WHAT IS STARLINK: How It Work & All You Should Know

What is Starlink
IP Access International

Starlink is the first and largest satellite network in the world. It sends broadband internet from a low Earth orbit that can handle streaming, online gaming, video calls, and more. Starlink lets people across the world connect to the internet quickly and with little delay.  It does this by combining advanced satellites and user gear with a lot of experience with both spacecraft and on-orbit operations. This blog post explains Starlink, Starlink Subaru,  Internet, Satellite, and Starlink Internet speed.

SpaceX, which Elon Musk started in 2002, runs the Starlink space internet service. SpaceX makes rockets and spaceships and sends them into space. In 2019, SpaceX started sending Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO). As of September 2022, the company had already sent more than 3,000 satellites into LEO. 

Starlink’s main goal is to bring fast, low-latency broadband internet to rural and remote areas around the world. As of September 2022, the first month of service will cost $110, and the gear will cost $599.

It works with the use of a Starlink kit, which contains a Starlink satellite dish, a WiFi router/power supply, wires, and a base. The base is made to be installed on the ground or to help you set up quickly so you can test your internet connection. However, for the best installation, you may wish to acquire a permanent mount. 

As long as there is a clear view of the sky, the Starlink dish can find its way and connect quickly. After setting up the hardware, you can connect to its network and control your service with the Starlink app. 

SpaceX’s big satellite constellation in low Earth orbit (LEO), which is about 550 km above the surface, is used to provide the service. Other satellite Internet services, on the other hand, use only one geostationary satellite that orbits the Earth. Starlink can offer faster service because it has a lot of satellites that are close to the ground. Every satellite has two parabola antennae and four phased array antennae. This gives each satellite more capability.

Read Also: The Importance of Internet Speed for Online Gaming

Most car companies now offer in-car data systems that help drivers stay connected, keep them entertained, and keep them safe. Collectively, these characteristics are called “connected services.” So, Subaru Starlink is a paid service that lets drivers and guests get help in real-time with the touch of a button.

Multimedia services and safety and security services are the two main categories of services offered by Starlink, which uses 4G LTE as its power source. Together, these suites offer a wide range of technologies that make driving a Subaru more fun and give you more trust.

Safety and Security features include, among other things, roadside help, the ability to find a stolen car, and automatic collision notification. Starlink’s multimedia features give users access to news, navigation, weather, music, and other material. 

Like HughesNet and Viasat, Starlink wants to sell internet access, especially to people who don’t already have access to high-speed broadband in rural areas and other parts of the world.

According to the Starlink website, “Starlink is perfect for places around the globe where going online has been hard in the past.” “Because Starlink isn’t limited to conventional ground infrastructure, it may provide high-speed broadband internet to places where it hasn’t been available or where access has been spotty or nonexistent.”

All you have to do to join is set up a small satellite dish at your house to receive the signal and send the bandwidth to your router. The company has a number of options for mounting on roofs, in yards, and on the outside of your house. There is even a Starlink app for Android and iOS that uses augmented reality to help customers find the best place and angle for their transmitters.

Starlink’s service is offered in some parts of the US, Canada, and other countries. According to a May post on the company’s official Twitter account, over 1.5 million people now use the service. As more satellites join the group, you can expect the range map to get bigger. Starlink wants to cover the whole world with a high-speed Wi-Fi signal that can be used, including in moving cars and airplanes.

According to Ookla, a website that keeps track of internet speeds, Starlink’s average download speed in the US during the first quarter of 2023 was nearly 67 Mbps. That’s a big drop from the end of 2021 when the average download speed for Starlink was just over 100 Mbps (193 Mbps). Still, the results are almost twice as good as those of satellite competitor Viasat and more than four times as good as HughesNet’s median results. But Starlink’s speeds are nowhere near the average for fixed broadband (193 Mbps), which includes satellite and other ways to connect people’s homes to the internet.

Starlink’s website says that most users get download speeds of over 100 Mbps. The average download speed for their users is between 25 and 220 Mbps. “As we launch more satellites, set up more ground stations, and improve our networking software, data speed, latency, and uptime will get a lot better.”

So, in February 2021, Musk tweeted that he thought the service’s top speed would double to 300Mbps by the end of that year. Taking the Ookla statistics into account, these claims seem very unlikely to be true in 2023.

John Kim of CNET signed up for Starlink in 2021 from his home in California and began trying it in different places. At home, he usually got around 78 Mbps of download speed and about 36 ms of delay. 

Here’s a quick summary for those of you who haven’t heard about Starlink. Starlink is a big satellite system that aims to bring high-speed Internet to even the most remote places on Earth. Since 2015, Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, has worked on and built it.

