Are you a current customer of SpaceX’s Starlink’s Satellite Broadband service? The company offers ultrafast broadband speeds via its mega constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites. It would appear that for existing UK customers, a new super cheap roaming plan has just been quietly added to its list of services. At just £8 per month, it’s certainly caught our attention.
Here’s a quick low down on Starlink Satellite Broadband
If you don’t know much about Starlink, here are some quick-look facts to get you up to speed with this service from SpaceX and their low earth orbit satellite broadband service:
Starlink consists of almost 7000 LEO satellites
Around 2,800 of these are v2 Mini / GEN 2A satellites
They orbit earth at an altitude between 500 and 600 km
By the end of 2027 they plan to have added thousands more to their constellation
UK customers typically pay £75+ per month for 30 days, plus £299 for hardware and £19 for postage (this is on the Standard unlimited data plan)
This package promises Latency times of 25-60ms, downloads of 25-100 Mbps and uploads of 5-10 Mbps
At the end of last year, Starlink had a global customer network of 4.6 million people (which had risen by 2.3 million from 2023). At the end of 2024, 87,000 of those customers were based in the UK (which had more than doubled from 2023 at 42,000). The majority of these UK customers can be found in rural areas.
What are the options when it comes to Roaming with Starlink satellite broadband?
Starlink currently has 2 Roaming plans on offer for new customers. These are:
ROAM 50GB – Best for infrequent and individual travel with low usage, for £50 per month
ROAM Unlimited – Best for RVers, campers, travelers, and working on the go, for £96 per month
Don’t forget you also need to pay between £299 and £399 for the hardware, plus an additional £19 shipping fee).
The service performance on ROAM can be more variable than what you might get on a residential service, but it does support:
Use in motion
International travel
The option to pause the service when not in use
New £8pm Roaming Plan for Existing Starlink Customers
Last week we heard whispers of a new £8 per month Roam service offering a 20GB usage allowance. Not the largest, however it would work well as a short-term back-up option.
Unfortunately, this new cheaper option only appears to be available to existing Starlink customers – It’s not showing online for new customers perusing the options on the Starlink website.
However if you are already an existing Starlink user, if you go to unpause an already paused service, it would seem you will be shown this new option for £8 per month. Exciting news for current customers! Especially when it comes to those who need a back-up option, those who live in rural areas, or are planning to travel.
What we would love to see next is this kind of tariff being offered on their Standard package for fixed locations. And, of course, we’d really like to see this £8 per month option become available to new Starlink customers too – Once they’ve purchased the hardware, of course. Watch this space!
February saw the publication of one of the latest studies from internet benchmarking company Ookla. Their popular Speedtest.net broadband and mobile connection testing service looked at the performance of Starlink’s LEO satellite broadband service, covering locations across Europe.
The good news is that out of all the countries tested, the UK delivers the best latency. The bad news is that download and upload speeds are poor here in the UK.
A quick low down on Starlink Satellite Broadband
Here’s some quick-look facts to get you up to speed with Starlink and their low earth orbit satellite broadband service:
Starlink consists of almost 7000 LEO satellites
Around 2,800 of these are v2 Mini / GEN 2A satellites
They orbit earth at an altitude between 500 and 600 km
By the end of 2027 they plan to have added thousands more to their constellation
UK customers typically pay £75+ per month for 30 days, plus £299 for hardware and £19 for postage (this is on the Standard unlimited data plan)
This package promises Latency times of 25-60ms, downloads of 25-100 Mbps and uploads of 5-10 Mbps
At the end of last year, Starlink had a global customer network of 4.6 million people (which had risen by 2.3 million from 2023). At the end of 2024, 87,000 of those customers were based in the UK (which had more than doubled from 2023 at 42,000). The majority of these UK customers can be found in rural areas.
As can sometimes be expected from newer technologies, the changeable nature of rising customer demand and ability to launch new satellites to keep pace with that demand has meant that Starlink has seen a slight decline in performance here in the UK.
This performance dip is also affected by differences in access to data capacity at local ground stations as well as regulatory access to the necessary radio spectrum bands which can vary from country to country.
How does Starlink performance compare across the UK and Europe?
This latest report from Ookla has taken data collected during the last quarter of 2024 and enables us to take a closer look into how Starlink is performing, providing a useful overview across the UK and Europe. You can read the report here.
The Good
The UK was top of the performance table when it came to latency, delivering the fastest server response times across Europe at 41ms. The slowest was Cyprus, with 144ms.
When it comes to latency, Starlink has continued to improve in general. Between the last quarter of 2023 and the last quarter in 2024, data showed a consistent trend of declining median latency across more than a dozen European countries. The UK, for example, saw a drop of 9ms (50ms down to 41ms) with similar improvements being seen in other countries.
The Not-So-Good
The UK could be found in the bottom half of the performance table for average median download speeds and upload speeds (87.06 Mbps and 12.78 Mbps respectively).
