3 ms·
I want to like Starlink, but there is no way the product can both continue to grow and also service customers at advertised speeds. It will literally only get s
by throwawaaarrgh 3y ago
I want to like Starlink, but there is no way the product can both continue to grow and also service customers at advertised speeds. It will literally only get slower over time. And it's already spotty.
- Retric 3y agoUltimately bandwidth per customer is just a revenue vs cost of each satellite question. They or a competitor can scale the number of LEO satellites and their mass basically indefinitely. Also inline traditional communication satellites these things have a short lifespan which means the network can see significant improvements over time as technology improves.
- throwawaaarrgh 3y agoFrom what I heard there is literally a cap on the number of signals that can be serviced per cell, extra satellites will not expand potential signals per cell, so you literally run out of how many people can be connected in a given area. Bandwidth is already limited and becomes moreso as the cell gets crowded.
- Retric 3y agoCell sizes can be shrunk it’s really dependent of the technology involved. Starlink is currently tied to a specific technology stack but different providers can be using different frequencies etc. If you’re looking for the ultimate limit you need to consider stuff like this 100Gbps optical link. https://news.mit.edu/2022/communications-system-achieves-fastest-laser-link-space-yet-1130 https://news.mit.edu/2022/communications-system-achieves-fas.... That’s not directly viable for home internet users, but an airline or cruse ship might be interested in such technologies.