Starlink Speed Test (USA) — Real Speeds & Fixes
Starlink is SpaceX's low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite ISP, delivering broadband to rural and mobile users the ground-based networks skip. Real-world speeds depend on obstruction of the sky, cell congestion, and how often the dish is handing off between satellites.
That's orbital handoff — your dish is switching to a fresh satellite. Trees, roof edges and antennas partially blocking the sky make handoffs slower. Use the Starlink app's Obstruction Check to find and fix any blockage above 25° elevation.
Your local Starlink cell is congested. Residential plans are deprioritised behind Priority customers. If your cell is at capacity, consider a Priority plan, or add a fibre/5G failover for streaming and video calls.
On this page
- Latency spikes every 15-60 seconds
- Speed drops sharply at peak evening hours
- Wi-Fi weaker than the dish reports
The stock Starlink router is a single-radio mesh unit. For 200 Mbps+ homes, put it in bypass mode and add a Wi-Fi 6E router or mesh (eero, ASUS ZenWiFi, TP-Link Deco). Most users see Wi-Fi throughput double after this change.
Plans and realistic speeds
- Residential (fixed): 80-200 Mbps down, 8-20 Mbps up
- Roam / RV: 40-150 Mbps down, 5-15 Mbps up (deprioritised during peak)
- Priority (business): 150-350 Mbps down, 20-40 Mbps up
- Mini (portable): 50-100 Mbps down, 5-15 Mbps up
Common issues and how to fix them
- Latency spikes every 15-60 seconds: That's orbital handoff — your dish is switching to a fresh satellite. Trees, roof edges and antennas partially blocking the sky make handoffs slower. Use the Starlink app's Obstruction Check to find and fix any blockage above 25° elevation.
- Speed drops sharply at peak evening hours: Your local Starlink cell is congested. Residential plans are deprioritised behind Priority customers. If your cell is at capacity, consider a Priority plan, or add a fibre/5G failover for streaming and video calls.
- Wi-Fi weaker than the dish reports: The stock Starlink router is a single-radio mesh unit. For 200 Mbps+ homes, put it in bypass mode and add a Wi-Fi 6E router or mesh (eero, ASUS ZenWiFi, TP-Link Deco). Most users see Wi-Fi throughput double after this change.
Typical latency
- Idle ping to nearest Cloudflare PoP: 25-50 ms (much lower than legacy GEO satellite)
- Regular 100-300 ms handoff spikes every 15-60 s under partial obstructions
- Cross-continent (US to EU): 80-140 ms typical
- Gaming: playable for most FPS/MMO titles; competitive esports may notice jitter
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