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Surprising absolutely no one who understands networking. The ludicrously high speeds that were praised during the limited beta really seem like they were desig

Surprising absolutely no one who understands networking. The ludicrously high speeds that were praised during the limited beta really seem like they were designed to be a bait and switch to get people on board with completely unrealistic expectations for a full fledged satellite internet service.

NelsonMinar 4y ago
It seems to be surprising Starlink; they're still telling customers they should expect speeds far above what we're getting in practice. Their service description is a fiction. https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1002-69942-69?regionCode=US https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1002-69942-69?r...
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  > they're still telling customers they should expect speeds far above what we're getting in practice That's Musk's MO, isn't it? "Full self driving", Mars by 2022... They certainly do some genuinely cool stuff, but meeting promises like this isn't one of them.
- panick21_ 4y ago
  Yes its amazing that a company that is deploying more infrastructure every week thinks that the capacity of their infrastructure will go up. Crazy that they think that.
- zizee 4y ago
  You make it sound like they are being extremely misleading, and yet the page you linked to has this text in bold: > Stated speeds and uninterrupted use of Services are not guaranteed. Actual speeds will likely be lower than the maximum speeds during times of high usage. Starlink may temporarily reduce speeds if our network is congested.
  - NelsonMinar 4y ago
    They've adjusted that language (and target speeds) several times without altering the price in the US. Also it's deceptive to publish a bunch of speeds and then say "lol just kidding you won't get that". Of all the numbers the most fictitious is the 20-40ms latency. I've averaged 55ms for the last month and it's basically been that way since February 2022. The variance is wild too, 25-150ms is common.
    - lgats 4y ago
      At least starlink publishes expected service speeds somewhere [1] Xfinity provides "800-1200 Mbps service" in many areas and they don't even mention upload speeds. You can expect less than 50 Mbps for areas, though their official press will advertise "eligible xFi Complete customers can receive up to 5–10x faster upload speeds" [2]. [1] https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1002-69942-69 https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1002-69942-69 [2] https://www.xfinity.com/hub/internet/faster-upload-speeds https://www.xfinity.com/hub/internet/faster-upload-speeds
jackmott 4y ago
oceanplexian 4y ago
I have Starlink and have been using it since last year. It’s true, the speeds have gone down during peak hours. I get maybe 100Mbps instead of 250-300. And I see speeds back in the 200s off-peak. But damn, Bait and Switch? Harsh words for extremely usable high speed Internet from Space that’s fast enough for remote working, online games, zoom, and 4K streaming that works extremely well from a good portion of the Earth. Compared to “satellite internet” of the past it’s a similar technological leap as dial up was to cable internet. I don’t know how people can complain.

NelsonMinar 4y ago

It seems to be surprising Starlink; they're still telling customers they should expect speeds far above what we're getting in practice. Their service description is a fiction. https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1002-69942-69?regionCode=US https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1002-69942-69?r...

ceejayoz 4y ago
> they're still telling customers they should expect speeds far above what we're getting in practice That's Musk's MO, isn't it? "Full self driving", Mars by 2022... They certainly do some genuinely cool stuff, but meeting promises like this isn't one of them.
panick21_ 4y ago
Yes its amazing that a company that is deploying more infrastructure every week thinks that the capacity of their infrastructure will go up. Crazy that they think that.
zizee 4y ago
You make it sound like they are being extremely misleading, and yet the page you linked to has this text in bold: > Stated speeds and uninterrupted use of Services are not guaranteed. Actual speeds will likely be lower than the maximum speeds during times of high usage. Starlink may temporarily reduce speeds if our network is congested.
- NelsonMinar 4y ago
  They've adjusted that language (and target speeds) several times without altering the price in the US. Also it's deceptive to publish a bunch of speeds and then say "lol just kidding you won't get that". Of all the numbers the most fictitious is the 20-40ms latency. I've averaged 55ms for the last month and it's basically been that way since February 2022. The variance is wild too, 25-150ms is common.
  - lgats 4y ago
    At least starlink publishes expected service speeds somewhere [1] Xfinity provides "800-1200 Mbps service" in many areas and they don't even mention upload speeds. You can expect less than 50 Mbps for areas, though their official press will advertise "eligible xFi Complete customers can receive up to 5–10x faster upload speeds" [2]. [1] https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1002-69942-69 https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1002-69942-69 [2] https://www.xfinity.com/hub/internet/faster-upload-speeds https://www.xfinity.com/hub/internet/faster-upload-speeds

jackmott 4y ago

oceanplexian 4y ago

I have Starlink and have been using it since last year. It’s true, the speeds have gone down during peak hours. I get maybe 100Mbps instead of 250-300. And I see speeds back in the 200s off-peak. But damn, Bait and Switch? Harsh words for extremely usable high speed Internet from Space that’s fast enough for remote working, online games, zoom, and 4K streaming that works extremely well from a good portion of the Earth. Compared to “satellite internet” of the past it’s a similar technological leap as dial up was to cable internet. I don’t know how people can complain.