouldn’t get too excited yet though. Slow latency was expected at the outset. SpaceX has stated that as the full constellation comes online and ground stations are built they expect latency to decrease and be comparable, if not better than ground based IPS’s. And let’s not forget there are no active ground stations in Canada yet.
Of note, as you read the Ookla quotes and look at the data maps you’ll notice they include Quebec. To our knowledge there are no beta users in Quebec at this time. Data collected by Ookla is in part based on ISP IP blocks and include those being used by SpaceX which may appear to come from Quebec.
Related: Starlink hype and marketing outpaces reality in getting service to customers in Canada
Update 2:30 p.m. – The author of the Ookla blog post, Isla McKetta (Head of Content), responded to our query saying “While I can’t speculate on how users are accessing Starlink in Quebec, I can say we have verified using lat/longs and that there is data of statistical significance from Quebec.” Once again this could simply be IP data being routed through SpaceX used IP blocks. We’ve seen no evidence of Starlink being used in Quebec not has anyone there reported they are using the service. We’ve asked a follow up questions and will post any updates if available.