The fastest Starlink downloads were in Hungary and fastest uploads in Romania.
The Ookla report looking at data from Q4 2022 to Q4 2023 also stated that some of the steepest speed declines were seen in Central European countries when it came to median download speeds. Speeds fell by 31% in Germany (from 94.37Mbps to 65.44Mbps) closely followed by a 24% dip in Switzerland (going from 136.03Mbps to 103.88Mbps).
But it’s not all bad news!
It would seem, from the data seen in the final quarter of 2024, that there signs of successive speed declines starting to stabilise. Early indications suggest a potential recovery when it comes to download and upload speeds.
We’ll be interested to see whether this supposed trend continues to hold over the next few quarters to quarters, given the tendency for variability.
Starlink’s performance set to improve
The broadband and wireless network community expect Starlink performance to continue to improve, with the up-coming SpaceX Starship rocket. This will give them the ability to launch significantly higher numbers of satellites, including the next generation V3 GEN3 bigger satellites that will be able to handle 1Tbps of capacity. This in turn will help them meet the rising customer demand.
Watch this space.
With thanks to Ookla for the graph images and Starlink for the main blog image.
Over the last 7 months, the Starlink satellite broadband service from SpaceX has amassed a whopping total of 4.6 million users globally. The recent rapid growth of an additional 1.6 million users in less than a year serves as a significant milestone for the company which now encompasses 118 countries and territories across the world.
Why has Starlink seen such rapid growth recently?
Starlink reported 3 million satellite broadband users back in May 2024. In the 7 months since, the company has supported its growth by focusing on expanding its services, with the introduction of 27 new markets activating Starlink connectivity.
This was followed just a few months later with the launch of their mini dish and roaming service, also available here in the UK.
With new markets and growing connectivity to support, Starlink needed to ensure they have the infrastructure to support this connectivity. So they launched 89 new satellites into their ever-increasing constellation.
There are currently over 7000 active Starlink satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). These include 350 satellites that are designed to directly connect with LTE phones.
Their commitment to the necessary infrastructure means that Starlink can provide reliable, high-speed internet access even in some of the most remote, hard to reach areas.
What is Starlink planning next?
Next on the cards for Starlink is the SpaceX launch of its third generation (V3) Starlink satellites. These are due to be launched by SpaceX’s upcoming launch vehicle, Starship.
Each launch of a new V3 satellite is estimated to add 60 terabits (Tbps) of capacity to the Starlink network. This would significantly outpace the 3 Tbps capacity provided by SpaceX Falcon 9 launches.
Despite the Starship launch vehicle still undergoing tests in the development stages, it is widely expected to revolutionise satellite deployment. Starship will enable SpaceX to deploy more advanced satellites, providing a larger payload capacity. This in turn means a 10 fold increase in bandwidth and reduced latency for Starlink satellite broadband users.
Why does it matter about Starlink?
Through the growth of Starlink, especially the rapid growth we’ve seen recently over the past 7 months, we see the potential to reshape internet connectivity on a global scale. Starlink achieved cash-flow breakeven by the end of 2023, showing the world the increasing profitability of satellite broadband.
It is the belief of Gwynne Shotwell, COO at SpaceX, that the introduction of the new launch vehicle Starship will “position SpaceX as one of the world’s most valuable companies.”
Starlink appears to be going from strength to strength, providing a much needed digital bridge to those in remote, underserved locations and communities. Not only do they deliver a high-speed internet connection to those who otherwise struggle to access broadband, but they are also making it affordable.
The V3 satellites set to launch with the emergence of Starship will likely see Starlink become even more of a fundamental part of connectivity across the globe.
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Recent activity from Starlink hints at the prospect of delivering gigabit speeds to consumers. Starlink currently offers ultrafast broadband via a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) across the globe. Recently filed statements to the FCC (a board that regulates interstate communication and broadcasting by radio, television, satellite, wire, and cable) have suggested their plan to offer gigabit speeds (1Gbps+) and how they’ll do it.
What is Starlink Satellite Broaband?
The Starlink network currently consists of 6,458 satellites in orbit, just over 2000 of which are v@ Mini / GEN 2A. Most of these are orbiting at an altitude of c.500-600km. Elon Musk is in the process of adding thousands more to this constellation by the end of 2027.
UK Starlink customers pay around £75 per month for 30 days, with the cost of hardware on the Starlink Standard plan on top costing £299 plus £20 postage.
The Standard plan from Starlink promises:
Latency times of 25-60ms
Download speeds of c. 25-100 Mbps
Upload speeds of c. 5-10 Mbps
How Many UK Customers Do Starlink Have?
By the end of last year, Starlink had 2.3 million customers worldwide, a figure currently at 4 million. There were 42,000 UK customers (up from 13,000 in 2022), most of which were in rural areas.
