Starlink satellite Internet speeds in the US and Canada increase as do subscribers and service satisfaction

With the launching of new satellite additions to its constellation, SpaceX has managed to increase the median download speeds of its Starlink satellite Internet service in the past two quarter despite that its subscribers count has now grown to 1.5 million global customers.

Starlink users are some of the most content with the services of their Internet provider, too, marking a significant gap over those with fixed broadband. The latest Ookla report on the Starlink Net Promoter Score survey of metro and non-metropolitan Internet connections in the US returns great subscriber satisfaction numbers.

"Metro Starlink had a score of 31.94 compared to -23.62 for all metro fixed broadband providers combined," says the report, "despite Starlink having a median download speed of 65.29 Mbps compared to 203.93 Mbps for all metro fixed broadband providers combined."

Needless to say, Starlink enjoys even stronger following in rural, non-metro areas, where its NPS user satisfaction score is 42.21 compared to -21.27 for other Internet providers there. The wider satisfaction gap between Starlink and the rest could also be explained with the fact that its median download speed in rural areas of the US is 78 Mbps, much closer to the 100 Mbps of other Internet providers there than the speed gap in metro markets.

Speaking of Starlink satellite Internet download speeds, those have been climbing in the US and Canada for two quarters in a row already, after an abysmal drop last year. SpaceX keeps launching satellites. Reflecting that capacity increase, it recently disposed of the speed restrictions it introduced last year when the Starlink network was spread rather thin.

The median Starlink download speed in the US was 66.59 Mbps in Q1, an increase of 20% over Q4 which in itself saw a 13 Mbps increase over Q2 of last year. Granted, there is still a 24 Mbps decrease in Starlink speeds year-on-year, but given the greatly increased subscriber count this newly added satellite capacity seems adequate for the moment.

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