What Is Starlink and Is Starlink Available in My Area?

Starlink advertises download speeds between 50–500 Mbps, depending on whether you opt for Starlink Business or not. Third-party analysts confirm that average Starlink download speeds hover around 100 Mbps, which means Starlink is delivering ample speeds for video streaming, gaming, online learning, and working remotely.

The main problems customers experience with Starlink performance are periodic outages—and to be fair, Starlink warned us about service interruptions. Starlink’s service outages are often caused by gaps in the satellite constellation. The Starlink constellation looks like a fish net rotating around the Earth. If "satellite A" passes out of your field of vision before "satellite B" comes into range, you’ll have a service interruption.

As more satellites are launched into orbit and the Starlink satellite constellation is built out over the next few years, satellite internet service will be available continuously (without service interruptions). 

It depends on your location. Starlink service isn’t 100% reliable yet. Right now, customers are told to expect periodic outages until the satellite constellation is more fully built out. That said, if you need internet in a rural area like Wayne County, Michigan, utilizing Starlink as another satellite internet alternative may be a welcome option.

Starlink is faster than most other rural internet options and has great potential, but the service interruptions (blackouts) are frustrating. For people who rely on the internet for work or school, we recommend waiting to get Starlink until it is more reliable. Last year we put together a list of the 10 fastest and slowest rural cities for internet to get a deeper look at where satellite internet is most recommended. 

If you need satellite internet now, waiting for Starlink to launch another few thousand satellites isn’t an option. Viasat and HughesNet offer satellite internet service nationwide, so you can get connected today. Most Viasat plans give you much more data than HughesNet plans, which will help keep your speeds thrumming along.

Currently, Starlink is available to customers who live between 45 and 53 degrees latitude.¹ As the satellite constellation is built out further, additional regions will be added until it is available globally. You can sign up on the Starlink waiting list if you live in the northern US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or parts of 10 countries in Europe (including the UK).

If you want to find out when Starlink is available in your area, you can visit the Starlink website and request notifications on when Starlink service will roll out in your area.

Starlink isn’t going to be a universal internet solution for everyone, particularly for those living in urban and suburban areas. Due to satellite capacity limitations, Starlink won’t be a good choice for urban areas. With satellite internet, each geographical area has a finite amount of capacity because all internet traffic has to pass through whatever satellites are closest to that particular area. In rural areas, where the population is spread out, a high percentage of the population could use Starlink and not max out the capacity. But in high-density urban areas, even a relatively low percentage of users will quickly overload the Starlink network. 

You can learn more about Starlink’s planned network on our Starlink satellite internet information page.

Starlink just opened RV satellite internet plans to most (but not all) of the United States, Europe, and Australia. The service is designed specifically for RV owners, so as long as your chosen camping spots have clear views of the sky, you should be able to use Starlink with your RV.

When in 2023 will Starlink be available?

If you’re in the southeastern part of the United States and large spot of the West, you’ve been out of luck when it comes to Starlink RV. Fortunately, Starlink plans to expand its RV satellite internet service to the South in 2023—so you can at least get on the waitlist and dream of the day you’ll have Starlink on your RV.

Starlink hasn't revealed what specific time in 2023 it will be expanding its service, presumably because it's constantly and bit by bit expanding Starlink availability. So if you've signed up for the waitlist, keep an eye on your email or Starlink messaging center. You could be getting good news soon.

If you’re looking for reliable RV internet in the meantime, check out our How to Get Internet in Your RV guide, with our top five options vetted for you ahead of time.

How much does Starlink for RVs cost?

But for those who do have access to Starlink’s RV plans, keep in mind that they don’t come cheap. The equipment costs $599 up front, and you’ll pay $135 a month thereafter. Fortunately, Starlink for RVs promises a pay-as-you-go structure, where you can pause service when you don’t need it and resume paying the $135 a month when you do.

That’s not a bad compromise, but we’d still only recommend it for longer-term boondockers. Weekend travelers just won’t see the same value for the price.

Is Starlink available in Philippines?

Where is Starlink available in Africa?

Starlink Africa availability is officially coming to Malawi, Nigeria, and Mozambique. All three countries gave Starlink the regulatory approvals and official license to go ahead in 2022, the first three African countries to do so. Starlink expects to start rolling out service in 2023.

Will Starlink be available in Kenya?

Starlink is aiming to roll out service in Kenya in 2023, but it's still subject to regulatory approval. If all goes well with the government regulations, that means Kenyans can enjoy satellite internet service starting in 2023. But like many other African countries Starlink is aiming to make deals with, we'll have to see what the countries' governments officially decide. 

Can you get Starlink in Australia?

Starting February 2023, people all across Australia can sign up for an order Starlink internet service. In fact, Starlink Australia is now serving 100,000 customers.

How far north is Starlink available?

Starlink is now available in Alaska and the totality of the Northwest Territories of Canada, Yukon and Nunavut, which are mostly north of 60º latitude mark. That's a game changer for such northern countries.

On the European side of things, Starlink is also available as far north as Svalbard, a part of the Kingdom of Norway, located in the Arctic Ocean.

Does Starlink work in the Arctic?

Starlink internet service is currently available in parts of the Arctic, with much greater coverage rollouts planned for 2023.  

Elon Musk has tweeted that there are currently 1,469 active Starlink satellites in orbit with 272 moving to operational orbits as of January 15, 2022. Starlink has been launching satellites into orbit since early 2018, with launches expected to continue for years. For the past two years, Starlink has been launching a batch or two of satellites each month. 

Eventually, Starlink plans to have thousands of low-Earth orbit satellites in commission. Starlink’s satellite network resembles a fishnet with the satellites evenly spaced out across the Earth to form a tight-knit weave. As the satellites orbit, they maintain this formation. User terminals on Earth will automatically point and connect to the satellites closest to them.