At the original commercial launch, Starlink originally aimed to deliver up to 1 Gbps speeds to their customers, with hopes to rise to 10 Gbps in the future. However, once launched, the service has often seen speeds around 200-300 Mbps, and with average performance being lower than that.
It would seem that the Starlink network is still a way off the 1 Gbps mark, with the average UK customer seeing download speeds of 90.7 Mbps. For the top 10% of fastest connections, this figure rises to 156.9 Mbps. Average upload speeds are 11.2 Mbps, rising to 16.4 Mbps for those in the top 10% fastest connections. However, this does mean that Starlink satellite broadband remains affordable.
Are gigabit speeds in Starlink’s future?
The capacity for gigabit speeds via Starlink satellite broadband lies in the ability to launch more of the larger, heavier fully sized next generation (v2 / v3) satellites.
In order to do this, Starlink need a rocket to handle commercial launches. Their new Starship rocket is currently still a work-in-progress but is nearing the point of completion.
The more progress Starlink makes, the closer we will get to seeing those gigabit speeds.
SpaceX recently made a request to the FCC which would allow them to update their second generation (v2) satellites, bringing them closer to earth. This would lower their altitude from circa 520km to circa 480km. This in turn would allow Starlink to use additional radio spectrum in the E band (71-74GHz downlink and 81-84GHz uplink).
These recent filings talk about how these changes would make it possible for Starlink to deliver gigabit speeds, low latency broadband and ubiquitous mobile connectivity to people around the globe who are lacking in adequate broadband.
This goal was reiterated by the VP of Starlink Engineering at SpaceX, who on the 13th October shared:
“The next generation @starlink satellite will launch on Starship and deliver gigabit connectivity anywhere in the world. We got one step closer to that reality today with an amazing Flight 5!”
It’s worth remembering that LEO satellites are becoming an increasingly competitive environment for broadband operators, and Starlink competitors may well try to block any requests made to the FCC.
We don’t know when gigabit speeds will become viable for UK Starlink customers. Whilst exciting steps forward are seemingly being made in the right direction by SpaceX Starlink, these things (as we’ve seen before) are complex, expensive and take time. But it would seem that Starlink firmly believes that gigabit and fibre-like speeds are on the horizon for their consumers.
What a time to be alive! Right above our heads, there’s a space race taking place in the skies between LEO satellite broadband providers Starlink and OneWeb.
Making space-based connectivity a reality, these 2 private satellite-broadband companies are building worldwide networks to provide global satellite internet coverage through LEO satellites.
You might think that they are direct competitors, but actually whilst Starlink and OneWeb are similar in many ways, they also significantly differ as well.
So let’s take a look at how 2 of the most innovative companies of our generation compare when it comes to LEO satellite broadband.
What is Starlink?
Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, Elon Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX has a division called Starlink. Starlink consists of a constellation of 6,078 Low Earth Orbit satellites that circle the Earth, aiming to make connectivity possible from anywhere for the average person.
2019 saw Starlink beginning to launch their first satellites, with their satellite broadband service now offering internet access to more than 30 countries.
What is OneWeb?
Founded in 2012 and with investors consisting of the UK government, the Indian telecom firm Bharti Global and Japanese investment group Softbank group, OneWeb is a UK-based broadband satellite organisation that is rapidly expanding connectivity across the globe. CEO Neil Masterson says OneWeb is striving to “provide fibre where there’s no fibre.”
How does Starlink compare to OneWeb?
Let’s take a closer look at the goals, technical specifications, constellations, performance and support of these satellite internet providers.
Business Goals
Whilst to some, Starlink and OneWeb may be considered “rivals”, they are actually more like peers. In fact, SpaceX have even assisted OneWeb by launching 40 OneWeb satellites into orbit using SpaceX rockets.
You may think this is odd, but actually they don’tsee themselves as direct competitors. They have differing business goals and objectives as well as target customers.
Starlink Business Goal
The business mission behind Starlink’s is to provide high-speed internet access to everyone. While that can and does include businesses, the primary aim for Starlink’s is to help residential customers. Especially those based in rural locations where the land-based infrastructure is lacking and connectivity is difficult. Of course, this applies to rural businesses as well.
OneWeb Business Goal
Whilst the business objective of OneWeb is similar, this UK-based company strives to supply high-speed internet to businesses across the globe (rather than residential customers) thus improving IoT. Consumers accessing OneWeb satellite broadband will do so through a secondary business.
Technical Specifications
We can’t host a Starlink vs OneWeb article without looking at the tech specs now can we?
Constellations
First let’s look at the constellations themselves. As we’ve already mentioned, both Starlink and OneWeb’s satellites are in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) – But interestingly they’re not anywhere near each other. Starlink satellites can be found at 550km/340mi from Earth, whereas OneWeb satellites orbit the planet at 1,200km/746mi from Earth.
Starlink has a current fleet of 6,078 satellites in their constellation. They plan to have 7,500 by the end of 2027. OneWeb currently has 648 satellites in their LEO constellation. Although this is the number required for global coverage, they hope to expand to 7,000 satellites in the future.
