With More Capacity, Starlink Gives 'Best Effort' Tier a Speed Boost

Speeds forStarlinktook a hit last year amid a flood of interested users, but SpaceX is now upgrading speeds for some subscribers of the Starlink “Best Effort” tier.

Last week, several Best Effort tier users reported receiving emails about SpaceX upgrading their service to the normal residential Starlink tier.

“With Residential, you will receive prioritized service, resulting in improved speeds, particularly during times of network congestion,” SpaceXwrote(Opens in a new window)in the email. “There is no change in your monthly service price or additional cost for this upgrade.”

的Best Effort tier currentlyoffers(Opens in a new window)advertised download speeds from 5 to 50Mbps. In contrast, the standard residential tier offers speeds from 20 to 100Mbps.

的emails arrive as SpaceX has been freeing up capacity for Starlink, which uses orbiting satellites to beam broadband to users on the ground. Last week, the company alsoliftedthe Starlink residential tier waitlist for most parts of the western US.

To increase capacity, SpaceX has already launched 495 additional Starlink satellites in this year alone. In the email, the company added: “This upgrade is made possible through the introduction of Starlink’shigher performingsatellites, SpaceX’s faster launch rate, and the continuous deployment of software features to optimize the Starlink network.”

我们推荐的编辑

Starlink vs. HughesNet vs. Viasat: Which Satellite Internet Provider Is Best?

Starlink Flight Test: What It's Like Using SpaceX's Broadband for Inflight Wi-Fi

SpaceX Prepares Rent-a-Starlink Option for Select Markets

It's unclear how many Best Effort users have been upgraded to the normal residential tier; somesay(Opens in a new window)they haven't received an upgrade. SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but onFacebook(Opens in a new window)andReddit(Opens in a new window), users who received the upgrade reported being based in Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, along with Ontario, Canada—all areas mostly waitlisted on Starlink.

SpaceX originallyintroducedthe Best Effort tier in August for pre-order customers who had been waiting months or over a year for access to Starlink. The program offers customers access to the satellite internet service, but at significantly slower speeds. For now, the company has been giving consumers access to the Best Effort tier only "to existing pre-order customers in areas where Residential service is currently at capacity." To bypass the waitlist, users can tryStarlink Roamor a business-tier, but they'll have to pay more.