Increasing demand, SpaceX’s satellite internet network will apply a download limit between 07.00 and 23.00. This is to trick users into moving some of their downloads (updates, etc.) overnight.
It’s not just the Ukrainian military that loves Starlink. Between maritime and air developments and deliveries of terminals for the shovel, the satellite constellation to access SpaceX’s Internet has wind in its sails … and the infrastructure in overload. To cope with the growing demand for bandwidth, Starlink will introduce a monthly download limit per day. Rolled out globally, this limit will be 1 TB of data per month. But will be limited to a period from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Also read: Elon Musk and SpaceX no longer want to pay for Starlinks given to Ukrainians (October 2022)
When the terabyte is exceeded, users will switch from a “Priority” access to a “Basic” access. A mode where speeds and latencies (data packet transmission priority) are reduced but not cut. Between 23.00 and at 07:00, users will still not be subject to a download limit and all users will be considered “Priority”. Those who would be part of the 10% of users who exceed the 1 TB monthly limit and would like to remain a priority once this limit is passed will have to pay an additional 25 cents/gigabyte.
This new bandwidth usage rule appears even though terminal deliveries continue and the average speed of the network decreases. In one year, between the second quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2022, the average rate has fallen, depending on the country, from 9% to 54%. In the USA, Starlink’s largest market, the speed has dropped from 90.6 Mbit/s to 62.5 Mbit/s and the median latency is now 48 ms. Starlink promises that the launch of new satellites will remove these limits, but acknowledges that the Internet, by virtue of its infrastructure, is “a finite resource”.
At a time when Netflix accounts for 4K users and AAA video game downloads over 100GB are not uncommon, the measure should make people cringe. This is all the more so since this kind of offer is always popular with mentions of “unlimited”. To end up quickly seeing the limits.
Also read: Internet access via satellite: Starlink cuts its prices in half, but there’s a catch
In France, Starlink introduced a data download limit of 250 GB last August 2022. But it seems that this limit has disappeared from the site. According to the legal data that we consulted on the French website, Starlink specifies that in France, “currently there are no data usage limits”. In addition, the network regulation mechanism called by Starlink “Fair Use Policy” is not yet in effect for individuals: “The fair use policy does not apply to residential service plans in your country at this time. ยป
Source:
The edge