Whilst Starlink’s fleet might seem more impressive, let’s remember that both Starlink and OneWeb have different objectives and timelines – And both are currently on track to change connectivity through their satellite broadband offerings.
Latency
In simple terms, broadband satellites work by sending and receiving data from Earth. Latency is the time it takes for data to travel back and forth.
Starlink purport to offer a maximum latency of 20 to 40 milliseconds, with field testing finding an average of approximately 40 to 50 milliseconds. This is slightly lower latency than OneWeb, who promise latency of under 100 milliseconds.
Legacy broadband satellites generally have a latency of around 600 milliseconds or more, so both Starlink and OneWeb offer a significant improvement to the previous technology available.
Bandwidth
Starlink and OneWeb both offer substantial bandwidth but each with distinctive features.
Starlink Bandwidth
According to Starlink’s website, Starlink users can generally enjoy download speeds ranging from 25 to 220 Mbps. The majority of customers experience download speeds of over 100 Mbps. Upload speeds are usually found to be within 5 to 20 Mbps.
OneWeb Bandwidth
For those who have critical applications that require a certain bandwidth, OneWeb offers the option to purchase Committed Information Rate (CIR), which ensures a dedicated bandwidth for those applications that are business critical.
OneWeb users can also choose the location of their ground station, allowing the routing of traffic to a specific area.
As part of a demonstration prepared for the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), the company conducted a Proof of Concept (PoC) test, establishing connectivity with its LEO constellation.
A recent Proof of Concept test for the NCIA saw OneWeb achieve seamless streaming of 4K video feeds and simultaneous operation of various applications, including Microsoft Teams, Twitch, and Google Earth. It also saw download speeds of 195Mbps, upload speeds of 32 Mbps and latency as low as 70 milliseconds. A pretty impressive result.
Reliability
Let’s remember that Starlink and OneWeb both have slightly different business goals, so looking at the reliability of each in critical scenarios will shine a light on the different user needs and thus the suitability of each.
Starlink has shown that it offers a highly reliable internet service, especially for users living in remote areas. It has been praised by reviewers worldwide for its high download and upload speeds. It has also shown itself to be a viable option for those where more traditional connectivity options are not available or reliable.
Whilst it has been reported that there are the occasional hiccups (as with all internet provisions, let’s be honest) and its suitability questioned for critical situations and disasters like fires, in ‘normal’ day to day residential life, it performs well and provides reliable broadband where services were previously unavailable.
For larger scale businesses that require a consistent and trustworthy internet experience for critical operations, OneWeb is committed to meet the demand.
It would appear that OneWeb can provide a dependable internet solution in difficult geographical landscapes where ordinary broadband wouldn’t be an option. Business users in hard to reach, remote locations can experience robust and consistent internet connections with OneWeb. Compared to terrestrial networks, OneWeb offers heightened reliability without susceptibility to weather-related disruptions.
Customer Support
If you’ve ever needed to speak to someone about an internet-related problem, then you’ll know how important good customer support is. This is no different in the satellite internet industry.
Starlink’s Customer Support System
The customer support system from Starlink relies exclusively on email support, which could present some problems when trying to provide real-time assistance to users.
OneWeb’s Support System
OneWeb offers an accessible and robust troubleshooting service with 24/7 customer support via telephone assistance.
Starlink vs OneWeb – Quick Recap
As we’ve seen above, the performance, bandwidth, reliability, support systems, and target customer do vary between OneWeb and Starlink. Having an understanding of these differences can help users to identify which reliable, high-performance satellite internet solution would be best for their needs.
Starlink
OneWeb
Number of Satellites
6,078
648
Bandwidth
Majority of users enjoy download speeds of 100 Mbps, ranging up to 220 Mbps
Download speeds up to 150 Mbps
Reliability
Reliable internet service, occasional hiccups reported
Consistent and trustworthy in challenging landscapes
Latency
Advertised: 20-40 ms, Field tests: 40-50 ms (Slightly better than OneWeb)
Sub-100 millisecond latency
Support System
Email support
24/7 phone support
Consumer Base Dynamics
Consumer-oriented, focusing on residential users in rural areas
Business-focused with an emphasis on IoT
Starlink Satellite Broadband with Geekabit
For many UK SME’s who operate in more rural areas, Starlink satellite broadband can offer reliable internet where more traditional methods of connectivity are not an option. If you would like to speak to one of our Wi-Fi experts about whether Starlink satellite broadband could work for your business, then get in touch with our friendly team today.
Starlink satellite broadband can also provide the ideal solution for outdoor events like festivals, shows and charity events – Especially if you have food and beverage vendors trying to take mobile payments! Here at Geekabit, we offer a Starlink broadband hired service – Find out more here.