The satellites are sent into space in groups. As of today, 13 groups of satellites have been sent into space, and there are now 775 solar-powered satellites in orbit around the Earth. SpaceX wants to build a huge array of 12,000 satellites, and the number could grow to 42,000 in the future.

There have been discussions about how Starlink satellites could cause trouble. About 5,000 satellites are already in orbit around the Earth. If SpaceX’s plan works, the sky will be full of man-made things that reflect light. This can make it hard for professional scientists to do their jobs because satellites will show up in their pictures of the sky. Another problem is that there are so many things that could crash into each other, making space junk.

In reaction to the first worry, SpaceX has already tested DarkSat and VisorSat, two prototype satellites with darkened surfaces. As of the Starlink-8 journey, all of the satellites have surfaces that don’t reflect light. Concerning the second issue, Elon Musk stated that if the satellites fail, they will be deorbited within five years.

The Starlink satellites provide an amazing spectacle, appearing like a train of brilliant lights in the night sky. If you know where and when to look, you can easily see them with your own eyes.

One of the easiest ways to watch satellites is through mobile apps. They are always available, give information in real time, and have a variety of features that make it easy for users to find satellites. Many of them can work without being connected to the Internet, so you can use them anywhere in the world. Let’s look at how to use apps to find Starlinks.

Satellite Tracker

The purpose of the Satellite Tracker app is to find and identify stars. You can use it to see the path of the satellite on a picture of Earth or in the real night sky. The app also shows a 3D model of where the satellite is over the Earth right now. You can switch between the three viewing modes using the three buttons at the bottom of the main screen.

Tap the satellite icon in the top-right area of the screen to find Starlink using Satellite Tracker. Choose the “All” tab and scroll down until you see the “SpaceX’s Starlink” area. Then, choose the launch you’re interested in and tap the “Track” button next to one or more satellites to add them to your list of satellites to follow. Tap on a star you want to learn more about to choose it and go back to the main screen. When you tap the far-right button on the main screen’s bottom panel, you can see where the satellite is now located in the sky above you. From there, you can follow the white arrow to find it. The “Next Pass” timer shows how long it will be until the chosen satellite flies over your spot again. Tap the timer and alarm clock buttons in the drop-down menu to set a reminder.

Starlink has different service plans, such as Standard (which used to be called Residential), Priority, and Mobile. Depending on which Starlink plan you have, your Internet speed will be different. 

Every three months, Ookla.com puts out a study on the speeds and latency of Starlink Internet. This report tells us a lot about what a normal customer can expect in terms of performance. Here are the details of the report for Q1 2023. This information is about the US. 

#1. Median Download Speed

Ookla.com says that the average internet speed for users of Starlink is 66.59 Mbps.

#2. Median Upload Speed

Ookla.com says that the average upload speed for users of Starlink is 7.74 Mbps.

#3. Median Latency

In Q1 2023, the average latency for Starlink users was 62 milliseconds. Latency is different from speed in that less is better. For comparison, fixed internet has a latency of 26 ms. It is the only satellite choice that comes close to the latency levels of fixed broadband. HughesNet and Viasat both have delay times that are longer than 600 ms.

As you can see, the speeds people are getting in real life with Starlink are very close to what was promised. Don’t forget that the report listed above tells us the average speeds. Many of their customers are getting download and upload rates that are much higher than before. How fast your connection is will depend on several factors, such as location, satellite type, and obstructions

As with any satellite phone service, They work by sending radio waves through space that carry internet data. The signals are then sent to satellites in space, which send the information back to users on Earth.

Some disadvantages include excessive latency and unstable connection speeds.  

If Elon Musk’s plans come true, Starlink satellite could theoretically reach speeds that are 40% faster than fiber. When it comes to weather, Fiber is better than Starlink. Rain, snow, high winds, and other weather conditions can interfere with satellite communications like those used by Starlink.

It has three different packages that you can buy. Starlink Internet costs $110 per month, plus a one-time fee of $599 for equipment. The RV Internet costs $135 a month, plus a one-time equipment fee of $599. Their Business costs $500 a month and has a one-time device fee of $2,500.00

Starlink is available almost everywhere, but 5G internet is only available where there are 5G towers. It is more expensive than 5G because it has a one-time fee for the gear and a higher monthly fee. Starlink has a waiting list in many places, but 5G doesn’t.

References

  1. HOW DOES SPACEX MAKE MONEY?
  2. CUT THE CABLE: Best Options & Ways to Do It
  3. The Importance of Internet Speed for Online Gaming
  4. 5 Top Features To Look For When Buying A Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot
  5. SpaceX Logo: What is the Real Meaning of the Logo?
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