Ever wondered how fast your satellite broadband is? The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued a report as part of its Measuring Broadband Australia programme which for the very first time measures the broadband performance of satellite services in Australia. It includes the performance data for Starlink and NBN Sky Muster.
The report found that Elon Musk’s Starlink outperformed NBN Sky Muster in terms of delivering higher data transmission speeds and lower latency.
The maximum speed for NBN Sky Muster was approximately 111 Mbps for downloads and 22 Mbps for uploads.
In comparison, Starlink connections are capable of far higher speeds, with the report recording peak speeds of approximately 470 Mbps for downloads and 74 Mbps for uploads.
The report also investigated the latency – the time it takes to send data from a user’s device to a server and back – of the two services.
The average latency for Starlink was 29.8 milliseconds across all hours, compared to 664.9 milliseconds for NBN Sky Muster services.
The ACCC noted that Starlink’s lower latency is indicative of a more reliable experience than NBN Sky Muster when using real-time applications such as video conferencing and online gaming.
Starlink’s average download speed was found to be 192 Mbps across all hours, decreasing to 165.5 Mbps during the busy hours of 7pm to 11pm on weeknights. Its upload speeds were steady throughout the day, with an average speed of 28.6 Mbps across all hours compared to 27.8 Mbps during busy hours.
On the other hand, NBN Sky Muster recorded an average download speed of 83.2 per cent of maximum plan speeds across all hours, decreasing to 66.1 per cent during busy hours. Its upload speeds were also relatively steady throughout the day, with an average speed of 112.6 per cent of plan speeds across all hours and 102.6 per cent during busy hours.
As for outages, Starlink whose satellites operate at altitudes of 550km-1,200km has an average daily rate of outages of 0.35 outages per day. Ninety-four per cent of households experienced fewer than one outage per day and 31 per cent of outages did not last longer than three minutes.
NBN Sky Muster which utilises two GEO satellites positioned approximately 35,786km above the equator had an average daily rate of outages of 0.21 outages per day. Ninety-four per cent of households experienced fewer than one outage per day and 51 per cent of outages did not last longer than three minutes.
“Many consumers in rural and remote areas do not have access to a fixed-line network and rely on alternatives such as satellite services to connect to the internet,” said ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey.
“When deciding which plan or provider is best for you, we encourage consumers to consider both the performance data as well as the price of the service and their household’s broadband usage needs,” added Brakey.