Having provided Starlink satellite broadband for a variety of different customers and clients – From large scale charity events to rural businesses and remote residential properties – We’ve seen first hand how Starlink internet is a game changer for people who aren’t able to get a reliable connection from mobile Wi-Fi or fibre broadband.
Business Starlink vs. Residential Starlink
Did you know that Starlink offers both a Residential and Business internet service? If you’re wondering how they differ from one another and whether it’s worth going for the Business service, then you’re in the right place!
Is Bigger Better? Let’s Talk Differences in Dish Size
The dish used for Starlink Business internet services is physically bigger than the Residential package dish. There are big benefits of using the Starlink Business antenna with more elements for better performance:
More powerful signals can be sent and received
They perform better in all weather conditions and are more durable
Improved performance through better quality connections and lower latency
When more satellites are in the sky, they offer a higher bandwidth
In terms of numbers, the business antenna offers a 140 degrees view, compared to the 110 degrees from the Residential antenna. This increases the service availability by 4 times compared to before.
GPS functionality is also enhanced as well as improving the visibility of the satellite by about 35%.
Starlink uses a beam-forming technique for their high-performance dishes, which creates a cone of connectivity to satellites. During satellite transitions, there can be ‘mini outages’ but with the bigger dishes these occur less and are less disruptive due to the upgraded business antenna elements offering faster processing.
Starlink Business dishes are highly durable with IP56 protection, meaning they can withstand strong jets of water. This is in comparison to the Residential antennas which have IP54 protection which protects them against just splashes.
What does this mean in real terms? Basically, Starlink Business dishes perform better in extreme weather. Not only does the upgraded heat management system mean that it can offer speeds 3 times faster when temperatures exceed 35 degrees, but the Starlink Business antenna also melts snow 1.7 times faster.
Get Priority Bandwidth with Starlink Business
Many home users can get everything they need from a Starlink Residential package, but if you need power then Starlink Business could be the better choice. One big plus of Starlink Business is that you are given higher priority traffic than those on Residential plans.
We mentioned earlier that the higher performing dish on the Starlink Business service has 35% more visibility – Basically the ability to view 35% more of the sky. This means it can connect to more satellites and maintain those connections better.
What speeds can you get on Starlink Business compared to Residential?
Starlink Business:
Download speeds – 100-350mbps
Upload speeds – 10-50 mbps
Lower latency
Starlink Residential:
Download – Up to 100 mbps
Starlink Connectivity for Extreme Environments
If your business needs hardware to keep you connected in extreme weather environments (e.g. high humidity, high/low temperatures, heavy snowfall) then the high performance Starlink Business dish is unlikely to let you down.
For businesses, having 24/7 bandwidth to support business operations is imperative. The service from Starlink Business can offer more stability, faster connections and fewer dropouts.
Connectivity via Venn and Starlink
The great thing about Starlink Business is that it can benefit organisations big or small. Through a high performance dish, upgrading to Starlink Business could bring your organisation:
A better quality connection
Lower latency
Improved performance
Starlink hardware can be combined for organisations who need to cover large, critical sites for multiple and many users needing high availability.
Venn Telecom has partnered with Starlink, enabling the connection of multiple high-performance Starlink antennas and simultaneous connections to various 5G networks. This enhances reliability and speed even further.
Starlink Satellite Broadband with Geekabit
If you’re considering Starlink satellite broadband as an alternative way to connect to the internet – For a business or event – Then get in touch with our Wi-Fi expert today. We’ve seen the difference Starlink can make for those in remote or rural areas.
SpaceX is trying to increase the capacity of its ultrafast broadband via LEO (Low Earth Orbit) constellation of satellites by seeking approval from Ofcom to get a variation on its existing gateway. They plan to do this by increasing the number of gateway antennas at multipe UK sites and by adopting additional bands.
Starlink LEO Satellites
At the moment, Starlink have a network of 5,289 LEO satellites. They orbit the Earth at an altitude of around 500km.
SpaceX Starlink has approval to expand this number to approximately 7,500 satellites by the end of 2027.
What is the Cost of Starlink Satellite Broadband?
For UK customers, costs start at £75 per month. There is an additional cost for the £449 regular home kit which includes a standard dish, router and relevant kit. There is also a shipping fee of £20 on the Standard package.
By the end of last year, Starlink had a global network of 2.3 million customers (now at 2.6m). 42,000 of those customers were based in the UK (which is up from 13,000 in 2022). Most of these UK customers are based in rural areas.
Starlink Broadband Speed
The Standard Starlink broadband package promises download speeds of between 25 and 100 Mbps and upload speeds of 5-10 Mbps. It also offers latency times of 25-50 ms.
What licenses do SpaceX currently hold for Starlink Satellite Broadband?
SpaceX Starlink currently holds multiple NGSO (Non-Geostationary Earth Station) gateway licenses to operate the network. These NGSO gateway licenses help to connect their NGSO system to the internet via large dishes on the ground.
