V2 Mini satellite additions and policy change lifting speed caps are allowing US Starlink users to enjoy higher speeds as more users join. As more people join Starlink due to lower costs, the experience for all network users is affected.
Fleet expansion and policy shifts boost US broadband benchmark coverage
The national median upload speeds increased by 42 percent to 20.73 Mbps and download speeds rose by 12 percent to 119.71 Mbps. SpaceX is introducing V2 Mini satellites into its orbital lineup, which account for roughly 2/3 of the operational network.
The removal of upload speed caps directly contributed to the large upload speed increases. In the 3rd quarter, there were 13.6 million global consumer subscribers. 1 out of every 5 subscribers was in the US.
The broadband benchmark (as measured by the FCC) has more than doubled and is now at 40% for US users. This measures how many users reach the 100/20 Mbps standard, which is crucial for many rural homes.
There has been an improvement in latency (in 49 states and D.C.) where 25 jurisdictions now have an average latency of under 40 ms. Download speeds have fallen in 16 states and D.C. due to more people using the lower 100 Mbps plans.
$29 USD ($29.00) is what SpaceX is currently charging for its service. This is the price that people join Starlink at.
It is a strategy that increased the number of users but also causes congestion on the capped service tiers. V3 satellites are beginning to be sent up to space.
These have 10x the capacity of the old satellites. The effects on performance won't be seen until 2027 reports are issued.
Source: NotebookCheck
The uncapped upload speed is the real story here. 20 Mbps upload makes actual video calls workable for rural users who were previously stuck with unusable latency.