3 ms·

Musk needs that latency below 100ms for phase 1 or he could get shut out of the rural auction. The auction is next month so the PR blitz is on. He's also runni

Musk needs that latency below 100ms for phase 1 or he could get shut out of the rural auction. The auction is next month so the PR blitz is on. He's also running early trials so there's hard data to give to the skeptics at the FCC. https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starlink-user-terminal-beta-test/ https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starlink-user-terminal-beta...

wmf 6y ago
This is a very roundabout PR blitz. Just show a speedtest!
- joezydeco 6y ago
  My hunch is that version 1 isn’t quite at the 100msec mark or he would be showing ping tests. Version 2 is the real starlink but it’s not going to be ready for this crucial window. So it’s going to take some FCC finesse to move ahead.
  - wmf 6y ago
    That's the obvious inference, but how is Starlink 1 over 100 ms when their goal is 20 ms?
    - joezydeco 6y ago
      The second version will use laser links between satellites.
      - wmf 6y ago
        That should make latency worse, not better. Right now all traffic goes through just one satellite so it doesn't make sense that latency is so much worse than projected.
walrus01 6y ago
End to end latency to things on the internet of 100ms isn't a deal breaker. There are a number of things out there on the internet that are far more than 100ms away from me, because they're on the other side of the atlantic or pacific oceans. Exactly what distance and topology this 100ms is being measured over needs to be specified. There are already a number of residential and small business last mile access technologies that introduce 20-25ms latency. It can be 20-25ms latency from an ADSL2+ modem to the DSLAM. Or on a moderately loaded DOCSIS3 network latency from modem to CMTS can also be 20-25ms. Starlink is expected to be 20-25ms for RTT latency from the CPE to the earth station. From the earth station (those of which I know about are colocated with long haul fiber sites), latency to destinations on the internet would be the same as terrestrial internet customers in the same location. It's important to define two different things: a) space segment latency, which will be 20-25ms b) terrestrial latency, which will be exactly the same as any other properly-peered and interconnected large domestic ISP (such as a Wave, Charter, Comcast, Centurylink, etc). The satellites will be serving as bent pipe relays.

wmf 6y ago

This is a very roundabout PR blitz. Just show a speedtest!

joezydeco 6y ago
My hunch is that version 1 isn’t quite at the 100msec mark or he would be showing ping tests. Version 2 is the real starlink but it’s not going to be ready for this crucial window. So it’s going to take some FCC finesse to move ahead.
- wmf 6y ago
  That's the obvious inference, but how is Starlink 1 over 100 ms when their goal is 20 ms?
  - joezydeco 6y ago
    The second version will use laser links between satellites.
    - wmf 6y ago
      That should make latency worse, not better. Right now all traffic goes through just one satellite so it doesn't make sense that latency is so much worse than projected.

walrus01 6y ago

End to end latency to things on the internet of 100ms isn't a deal breaker. There are a number of things out there on the internet that are far more than 100ms away from me, because they're on the other side of the atlantic or pacific oceans. Exactly what distance and topology this 100ms is being measured over needs to be specified. There are already a number of residential and small business last mile access technologies that introduce 20-25ms latency. It can be 20-25ms latency from an ADSL2+ modem to the DSLAM. Or on a moderately loaded DOCSIS3 network latency from modem to CMTS can also be 20-25ms. Starlink is expected to be 20-25ms for RTT latency from the CPE to the earth station. From the earth station (those of which I know about are colocated with long haul fiber sites), latency to destinations on the internet would be the same as terrestrial internet customers in the same location. It's important to define two different things: a) space segment latency, which will be 20-25ms b) terrestrial latency, which will be exactly the same as any other properly-peered and interconnected large domestic ISP (such as a Wave, Charter, Comcast, Centurylink, etc). The satellites will be serving as bent pipe relays.