SpaceX is asking to update 4 of these in order to help boost capacity and meet the growing demand for its broadband services. This follows their recent upgrade to their latest Gen 2 satellites.
In specific terms, SpaceX want Ofcom to give them permission to increase the number of antennas at 4 of their 7 sites:
Fawley
Isle of Man
Wherstead
Woodwalton
Currently, these 4 gateway sites are allowed to operate up to a 9 Ka-band parabolic antennas. These are used to operate their service to UK customers and those in adjacent countries.
The request for approval to Ofcom from SpaceX includes:
An extra 24 antennas at Fawley, Wherestead and Woodwalton. This would bring the total to 32 antennas for these sites.
These new antennas are planned to operate in bands 27.5-28.0525 GHz, 28.4445-29.0605 GHz, 29.4525-30GHz.
An extra 32 antennas at the site on the Isle of Man. This would bring the total to 40 for this site. SpaceX already have access to the frequencies they want to operate at for this site (27.5-30GHz).
The regulator’s consultation is open for responses until the 31st May 2024. They state that their initial assessment is that the requested variation from SpaceX should not:
Affect other licensed NGSO services
Future NGSO services
GSO services
Fixed links operating in the same user frequencies
Over in the US, SpaceX Starlink already have authorisation from the FCC for their Gen 1 constellation for 4,408 satellites and their Gen 2 constellation for 7,500.
What are Starlink’s competitors upto?
Inmarsat (Viasat), another satellite operator, has also applied for an NGSO Earth Station Network License for its new GX-10 non-geostationary orbiting satellite system.
Inmarsat also plan to extend the coverage of their existing Global Xpress satellite system over the polar region. This will provide communication services to government, defence, aero and maritime commercial customers.
Whilst their primary focus for their service area is latitudes above 65N, their satellites will also provide intermittent service over parts of the UK.
Their service will use the Ka-band frequencies 19.7 – 20.2GHz and 29.5 – 30GHz, and whilst Ofcom are consulting on this until the 31st May, they have provisionally approved the request.
Starlink Satellite Broadband Hire for Events from Geekabit
Did you know about Geekabit’s new service? We can provide your event – Indoor or outdoor – with Starlink satellite broadband hire, even in rural areas.
If your event is being held in London, Hampshire, Sussex, Dorset or Wiltshire and you’re interested in reliable event internet then get in touch with our Wi-Fi experts today.
Starlink from Elon Musk’s Space X mega constellation of ultrafast broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit have revealed the progress they’ve made so far in improving the latency performance.
Their goal is to deliver a service with a stable 20 millisecond median latency and minimal packet loss.
Starlink LEO Satellites
At the moment, Starlink have a network of 5,289 LEO satellites. They orbit the Earth at an altitude of around 500km.
SpaceX Starlink has approval to expand this number to approximately 7,500 satellites by the end of 2027.
What is the Cost of Starlink Satellite Broadband?
For UK customers, costs start at £75 per month. There is an additional cost for the £449 regular home kit which includes a standard dish, router and relevant kit. There is also a shipping fee of £20 on the Standard package.
By the end of last year, Starlink had a global network of 2.3 million customers (now at 2.6m). 42,000 of those customers were based in the UK (which is up from 13,000 in 2022). Most of these UK customers are based in rural areas.
Starlink Broadband Speed
The Standard Starlink broadband package promises download speeds of between 25 and 100 Mbps and upload speeds of 5-10 Mbps. It also offers latency times of 25-50 ms.
What About Latency?
Satellites in a Low Earth Orbit constellation are significantly closer to earth than GEO or GSO platforms. GEO satellites usually sit about 35,000 km away, whereas the LEO satellites, like Starlink, are only 500 km away.
This means that the signal for Starlink satellites only has to travel a relatively short distance, which is good when it comes to latency.
What is Latency?
Network latency is the amount of time it takes for a data packet to go from one place to another e.g. from your laptop or other device to a remote server and then back again.
The delay or time between the data packet going to the server and then back again is measured in milliseconds (1 second is equal to 1000 milliseconds).
Broadband connections these days will usually have an average latency of between 4 ms to 40 ms.
What can affect latency?
Latency can depend on many different factors for your individual connection, but in general terms, the faster score for latency (the shortest time) is always best.
These latency times can be affected, amongst others, by:
The performance of remote internet servers
The connection technology being used
ISP network congestion
Routing problems
Network setup
Lowering latency is an important part of building a good user experience. Faster latency means:
Fast-paced online multiplayer games are smoother
Internet actions are more responsive
Video calls experience less sync problems
And much more!
What are Starlink’s Latency Improvements?
The Starlink satellite broadband network from Space X is slowly delivering improvements in terms of latency.
The latest update from Starlink claims that users around the world will have meaningfully reduced median and worst case latency.
Customers in the USA can benefit from a 30% reduction in median latency, going from 48.5ms to 333ms during peak times.
