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Starlink customers are some of the happiest in the business, outscoring cable, fiber and fixed wireless providers in a new report from the research firm Recon Analytics.
The firm collected data from over 153,000 respondents between May 12, 2023, and July 5, 2024, 1,300 of which were Starlink customers.
Since it started launching satellites in 2019, the satellite internet company owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX has always had a passionate fanbase -- a rare thing in an industry that routinely ranks below airlines, hospitals and social media companies for customer satisfaction -- but these high scores are still somewhat surprising.
Starlink offers both high prices and modest speeds. Users typically get download speeds between 25 and 220Mbps, and the monthly price starts at $120 -- well above the $63 average in the US. Customers also have to buy a satellite dish upfront for $499 (currently on sale for $299).
So why is Starlink so beloved, even with those middling stats? It’s all about the alternatives. Most of its customers (85%) live in rural areas, where DSL and slower satellite providers are often the only other options. Some of its customers (11%) have never had a home internet connection before Starlink.
“When you have no other options, even pricey internet looks like it’s worth it,” explained Roger Entner, the author of the Recon Analytics report.
The report comes at a time of rapid growth for Starlink. It recently surpassed 3 million subscribers worldwide and 1.4 million in the US, putting it well ahead of satellite competitors Hughesnet (1 million subscribers) and Viasat (257,000).
High marks for reliability and performance
Rural internet is usually synonymous with unreliable internet, but Starlink seems to have flipped that script. Some 30% of Starlink customers said their internet went down at some point in the past 90 days, which was lower than cable and DSL providers but higher than fiber and fixed wireless.
It also appears to be the steadiest of the bunch, with few customers noticing slowdowns or devices being disconnected. And while resetting the router is a common experience for most people, only one in five Starlink customers had to take this step.
| Internet connection went down | Internet was slower than usual | I had to reset Wi-Fi router | Devices disconnected from the network | |
| Starlink Read full review | 30% | 24% | 20% | 19% |
| Major Fiber | 24% | 31% | 27% | 25% |
| Large FWA | 25% | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| Major Cable | 39% | 34% | 33% | 28% |
| Major DSL | 33% | 32% | 28% | 26% |
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Source: Recon Analytics
“Considering that Starlink is a service that requires a direct line of sight to a passing satellite, these metrics are impressive,” Entner wrote. “It has also been able to manage bandwidth, even during peak hours.”
Starlink also fared extremely well on the technical performance metrics, earning the highest scores for complete experience, streaming video, and connecting and maintaining a Wi-Fi connection.
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| Complete experience | Easy installation | Streaming video | Connecting/maintaining Wi-Fi connection | Gaming | |
| Starlink Read full review | 42 | 30 | 44 | 37 | 23 |
| Major Fiber | 18 | 18 | 22 | 18 | 12 |
| Large FWA | 40 | 52 | 39 | 36 | 29 |
| Major Cable | -2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | -7 |
| Major DSL | -10 | 5 | -6 | -8 | -20 |
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Source: Recon Analytics
“It is very similar to fixed wireless access, in that when it works, it works very well, and when it does not work, the service provider makes it easy to return the product within 30 days with either a total refund or only having to pay for services rendered,” Entner said.
There are probably also some low expectations at work here. It’s unlikely, for instance, that Starlink is actually better for gaming than a fiber connection. Ookla speed test data shows that Starlink posted an average latency time of 58ms in November 2023; fiber providers like Verizon Fios (15ms) and Frontier (17ms) came in at a fraction of that time.
One caveat: Customer service
The one area where Starlink didn’t receive high scores is customer service. It’s not that it’s bad -- more that it’s non-existent.
The company doesn’t have in-person stores or even a phone number you can call, so you’ll have to play the online chat game through Starlink’s app or website. This doesn’t actually connect you to a real person, but you can submit a service ticket and hope for a quick response. PCMag has a helpful guide for reaching Starlink customer service here.
The bottom line
While these results are an unequivocal win for Starlink, that doesn’t mean you should automatically switch your internet service. Fixed wireless internet -- another big winner in the Recon Analytics report -- also outscored cable and fiber in a J.D. Power survey from earlier this year, and fiber came out on top this year’s American Customer Satisfaction Index results. (Starlink wasn’t include in either survey.)
But there’s no denying that Starlink’s users are particularly enthusiastic about the satellite internet service. It comes down to options. Starlink is often leaps and bounds ahead of the other internet options available in rural areas, but it doesn’t make as much sense in areas where cable, fiber and 5G home internet are widely available.