Verizon VS Starlink: you’ve probably wondered about the better choice. Undoubtedly, these two internet service industries are fast replacing our traditional home broadband systems.
Generally, Starlink and Verizon have distinct features, some of which may be similar, less, or more beneficial to users.
And so, in today’s topic, we will elaborately break down their differences in terms of speeds, latency, drops, jitters, bandwidth, coverage, and gaming capabilities.
What Is Verizon?
Verizon Home Internet, formerly Verizon Wireless, is a telecommunication industry providing services like wireless broadband and mobile telephony.
Furthermore, it comprises three distinct services: Verizon 5G Internet, Verizon Fios Internet, and Verizon DSL Internet.
On retrospection, they all have dissimilar weaknesses and strengths as ISPs, but they form the umbrella name, Verizon.
Verizon also delivers 4G LTE and 5G (fifth-generation) network coverage in approximately 99% of the United States population.
(Concept of 5G technology)
Starlink VS Verizon DSL
Verizon DSL is the oldest Verizon home internet and has the widest internet coverage.
Unfortunately, it has an upload speed of 1Mbps maximum and a download speed of 15Mbps maximum, which of the three Verizons is the slowest.
As such, it is likely for users staying far from the headquarters to experience even lower speeds.
Then, it has a latency ranging between 30-50 milliseconds.
On the bright side, Verizon DSL has more virtual meetings or VoIP stability than Starlink. Furthermore, a DSL has less commonly occurring drops, a more stable ping, and lower latency, making it ideal for online gaming.
Also, a Starlink CGNAT private IP is less efficient than the public IP address a Verizon DSL offers. The public IP address is often beneficial when getting an open NAT type or port forwarding.
(Starlink satellite dish)
However, Starlink beats Verizon DSL in several aspects, such as speed. For instance, the upload and download speeds of DSL are 5-10 times lower than that of Starlink.
Meaning Starlink allows you to smoothly steam videos (up to 4K resolution) and download larger files.
(Video streaming)
You can rapidly upload files to cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox.
Another Starlink advantage is you’ll rarely experience buffering when many people are simultaneously online as opposed to DSL.
The explanation above shows Starlink triumphs over Verizon DSL, although with minute exceptions.
Starlink VS Verizon 5G Home Internet
Verizon 5G Home Internet and Starlink have distinct target markets. In other words, Verizon 5G predominantly targets suburban and urban areas, while Starlink aims for universal coverage but initially starts with rural regions.
(Starlink coverage globally)
Which ISP should you buy?
| Features | Verizon 5G home internet | Starlink services |
| Drops | Fewer | More |
| Latency | High | Low |
| Ping stability | Lower | Higher |
| Real-world upload and download performance | Similar to Starlink | Similar to Verizon |
Speeds
From our experience, Verizon 5G home internet has download speeds of at least 200Mbps during off-peak hours and between 40-80Mbps during peak hours.
In addition, its upload speeds vary from 25Mbps during midnights and a maximum of 3Mbps during peak hours.
Conversely, Starlink boasts of download speeds ranging from approximately 70Mbps to 140Mbps. Even though it’s less than Verizon, it is consistent at all hours and won’t get to frustratingly slow levels.
Stability and Reliability
Both Starlink and Verizon 5G have challenges regarding reliability and stability.
Luckily, the companies are working towards rectifying the issues thanks to launching more satellites in the Low Earth Orbit.
They are also considering a customer’s residential area and whether they have a clear sky view.
(Starlink dish in clear sky view)
However, of the two, Verizon 5G has better reliability and won’t experience frequent disconnection like Starlink. Although its connection stability and latency are questionable.
Ping spikes
Verizon 5G has a ping between 100ms to 900+ms. The ms value is unsuitable for latency-sensitive uses like VoIP, working from home, or online gaming. Also, the 5G internet will encounter packet loss and jitters.
Bandwidth
When Verizon runs into a crowded local cell tower, it will deprioritize the 5G Home Internet. Instead, the bandwidth will shift to cell phone data users. We can, however, praise Verizon for making this clear on their terms and agreement.
Online gaming
Both Starlink and Verizon 5G aren’t apt for online gaming due to many reasons, like using CGNAT technology, but we may recommend Starlink. It is because Starlink has infrequent drops, acceptable low latency, and a tolerable range of packet loss and jitters.
Contrarily, the best time you can comfortably use Verizon 5G Home internet is at midnight. Often, after the latency spikes to over 700ms, it is virtually impossible to proceed with your gaming.
(Online gaming)
Best choice; Starlink takes the lead here as well.
Starlink VS Verizon Fios
Generally, Verizon Fios makes up a small market in the ISP industry. Nonetheless, their service area is still sizeable.
Speeds and Bandwidth
Fiber-to-the-home technology is the system Fios uses, delivering consistent, reliable, and fast upload and download speeds of about 1Gbps. In contrast,
Starlink is much lower in speed. However, we could argue that high-speed fiber or cable internet services cannot compete with Starlink.
Fios further provides a highly consistent bandwidth in comparison to Starlink.
Latency, drops, and jitter
Fios is an ideal choice for areas with Verizon Fios coverage since it has low latency, ranging from 5ms to 20ms.
Then, its jitter scales to a maximum of 2ms, meaning you can utilize real-time communication platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom excellently.
Further on, because of the inexistent drops, you’ll achieve high stability in corporate VPN connections.
Online gaming
As we’ve already established, the absence of CGNAT and low latency make any ISP optimal for online gaming.
Thankfully, Fios meets all the features, including port forwarding and opening NAT type in games.
Coverage
With Starlink, you’ll need to consider obstacles obstructing the dish’s sky view and the number of active users within your region.
As for Fios, the quality of service isn’t dependent on obstruction and customers but more on the fiber communication technology, which isn’t prone to interferences.
(Fiber optics with a high-speed connection)
Best choice: Verizon Fios.
Starlink VS Verizon: Pricing
Cost per month for Verizon services – $30 to $120.
Monthly Starlink services cost $90 to $110, and $599 for a one-time equipment purchase.
Conclusion
In summary, we can say that both Starlink and Verizon are good quality internet services. In most situations, your requirements will dictate the best fit.
From our experience, Starlink is better than Verizon DSL and Verizon 5G but less efficient than Verizon Fios.
But despite having our reservations about the better option, the final decision lies with you.
Therefore, we would love your user-experience feedback on the choices we discussed today.
If you need more clarifications on Starlink, you may also keep up with our daily updates.