Worst case latency at peak times has also been reduced from 150ms to 65ms which is a 60% improvement.
And it’s not just the United States that are enjoying lower latency. Outside the USA, the median latency has been reduced by up to 25% and worst-case latencies have been reduced by up to 35%.
The stats are below if you want to take a look.
How do they measure Starlink latency?
Starlink’s latency is measured by operator who collect anonymous measurements from millions of Starlink routers every 15 seconds.
The median and worst-case latencies are calculated using these 15 second average latencies.
They look at latency across different time periods but focus on performance at peak times. This tends to be 6-9pm local time to the router, which is when the Starlink network is under the most load and the biggest number of people are connected.
Starlink’s Latency in 2024
Between January and March this year, monitoring and metrics have been added across the Starlink network in order to measure the latency on every subsystem down to the microsecond.
Their algorithms are programmed to prefer lower latency pathways, even if the difference is only small, to mitigate and remove as many sources of unnecessary latency as possible,
Software changes, additional ground infrastructure and the launch of more satellites are all being prioritised in order to continue to improve latency over the coming weeks and months,
It has been reported that National telecoms giant BT (EE) has been in talks regarding plans to harness SpaceX’s ultrafast low-latency broadband via their Starlink LEO (low earth orbit) satellite constellation. This could help improve internet as well as mobile connectivity to those in more remote, rural areas.
Have BT Used Satellite Technology Before?
This isn’t the first time BT has helped deliver digital connectivity by channelling satellite technology. One example is the SaT5G (Satellite and Terrestrial /Network for 5G) project, supporting the development of solutions for integrating a standard commercially available 5G core network into a live satellite network.
BT is also running trials for rural broadband and mobile connectivity in the UK with OneWeb (rivals of Starlink) backed by the government.
Recent reports revealed that BT is testing the Starlink system at its Adastral Park research centre near Ipswich. This is just one of the ways they are attempting to solve the continuing issue of getting reliable internet to those in hard to reach locations in the most rural, remote parts of the UK. Of course, consumers can already just sign up to Starlink’s satellite broadband service.
What is Starlink?
Here is some basic information if you’re new to everything Starlink satellite broadband.
Starlink LEO Satellites
At the moment, Starlink have a network of 5,289 LEO satellites. They orbit the Earth at an altitude of around 500km.
SpaceX Starlink has approval to expand this number to approximately 7,500 satellites by the end of 2027.
Cost of Starlink Satellite Broadband
For UK customers costs start at £75 per month. There is an additional cost for the £449 regular home kit which includes a standard dish, router and relevant kit. There is also a shipping fee of £20 on the Standard package.
Starlink Broadband Speed
The Standard Starlink broadband package promises download speeds of between 25 and 100 Mbps and upload speeds of 5-10 Mbps. It also offers latency times of 25-50 ms.
Starlink’s New Direct to Cell Mobile Roaming Service
On top of that, Starlink is also in the process of launching its new global Direct to Cell mobile roaming service for use with regular unmodified Smartphones, which would require support from both a mobile network and Ofcom in order to launch in the UK. EE would clearly be a good fit for something like this, given the BT Group’s wider experience in the field. We wrote all about this last week, you can read it here.
How Many Customers Do Starlink Have in the UK?
1.83% of Starlink’s current customers are based in the UK. Starlink has 2.3 million customers worldwide, with 42,000 of them residing in the UK. This is up from 13,000 UK based customers last year.
Will BT EE Utilise Starlink Satellite Broadband for Business Customers?
The report that came out last weekend suggests that the current talks going on between BT EE and Starlink are looking at business broadband solutions and providing mobile connectivity to remote sites such as oil rigs out at sea.
It doesn’t look like BT are interested in just reselling Starlink’s broadband product, but instead are looking at it as a viable way to complement their own terrestrial connectivity services.
When Will Satellite Connectivity Support Broadband and Mobile Services?
As things currently stand, we don’t know when we see satellite connectivity become fully fledged products that can be a viable solution to supporting broadband and mobile connectivity in rural and remote areas.
The satellite solutions mentioned in this article are currently still in the early Proof of Concept trial stages. Having said that, although there is no guarantee that BT will use Starlink satellite broadband to bolster their broadband and mobile customers in more rural / remote areas, particularly businesses, it’s certainly exciting to know that discussions are taking place that this could be a possible solution in the future.
Hire Starlink Satellite Broadband with Geekabit
We’ll be keeping a close eye on how this situation develops.
As a company committed to helping businesses stay connected with reliable broadband – Using traditional methods as well as mobile and satellite options – we are excited at the prospect of Starlink satellite broadband going further to help businesses in rural areas.
If you are interested in Satellite broadband as an internet service provider option for your business or event, then get in touch with our Wi-Fi Experts today. We have Starlink satellite broadband kit ready to hire! Contact us here.
