PC Mag by Michael Kan November 10, 2020
Rural Americans have long dealt with slow internet. But in interviews, SpaceX Starlink beta testers in Montana, Idaho, and elsewhere report speedy service that has transformed the way they use the web.
Nickolas Friedrich lives in central Montana, where his local broadband connectivity hasn't been good.
Every month, he pays about $120 for a measly 0.8Mbps download speed from the only DSL provider in town. And his connection can freeze up when too many neighbors are on the service at once.
As a result, streaming videos isn’t really possible. Instead, it can take an hour to download a low-quality 240p video from YouTube. The situation is so bad Friedrich used to go to the local library to download internet videos to his laptop so he could watch them later.
But recently, he’s been able to enjoy Netflix and YouTube at home, where the internet speeds can now shoot up as high as 170Mbps. The reason? Starlink, the next-generation satellite internet service from Elon Musk's SpaceX, that Friedrich has been helping test out.
“It has been a lot faster than the only ISP that still services us with DSL,†Friedrich told us in a chat on Reddit. He's now considering canceling his account with CenturyLink—which has long promised a fiber rollout, but without any specifics—and switching to Starlink.
More:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/from-painfully-slow-to-lightning-fast-spacexs-starlink-makes-rural-internet