Starlink advertises download speeds between 50 and 500 Mbps. A recent report from Speedcheck confirmed that North American Starlink customers are getting an average download speed of 50 Mbps with a low latency of 50 to 60 ms. 

Starlink’s speed is even more impressive when combined with the perk of having unlimited data. Data caps cause significant slowing for satellite customers, since most run out of data before the end of the month and their speeds get throttled. There's no definite word on whether Starlink will continue to offer unlimited data, but for now it's a great perk.

On the Starlink website, customers are told that in most locations, they can expect 20 ms latency. Recent Starlink speed tests have shown an average latency between 50–60 ms, which falls a bit short of expectations but still exceeds performance of most satellite internet services (which average 594–624 ms).

Latency measures the delay or lag you experience when requesting or sending data, and notoriously high latency rates on most forms of satellite internet usually keeps people from gaming. The average satellite internet latency is between 594 milliseconds to 624 milliseconds, so Starlink's low latency rate will be a boon for rural customers.

At least some of the satellites have the capability to share data with each other via inter-satellite laser links. These lasers allow satellites to communicate with each other to increase data speeds and decrease reliance on ground stations (which are costly and limited by geography and international politics). Two Starlink satellites successfully first used this feature in September 2020. In September 2021, Starlink deployed the first full batch of these “space laser” enabled satellites, called version 1.5. As more Starlink satellites begin using “space lasers” to transfer data with each other, speeds and latency are expected to continue to improve.

Starlink Internet download speeds reportedly range from 50–250 Mbps, which puts it in the same general category as Viasat’s 100 Mbps plan (Platinum Unlimited 100). Starlink Business is in a league of its own, touting speeds up to 500 Mbps. HughesNet tops out at 25 Mbps, which is fast enough for activities like streaming but it may be noticeably slower than Starlink or Viasat. Some satellite providers do have high latency, which is another layer of speed you might not think about. Starlink also has unlimited data, a first for satellite plans, although there is no word on how long this feature will continue.

High latency (or lag) means you’ll have a noticeable delay between the time you request information on the internet (such as clicking on a link to request viewing a web page) and the moment that it displays on your computer. This delay is caused by several factors, including the time it takes for your request to travel to servers and satellites orbiting the Earth, and then back to you.

Starlink can offer lower latency than Viasat and HughesNet due to the satellite design and location. Starlink’s satellites are much closer to the Earth than satellite systems used by Viasat or HughesNet. Starlink satellites orbit 550 kilometres (340 miles) from the Earth’s surface, while Viasat and HughesNet satellites are approximately 35,405 kilometres (22,000 miles) away from Earth.

Thanks to their closer proximity, Starlink satellites will deliver broadband internet with lower latency than other satellite providers—simply because data just won’t have to travel as far. Starlink’s lower latency will be helpful in everyday internet usage as well as in online gaming, video conferencing, and other tasks that are done in real time.

Starlink has a lot of publicity, but it might not be a good solution for everyday Americans for several years. The initial sign up cost of $599–$2,500 is cost prohibitive for many people, making companies like Viasat or HughesNet (who offer free signup) look more affordable. Plus, it may take a few years before the Starlink constellation is fully built out and available nationwide.

In the meantime, you can find the best internet options for rural areas today in our full review, which includes satellite internet from HughesNet and Viasat and LTE home internet solutions. You can also read our full review of the best satellite internet providers.

Looking ahead, you can expect to see developments from many companies. Viasat is building out a new satellite system—called the ViaSat-3—which is expected to launch later this year. This new satellite system will bring higher volume, more data, and faster speeds to a satellite network that’s been in place for nearly 20 years.

Starlink installation can be requested through the Starlink website. Most US residents will have access to Starlink internet service in their area, but if you're not, you'll be informed so by the Starlink website and added to the Starlink waitlist instead.

Starlink satellite internet is currently available in parts of the US and Canada to people who live between 44 and 53 degrees latitude. Starlink plans to be available worldwide by the end of 2022.

The best way to find out when you can get Starlink internet is by entering your address on the Starlink website. Once you do, it will give you an estimated availability date for Starlink service in your area.

SpaceX just released Starlink for RVs in 2022, so RV owners in the west, midwest, northeast, and most of the southwest of the United States can now sign up for the portable Starlink satellite internet they’ve hoped for.

But if you’re in the southeastern US, or planning to travel there, you’re out of luck for now. We’d suggest sticking with hotspot and data plans in the meantime.

Starlink for RVs is already available to most of the United States, Europe, and Australia. But people in the southeastern part of the US will have to wait until 2023 to get access to Starlink RV internet.

Starlink for RVs costs $599 up front for the satellite equipment and $135 a month for its satellite internet service. Starlink’s RV plan is also pay as you go, meaning it's billed monthly with no contract, so you can pause and resume service to match your travel plans.

Starlink internet speeds range from 50–500 Mbps. However, customers report fluctuating speeds and occasional outages as the Starlink network continues to launch.

Starlink is reliable enough to work remotely in some areas, while in other places the service is too intermittent. Starlink service will improve within the next few years. If you need a more reliable satellite internet provider in the meantime, try Viasat or HughesNet.

No, Starlink can’t be taken with you while traveling. But Starlink service for RVs is coming, according to Elon Musk.² The company is developing a portable antenna for large trucks, boats, and RVs. For now, Starlink satellite internet service is tied to your location. In the meantime, here are other internet options for RVs.

Yes, Starlink is planning to offer a VoIP phone service plan in the future, but Starlink phone service is not available yet. Starlink will also offer emergency services.⁴