The first week of January saw SpaceX launch their first 6 satellites to support their new ‘Direct to Cell’ product. This brings them steps closer to Starlink’s constellation of ultrafast broadband LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites being able to offer a global 4G mobile service.
A Quick Starlink 101
Here is some basic information if you’re new to everything Starlink satellite broadband.
Starlink LEO Satellites
At the moment, Starlink have a network of 5,289 LEO satellites. They orbit the Earth at an altitude of around 500km.
SpaceX Starlink has approval to expand this number to approximately 7,500 satellites by the end of 2027.
Cost of Starlink Satellite Broadband
For UK customers costs start at £75 per month. There is an additional cost for the £449 regular home kit which includes a standard dish, router and relevant kit. There is also a shipping fee of £20 on the Standard package.
Starlink Broadband Speed
The Standard Starlink broadband package promises download speeds of between 25 and 100 Mbps and upload speeds of 5-10 Mbps. It also offers latency times of 25-50 ms.
What’s New for SpaceX Starlink Satellite Broadband?
SpaceX Starlink signed agreements back in 2022 enabling them to launch a global space-based 4G mobile network.
The network will be called Direct to Cell and will connect satellites to unmodified smartphones on the ground.
How will the Starlink 4G Network work?
The satellites with the capability to connect from space to Smartphones on the ground will have an advanced eNodeB modem onboard. This allows network integration similar to a standard roaming partner, essentially acting like a cellphone tower in space.
Supported by mobile operator T-Mobile, originally the first beta test products were supposed to launch by the end of 2023 in select areas of the USA (for example Hawaii, parts of Alaska, Puerto Rico). With the launch of the first 6 at the beginning of January this year, things are obviously running a little behind.
These first 6 Direct to Cell capable Starlinks were launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket alongside a batch of 15 other Starlink birds.
The testing phase is expected to eventually involve 840 4G capable satellites, transmitting 4G mobile to roughly 2,000 unmodified Smartphones on the ground.
According to SpaceX, they plan to launch a basic text service sometime this year, offering SMS, MMS and ‘participating messaging apps’ messaging.
Voice services (ie. the ability to make calls) and data services (being able to use a slow mobile broadband connection) is due to follow sometime next year (2025). 2025 will also hopefully see the ability to connect to Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Will we be able to use Starlink 4G mobile in the UK?
Unfortunately at this stage, Starlink doesn’t have supporting access agreements for these services with any cellular providers in the UK. We are one of a few countries with cellular providers yet to support Starlink 4G mobile.
Hopefully we will know soon who it’s likely to be! Both Vodafone and EE (BT) have experience with satellite solutions (they are testing rival systems!) so they may be the ones to watch.
Who Are Starlink’s Current Global Direct to Cell Partners?
Providers who are ready to support Starlink 4G mobile in some countries are:
T-Mobile (USA) Optus (Australia) Rogers (Canada) One NZ (New Zealand) KDDI (Japan) Salt (Switzerland) ENTEL (CHILE) Entel (PERU)
Can Starlink 4G Mobile Compete With Our Current 4G Mobile Broadband Offering?
At this stage, not really. Elon Musk has himself said that these first Direct to CEll capable Starlink satellites can only support data speeds of “~7Mb per beam and the beams are very big, so while this is a great solution for locations with no cellular connectivity, it is not meaningfully competitive with existing terrestrial cellular networks.”
In other words, Starlink 4G Mobile services will be beneficial to those in rural areas that struggle with more traditional forms of broadband connectivity and 4G cellular networks, but not to those already reliably using 4G networks.
For those that want the tech bit – Information shared last year on the subject detailed that the Direct to Cell system will be able to provide “theoretical peak speeds of up to either” 3Mbps or 7.2Mbps peak upload (Earth-to-Space) over 1.4MHz or 5MHz bandwidth channels per beam, respectively, and up to either 4.4Mbps or 18.3Mbps on the downlink (Space-to-Earth) over the same bandwidth channels per beam using LTE (4G) technology.
It’s also worth remembering that we don’t yet know the costs of this type of global roaming. To compete with traditional roaming services, it’s going to need to be a competitive cost. Although, those who struggle to get any connection at all where they’re based may be willing to pay a bit more if it means getting a reliable connection.
What Potential Issues Might Starlink 4G Mobile Be Facing?
SpaceX are already facing some challenges in the USA. There are concerns about spectrum interference, particularly from AT&T (formerly known as the American Telephone and Telegram Company) who are also in the testing stages of a rival solution AST SpaceMobile and Omnispace who are also combining mobile roaming with the scope of satellite for a global 5G network.
There are likely to be similar disputes in other markets too, seeing as the Starlink 4G network needs reciprocal access and spectrum agreements with mobile operators. They will also need support from regulators and ground stations across the world.
Starlink 4G Mobile via satellites from SpaceX is certainly an intriguing development and we’re keen to see how this plays out throughout 2023 and beyond. Let’s watch this space!
