Starlink satellites register faster transmission speeds than NBN Sky Muster, according to a report released by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) today.
Starlink’s maximum speed reached 470 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloads and 74 Mbps for uploads, the report said. NBN Sky Muster satellites’ maximum speed was 111 Mbps for downloads and 22 Mbps for uploads.
“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.
“We have expanded the Measuring Broadband Australia program to include performance data for satellite services to help these consumers make informed decisions about which service may offer the best value for them.”
Starlink also outperformed NBN Sky Muster in latency, the time needed to send data from a device to a server and back.
Starlink satellites’ average latency was 29.8 milliseconds, while NBN Sky Muster’s was 664.9 milliseconds.
Both NBN Sky Muster and Starlink’s upload speeds were relatively steady.
Average download speeds decreased on weekday evenings from 7-11 pm, with NBN Sky Muster’s speeds dipping 43% below the day’s maximum at 8 pm. Starlink’s average download speed declined to 165.5 Mbps during these hours, down from its overall average of 192 Mbps.
Average download speeds for NBN fixed-line services during busy hours reached 100.9% of plan speed, according to the report. This is an increase of 0.5% from the previous quarter.
Measuring Broadband Australia, an ACCC project, studies fixed internet performance in Australia. Data is measured by British internet performance surveyor SamKnows, a Cisco subsidiary.