Starlink Satellite Internet Is Fast, but Needs Seamless Failover to Improve Reliability
Is Starlink satellite internet worth buying? The team behind Speedify bought a Starlink for RV and ran it through real-world speed and reliability tests, including live streaming.
The verdict: Starlink is a great option in areas with poor internet, but for remote work, video calls, or streaming, the connection can still drop. This article shares the test results and how to keep Starlink online through those gaps.
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
How We Test Starlink Internet
We want to be transparent about our testing process here. We have our Starlink on the roof of our building in Philadelphia, near the Delaware Riverfront. Our engineers are gathering data on different usage scenarios, including downloads, uploads, streaming and gaming. We primarily look at the MOS score – a standard rating based on latency, jitter and loss of how well an internet connection will perform for voice calls – and KPIs derived from these metrics.
In the case of the live stream mentioned above, we combine the Starlink Internet (as the primary connection) with Comcast cable together with Speedify and look at the usage of each. We also record when Speedify steps in to compensate for the Starlink unreliability by pushing more traffic through Comcast.
Starlink Internet Reliability Test Results
As mentioned in the first section, if you’re doing any kind of Internet-sensitive activity such as voice / video calls or streaming, you’ll need a secondary connection to combine together with Starlink for uninterrupted performance.
Check out this video of one of the Starlink gurus on YouTube speaking about making Starlink faster and more reliable.
How to Best Setup Your Starlink for Uninterrupted Internet
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos on Starlink, from unboxing to setting it up with another connection and Speedify.
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