Satellite internet is newer and speeds fluctuate as technologies improve and as more users are added to sometimes crowded networks. are increasing, mostlyĬonsumers are used to incremental increases in fixed broadband performance as that’s a developed technology with a stable market share. This allows them to serve much wider swaths of the Earth’s surface with fewer satellites, but with a dramatic increase in latency in our data of 630 ms and 724 ms respectively. Viasat and HughesNet both utilize considerably higher “geosynchronous” orbits of around 35,000km for their satellites. Therefore it takes less time for the signal to relay back to a downlink station on earth, ensuring a much more responsive connectivity experience for the user. At altitudes between 550-1200 km, these satellites are physically closer to the earth’s surface than traditional satellite providers. Starlink is able to achieve these lower latency numbers through the use of their low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. A low latency connection is more responsive, making it essential for many common applications such as voice and video calling, gaming and live streaming of content. HughesNet was third (2.43 Mbps in Q1 and Q2 2021).Ĭritically, Starlink was the only satellite internet provider with a median latency that was anywhere near that seen on fixed broadband in Q2 2021 (45 ms and 14 ms, respectively). Viasat had the second fastest upload speed among satellite providers at 3.38 Mbps (3.48 in Q1 2021). Starlink’s median upload speed of 13.89 Mbps (up from 13.77 Mbps in Q1 2021) was much closer to that on fixed broadband (17.18 Mbps in Q2 2021, 15.99 Mbps in Q1 2021). during Q2 2021, but it beats digging twenty miles (or more) of trench to hook up to local infrastructure. None of these are as fast as the 115.22 Mbps median download speed for all fixed broadband providers in the U.S. HughesNet was a distant second at 19.73 Mbps (15.07 Mbps in Q1 2021) and Viasat third at 18.13 Mbps (17.67 Mbps in Q1 2021). However, Starlink was the only satellite internet provider in the United States with fixed-broadband-like latency figures, and median download speeds fast enough to handle most of the needs of modern online life at 97.23 Mbps during Q2 2021 (up from 65.72 Mbps in Q1 2021). Given that satellite internet is often the only solution for folks with little to no fixed broadband access, the Speedtest® results we saw coming from HughesNet, Starlink and Viasat during Q2 2021 were encouraging. Starlink speeds beat competitors in the U.S., can’t top fixed broadband

We’re back with a broader look at internet network performance for satellite providers across the globe based on Q2 2021 data from Speedtest Intelligence ™. The satellite internet race is heating up, with more competitors serving more areas than even a quarter ago.

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