Packet loss on Starlink means some of your data gets lost on the way between your Starlink dish and the satellites, and has to be sent again. When your packet loss is elevated, meaning higher than normal, video calls freeze, online games lag and videos buffer.
The usual causes are something blocking your Starlink dish’s view of the sky, a weak or crowded Wi-Fi signal, an old Starlink dish, and the short dropouts every Starlink dish has when it switches satellites. You can fix most of them yourself. The dropouts from satellite switches you can only cover with a second internet connection, such as 4G/5G cellular, used together with Starlink in Speedify; with Starlink alone, Speedify works as an encrypted VPN and cannot stop those dropouts.
Speedify adds a second internet connection to Starlink for faster uploads and downloads, and failover
Packet loss is common on Starlink, so you are not the only one seeing it. On the Speedify Starlink Index, 29 September to 12 October 2026, half of 3,510 Starlink dishes lost no pings (small test messages), and one in ten lost more than 2.86%.
Starlink Internet Connection Dropouts Happen to Everyone
Speedify measures thousands of Starlink users in more than 150 countries. From 29 September to 12 October 2026, fixed Starlink dishes went offline for about 37 minutes a day on average, and Starlink dishes on RVs and boats for about 61 minutes a day.
Starlink also switches each dish to a new satellite every 15 seconds, and a switch can cause a short dropout. Even a perfectly installed Starlink dish goes offline, and about 7 in 10 Starlink users on Speedify use Starlink together with a second internet connection, like 4G/5G cellular.
Where Packet Loss Happens on Starlink
Data can get lost in two places, and the fix depends on which one it is:
- Between your Starlink dish and the satellites. A tree or a roof edge that blocks part of the view for a moment as the satellites move overhead, an old or faulty Starlink dish, and the satellite switch about every 15 seconds all lose data here. Every Starlink dish loses a little during each switch.
- Between the Starlink router and your device. A weak Wi-Fi signal far from the Starlink router, or neighbors’ Wi-Fi crowding the same channels, loses data inside your home, even when the Starlink dish is fine.
How to Fix Packet Loss on Starlink
Step 1: Check the Obstruction Map in the Starlink App. The obstruction map shows whether anything blocks your Starlink dish’s view of the sky. Clear it, or move the Starlink dish until the view is clear.
Step 2: Test with an Ethernet Cable to Find Out Whether Your Wi-Fi Is Losing the Data. Connect a computer to the Starlink router with a cable and make a video call or play a game on it. If the freezing stops on the cable, your Wi-Fi is the problem: go to Step 3. If it keeps happening on the cable, the data is lost between your Starlink dish and the satellites: go back to Step 1, then Step 4.
Step 3: Fix Your Wi-Fi Signal from the Starlink Router. Keep the cable for the devices that matter most. For the rest, move closer to the Starlink router, use its 5 GHz Wi-Fi network if your Wi-Fi list shows one, since it is usually less crowded by neighbors’ Wi-Fi, or add Starlink Mesh, Starlink’s own Wi-Fi extender, for rooms far from the Starlink router.
Step 4: Contact Starlink Support If Packet Loss Started Suddenly. An old or faulty Starlink dish can cause it, and Starlink support can check it.
The short dropouts from satellite switches stay, whatever you change. For those, you need a second internet connection.
Cover Starlink Packet Loss with a Second Internet Connection
Use a second internet connection together with Starlink: 4G/5G cellular or an old DSL line, whatever you have. A second Starlink dish helps with obstructions or a faulty dish, but not with satellite switches, which happen on the same 15-second schedule on every Starlink dish.
Speedify is an app that uses all of your internet connections at the same time, even for a single video call or stream, so when Starlink loses data, the other internet connections fill the gap. When Starlink drops out completely, only that second internet connection keeps the call going.
For video calls and live streams, Speedify’s Streaming mode, the default, can send the same data over two internet connections at once and use whichever copy arrives first. To do that for all your traffic, choose “Redundant Mode” in the Speedify app. Data that Starlink loses usually arrives on the other internet connection, so the call is much less likely to freeze. If one internet connection drops completely, Speedify switches your traffic to the others on its own, and your call or game keeps the same public IP address, because the traffic still leaves through the same Speedify server.
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