Making Worldwide Broadband a Reality
Do you rely on Starlink internet for your work and home internet?
Any satellite link has off moments, so Speedify bonds Starlink with 4G/5G, Wi-Fi, or Ethernet to keep you online through the gaps. Check out this article to find out more.
Download the Speedify app to try it.
Daily downtime
~33 min
2.3% of connected time — every dish, every day
Median latency
60 ms
p90 spikes to 257 ms during satellite handoffs
Avg packet loss
0.17%
vs 0.08% on T-Mobile
Avg jitter
28 ms
spikes higher during handoffs
What Starlink users pair with
The Hurdles
Musk’s successes with Tesla, SolarCity, and SpaceX already prove that he’s capable of executing on big ideas. While details are still pretty thin on this satellite Internet project, there are a few high-level points I feel comfortable making, if only for the sake of discussion:
1. Limited Spectrum
SpaceX claims that they’re going to deliver fiber-like speeds via satellite. The truth is, there isn’t enough available space on the wireless frequency spectrum for that to be possible. Pretty much all of the “good” bands have already been bought by big telecom companies or government interests. So, there’s simply no giant set of frequencies available, fast enough to deliver 100 megabit Internet all over the world. In the end, I’d be impressed if they find a way to deliver 20 Mbps in the real world.
2. Latency will be bad
Even if they do manage to offer decent throughput, latency will be bad. Signals need to be sent into space and back. Depending on the implementation, the signal might even need to bounce between satellites before coming back down to Earth. If Musk manages to deliver 100 ms pings, I’d be amazed. But, 250 ms (quarter-second) averages are more likely. That kind of latency can make even a fast Internet connection feel slow.
3. Bandwidth (and latency) will be variable
The satellites are moving over your head, and signal strengths will get better and worse as they zip by. On top of that, there will be finite bandwidth. As the number of users on the satellite network goes up, your connection speed will inevitably go down.
4. Need to see the sky to get a working link
Tiny satellites simply don’t have the power to transmit through buildings. From the sounds of it, the SpaceX satellite Internet won’t work when you’re inside a coffee shop. Antennas should be fixed to roofs where they can see a lot of sky, and are more likely to have line-of-sight to a satellite.
Enter Speedify
By now, you may realize why I’m excited: all of this makes every SpaceX Internet user into a potential Speedify user, too. Speedify’s ability to adjust for changes in latency and lost packets, will simply make SpaceX Internet links faster.
It gets even better for many of our users in parts of the world where less-than-desirable DSL and 3G speeds are the norm. With Speedify, The SpaceX link can be bonded with other available Internet connections to create a single, faster and more reliable Internet connection. Speedify’s smarts means it always knows exactly how well the satellite link is working: when it’s good, the satellite network gets more traffic, but as latency increases or bandwidth shrinks, Speedify knows to rely more heavily on the DSL connection. So, while SpaceX engineers work on some of the hard problems I outlined above, I’m excited to see this simple equation come to life…
Speedify
Get started with Speedify today.
Combine Wi-Fi, 4G/5G cellular, Ethernet, Starlink, and more into one faster, steadier connection. Free to try — no credit card required.
🚀 Speed
Faster uploads and downloads by bonding all your connections at once.
📶 Stability
Automatic failover in under a second when any connection drops.
🔒 Security
AES-256 encryption on every connection, on every network you join.
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