Reminder that an alternative for Starlink is needed, exchange between Musk and the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs
Reminder that an alternative for Starlink is needed, exchange between Musk and the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs
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Then how is it possible that some of the internet carriers offer satellite internet without starlink?
They use high flying satelites that stay in a fixed orbit for a very long time.
On the other hand, starlink satelites fly in low orbit where there is enough air that they are dragged down and must be replaced. This is expensive and only possible because SpaceX made rocket launches significantly cheaper.
The advantage of the low orbit is the low latency which makes it possible to steer drones.
Specifically they're at an altitude of ~600km and the atmospheric drag limits their lifespan to roughly 5 years.
Having used both systems (my parent used to only have satellite available):
Traditional satellite has a ping of around 600-700 ms, while starlink was around 70.
Oof 700ms is going to be worthless for anything besides downloading stuff. Video calls would even be very frustrating
I also see (my parents recently "upgraded" to wireless nternet) better speeds and a whole lot less jitter.
My parents get about 100mbps both ways, and relatively consistent jitter. The jitter can vary depending on if there's a storm or something but since those don't usually blow in and out in a few minutes, it's not really a problem.