With More Capacity, Starlink Gives 'Best Effort' Tier a Speed Boost
Speeds for Starlink took a hit last year amid a flood of interested users, but SpaceX is now upgrading speeds for some subscribers of the Starlink “Best Effort” tier.
Last week, several Best Effort tier users reported receiving emails about SpaceX upgrading their service to the normal residential Starlink tier.
“With Residential, you will receive prioritized service, resulting in improved speeds, particularly during times of network congestion,” SpaceX wrote(Opens in a new window) in the email. “There is no change in your monthly service price or additional cost for this upgrade.”
The Best Effort tier currently offers(Opens in a new window) advertised download speeds from 5 to 50Mbps. In contrast, the standard residential tier offers speeds from 20 to 100Mbps.
The emails arrive as SpaceX has been freeing up capacity for Starlink, which uses orbiting satellites to beam broadband to users on the ground. Last week, the company also lifted the Starlink residential tier waitlist for most parts of the western US.
To increase capacity, SpaceX has already launched 495 additional Starlink satellites in this year alone. In the email, the company added: “This upgrade is made possible through the introduction of Starlink’s higher performing satellites, SpaceX’s faster launch rate, and the continuous deployment of software features to optimize the Starlink network.”
It's unclear how many Best Effort users have been upgraded to the normal residential tier; some say(Opens in a new window) they haven't received an upgrade. SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but on Facebook(Opens in a new window) and Reddit(Opens in a new window), users who received the upgrade reported being based in Georgia, Texas,
Read more on pcmag.com
