Ookla’s latest analysis shows that Starlink’s median download speeds significantly outpace the average fixed broadband speeds in the UK.
Using Speedtest data from Q2 2021, Ookla reports an average Starlink download speed of 108.30 Mbps, which is more than double the UK fixed broadband average of 50.14 Mbps.
The gap is smaller for upload speeds: Starlink posts an average upload of 15.64 Mbps, compared with the UK fixed broadband average of 14.76 Mbps.
Latency remains Starlink’s relative weakness compared with fixed-line connections. Starlink’s average latency in the UK is 37 ms, while the UK fixed broadband average is substantially lower at around 15 ms.
The situation differs in the United States, where Ookla’s data shows the national fixed broadband download average at 115.22 Mbps, slightly higher than Starlink’s average of 97.23 Mbps. Nevertheless, both of those figures are far above the performance of legacy satellite providers: HughesNet and Viasat average just 19.73 Mbps and 18.13 Mbps respectively.
Starlink also stands out for delivering latency low enough to support latency-sensitive activities such as competitive multiplayer gaming in many cases. By contrast, the much higher latency of conventional satellite services often makes interactive applications impractical or unusable.
Although satellite internet services like Starlink are primarily aimed at rural areas with limited alternatives, Ookla’s analysis demonstrates that Starlink can compete strongly with many fixed broadband offerings in countries such as the UK, France, Germany, New Zealand, and Canada.
You can read Ookla’s full Starlink analysis on Speedtest Insights for the complete breakdown of Q2 2021 performance data.
(Image Credit: Starlink Mission by SpaceX, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0)
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