About Starlink Latency, Starlink Internet may be the best satellite internet for its unrivaled performance if you live in a rural region.
However, you may wonder about Starlink latency if you are an avid gamer or a frequent video caller.
In this article, we will talk about Starlink latency to help you answer any questions.
What is Latency
Latency is the time a sent request signal takes to travel from your computer to a server and back.
It is usually measured in milliseconds, abbreviated as ms. The lower the latency, the better your internet is suited for performing real-time activities such as video conferencing and gaming.
It is also important to note that distance and signal travel medium determine your internet latency.
For example, satellite internet generally has high latency compared to fiber and cable internet.
Additionally, unlike in cables, requests in satellite internet have to travel wirelessly through the air full of signal interferences.
Latency representation
Starlink Latency Specs
As mentioned above, satellite internet usually has a high latency of even more than 500 ms.
However, Starlink has managed to bring this figure to 20 to 40 ms.
First, the company uses a phased array technology antenna with a better reception than conventional dishes.
Additionally, Starlink uses LEO satellites, which are only 550km from the Earth, thus reducing signal travel distance.
However, note that 20 to 40 ms is the advertised latency, but most users’ real word average is about 48 ms.
This latency can go up or lower depending on factors such as network congestion and ground station distance.
Factors Determining Starlink Internet Latency
While the average Starlink latency is still decent for most online activities, the following factors can lower or increase it:
Satellite position
We already established that Starlink uses low earth orbit satellites to transmit data.
These satellites are between 550 and 570 km from the Earth’s surface.
If your browsing is routed to a satellite far, you will experience high latency.
Server distance and congestion
Starlink uses a lot of servers to process several customer requests. If the server is far from your location, you can expect signals to travel far, causing high ping.
On the other hand, if the server is congested, it may have problems processing several requests simultaneously.
Browsing the internet
Dish settings
The dish has a few capabilities to optimize signal reception.
One of these configurations is the self-aligning technology, which automatically tilts the dish towards the nearest satellite for reception enhancement.
Signal interferences
In satellite internet such as Starlink, data travels through the air. It can encounter many obstacles, such as magnetic fields and microwave signals.
These interferences reduce the rate at which data can travel through the air, causing high ping.
How to Fix Latency for Starlink Connections
Since latency depends on the server distance and the in-betweens, you can do very little to fix it. However, you can still take the following actions to improve it:
Eliminate obstructions
You already know Starlink dish requires a clear sky view to communicate to the satellites.
As such, you need to ensure you give it such and eliminate obstructions like branches.
Doing so ensures you not only enhance latency but also speed and reliability.
Configuring Starlink
Halt background applications
Games and video calling require a lot of bandwidth. Therefore, when engaging in such activities, I recommend closing background apps on your device.
These apps and services share bandwidth and end up using a lot, depriving your main activity, thus lowering speed and latency.
Use a wired connection.
While WiFi is more convenient, a wired connection has less interference and is more stable than a WiFi connection.
Therefore, I recommend using a wired connection when gaming or video conferencing.
However, you must buy a Starlink accessory known as to ethernet adapter to facilitate ethernet connection on your router.
Starlink Latency vs. Competitors
While Viasat and HughesNet are cheaper and have more users than Stalink, they are inferior regarding latency.
However, the Starlink latency is still way higher than cable and fiber internet such as AT$T.
Generally, fiber has the lowest latency of even one digit, followed by cable.
But Starlink still wins because it does not rely on a wired connection, making it suitable for rural dwellers.
Conclusion
Unlike traditional satellite internets with high latencies, Starlink has made several strides in reducing its.
We can only hope it continues declining as the company launches more satellites.
However, while the Starlink latency is enough for casual gaming, consider fiber or cable internet if you are a professional gamer.