Are your Starlink speeds slow of late and you need help figuring out what to do? First, let me tell you it’s a common issue that affects many users, making them unable to do simple online tasks.
Now stick with me as I explain some causes of slow Starlink internet speed and possible solutions to help you get back online.
What Is the Average Starlink Speed?
As you may already know, Starlink has several internet plans to suit different customers’ needs.
For this reason, the average speed you experience depends on your subscribed plan.
For example, as a Starlink business plan customer, you can expect average downloads of between 40 to 220 Mbps.
Here, the average upload speeds are between 8 to 25 Mbps. If you are a residential Starlink customer, the average download is 25 to 100 Mbps, while uploads are 5 to 10 Mbps.
Another popular plan is the roam/RV Starlink, which experiences 5 to 50 Mbps for download and 2 to 10 Mbps for uploads.
Note that the Starlink RV speed may be slow during network congestion hours since it is usually deprioritized.
Other average speeds, such as the Starlink maritime and aviation, depend on priority access data.
Therefore, if you have a priority access data plan, you will experience higher speeds than those on standard data.
Internet speed concept
Why Is My Starlink Speed So Slow?
If you experience slower than the average speeds we discussed above, it can mean the following issues are the cause.
Network congestion
Before we go into details, note that while Starlink’s customer base is growing quickly, its satellite launch is not fast enough.
Since each satellite can only serve a predetermined number of users, expect slow internet when users increase.
Network congestion typically occurs in peak hours when many people use the internet in your locality.
During this time, many people send requests simultaneously, which overwhelms the Starlink system.
The issues most affect deprioritized customers, such as the RV Starlink plan.
However, the good news is that Starlink continues to launch satellites in the hope of curbing this negative.
Bad weather
Another pain of the Starlink internet is the bad weather. While light rain and snow may not do anything to this internet, heavy snow can bring slow speeds.
First, this bad weather blocks radio wave communication between the satellites and the dish.
Additionally, ice may form on the dish surface if you haven’t enabled the dish self-healing mechanism, hindering performance.
Other bad weather affecting your Starlink speed includes storms, hurricanes, and heavy wind that may destabilize the dish.
Dish obstructions
As you may have already gathered from the Starlink manual, the dish requires a clear sky view.
To be precise, the company recommends at least 100 degrees FOV to enable satellite-to-dish communication.
For this reason, any obstacle, such as tall buildings or trees in the way, may affect the dish’s ability to receive satellite signals.
Consequently, you will either get slow internet speed or occasionally interrupted internet.
Obstructed satellite dish
Priority data exhaustion
As mentioned earlier, some plans’ speeds rely on priority data access. This data is usually expensive, but it enables high-end services such as maritime and aviation to get fast Internet.
Interestingly, when you exhaust this priority data, you can still use the standard one if you don’t want to buy more priority data.
However, the bad news is that you will notice a huge speed drop between the standard and priority data.
Connected device
At times, you can experience slow internet speeds not for any other reason but the connected devices.
For example, assume you have several phones, laptops, CCTV cameras, and other devices connected to your network.
Here, each device uses a certain bandwidth from your network.
The more they are, the lower the shared bandwidth, which affects internet speed and general performance.
You may experience this mostly when streaming live events, gaming, or doing video calls.
Devices sharing WiFi
Distance from the Router
Typically, unlike modern routers, the Starlik router can only handle a range of 2000 sq feet, which poses a problem for big houses.
That said, you will likely experience a slow connection or no internet if you are beyond this range.
While on this point, note that barriers such as walls between you and the router can also cause slow speeds.
Additionally, if the WiFi signal travels far from the router to you, they may experience electromagnetic waves that slow the connection.
Faulty equipment
For optimum signal reception, the router, dish, and associated Starlink accessories must be at their best.
Therefore, any deformities of the cable, aged dish with scratched coating, or defective router can cause speed problems.
Also, if the Starlink motor gets stuck, it fails to reposition the dish correctly, resulting in slow speeds and disconnections.
Wrong configurations
This list’s final cause of slow internet is wrong IPs, improper DNS server settings, and other wrong configurations.
While here, note that VPNs can also bring about slow speed connection. It can mostly affect you if you are using free VPNs that are congested or others with servers far from your area.
How to Make Starlink Faster
Now that we know what causes Starlink’s slow Speed, let’s see possible ways to make it faster.
Eliminate dish obstructions
Do you remember we said obstructions such as trees and walls can block your dish sky view?
In this step, you must eliminate these obstructions or relocate your dish. Ensure in the new location, your dish has a clear sky view.
I recommend installing the dish in an elevated place to optimize reception while keeping it safe.
While installing, ensure the dish is stable enough and free to reposition without hindrances.
Use the Starink app to assess the obstruction situation and act accordingly.
Avoid network usage during congestion.
While SpaceX is launching more satellites to curb the congestion issues, you cannot expect it to vanish immediately.
Therefore, I recommend restricting your heavy downloads to off-peak hours. On this note, turn off the less important devices sharing your bandwidth, especially when streaming.
Additionally, ensure you purchase your priority data to avoid the standard one if you are on plans that use priority data.
If you want to know if congestion is the issue, try browsing during peak and off-peak and compare the speeds.
Use a wired connection.
As we said earlier, a WiFi network is prone to electromagnetic interference, such as microwaves.
Since the waves make it slow in speed, the solution would be to use a wired ethernet connection.
While this may seem tedious, it gives you a stable connection that can go even beyond walls.
However, it would be best if you bought an ethernet adapter to use a wired connection with Starlink to access ethernet ports.
Ethernet cable connection
Use a WiFi extender and Mesh nodes.
Use mesh nodes and WiFi extenders if the WiFi range is the issue. These are devices you can find on the Starlink shop to extend the range of your WiFi beyond the 2000 sq ft.
Alternatively, you can bypass the Starlink router and use a modern router with enhanced range.
Power cycle or factory reset your Setup.
The slow connection can sometimes be from a bug, error, or static charges that can cause overheating.
In this case, you must power cycle your router to refresh and optimize its performance.
To do so, just unplug the router from the socket, let it stay idle for a minute, then reconnect it.
Alternatively, you can clear the bug and the wrong configurations using the factory reset method.
Note that this method sets your router to default factory settings without your data.
To factory reset, power cycle your router three times in a row, leaving five seconds between each unplugging.
Router reset
Conclusion
We have addressed the major cause of your Starlink slow speed to help you enjoy your Internet.
The only remaining one is if the equipment is faulty. If so, you can repair the repairable and replace the extremely damaged ones.
Otherwise, contact customer care since the problem can be regional.