Starlink : Is It Worth the Money ?
By Grace Lee
Is Starlink worth it ? The Starlink satellite internet system provides internet to more than 70 countries around the world , operated by SpaceX , an American aerospace company .
Elon Musk ’ s Starlink provides internet through its satellites . Instead of using cables , Starlink transmits radio signals through space . People in America , Ukraine , and several other European and Asian countries are using Starlink ’ s network .
Although it has incredible technology that can provide internet anywhere on Earth , there are a lot of disadvantages .
First , Starlink has brought out numerous concerns to astronomers due to its brightness . The orbiting satellites create extreme light pollution that interrupts stargazing and astronomical observations . Since Starlink ’ s orbits are low , it interferes with the observations of many telescopes on the ground and causes confusion .
Moreover , Starlink has a slow network but high costs . Starlink ’ s standard speed is around 100 Mb / s ; however , rural regions have a significantly slow speed of 20 Mb / s . To use Starlink Internet , clients have to pay an initial connection fee of $ 600 with a monthly service rate of about $ 110 . This is more expensive than other affordable internet .
The speed of the Starlink internet is also weather-dependent . Since Starlink is a satellite internet , it is affected by weather . Heavy precipitations , such as rainstorms and blizzards , can shut off the internet for hours . A user who used Starlink Internet for 2 months claimed ,
“ The speeds do seem to fluctuate a lot
“
Furthermore , Starlink has poor customer service . A lot of users wait for weeks to receive a reply from the company .
Starlink is designed to provide internet globally by satellite . SpaceX is launching more satellites in space to make the product available worldwide , enabling the technology to be used in many parts of the world already . Although Starlink has both benefits and drawbacks , its numerous disadvantages make Starlink a poor choice .
SLAS TIMES | 48