Starlink Speeds in US Are Dropping

Starlink, a low-Earth orbit satellite internet provider owned by Elon Musk, holds a lot of promise in bringing better broadband to the hardest-to-reach corners of the globe. But right here in the USA, its performance appears to be waning a bit.

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According to an article at PC Magazine, the Starlink speed tests measured by Ookla have declined in the US by about 10 megabits per second on the download. Meanwhile, performance in other nations such as Canada continues to impress.

This performance drop is likely why Starlink has not simply provided service to every person in the US. Although the company continues to launch satellites by the dozens, it takes time for those new birds to reach their final orbits and become part of the operational constellation. 

As Doug Dawson of CCG Consulting told us on our most recent edition of "Lunch and Learn" (and posted in his annual predictions post at his Pots and Pans blog, "Starlink is going to be unspectacular." Starlink's trajectory certainly deserves close monitoring in the coming year.