Starlink for business and events? A critical look at satellite Internet

Starlink: between revolutionary promise and complex reality.

When Starlink, the side project of the space company SpaceX, was launched in 2019, the buzz was huge. The vision: fast satellite Internet, anywhere in the world, independent of DSL, cable, LTE or 5G. Everything via satellite. Especially in the areas of business and events, many hoped that Starlink would be the universal solution for digitization. But as is so often the case, reality was more complex than the vision.

The reality behind the promises

Elon Musk, the visionary mind behind SpaceX, has actually made it possible. Starlink has become a reality, and at an affordable price, anyone can buy a Starlink system and get started. But how sustainable is this model, especially when the user base is growing rapidly? Can the elaborate infrastructure in space keep up with this growth?

The answer to these questions can be seen in the development of Starlink. The original standard rate has now become a rate for private users, supplemented by special rates for mobile and business use. The rates differ considerably in terms of price and performance. But what is behind this development?

Starlink: A look at the facts

In January 2023, the technology blog golem.de reported on a "decline" of Starlink. Despite more and more satellites in space, download speeds are dropping. In parallel, the bandwidth promises have been adjusted. While we still measured bandwidths beyond 200 Mbit/s in download with our first Starlink system, today it is only around 80 - 120 Mbit/s. And Starlink's website also shows why: The normal rate, which has now been reclassified as a rate for "private households," now only promises 20-100 Mbit/s. The much more expensive business rate is much more expensive. The much more expensive business tariff offers 40-220 Mbit/s.

The system for private households is also delivered without a LAN connection, which has to be purchased as an accessory. Otherwise, only the connection via WiFi remains. This shows that in order to make the service available to a broad mass of people, the performance has to be lowered more and more. Guaranteed bandwidths and low latencies, on the other hand, are becoming increasingly exclusive - i.e., more price-intensive.

It is obvious: The former standard rate should become as unattractive as possible for business customers.

The business rate is currently around 500 EUR / month for 2 TB - NOT unlimited bandwidth. The hardware costs just under 3000 EUR. This makes the Starlink Business plan one of the most expensive offers for an Internet connection compared to other options.

When using Starlink for business and events, you quickly find yourself in a dilemma. The investment is only worthwhile if the system is used regularly at various locations. For stationary operation, there are other options at significantly lower costs. Even temporarily, for example for events.

Starlink: A critical look

We have noticed some peculiarities of Starlink in our tests in the event environment.

1. Bandwidth is decreasing and becoming less predictable. Critics have foreseen this development and, from a purely technical point of view, it is the logical consequence of user growth. This is because, like LTE/5G or cable Internet, Starlink satellite Internet is "shared bandwidth." The total capacity has to be shared among all users. Ultimately, this will be regulated by price. In the business environment, it is therefore important to adjust the expectations of the system. We recommend using Starlink in a mix with other signals and then bundling them.
2. The Starlink antenna is not static, it shimmies from satellite to satellite. This leads to short interruptions - so-called data drop-outs. This is not very bad for office applications, but it can be problematic for live streaming. Here, timeouts can occur and the stream can break down.In a test discussed on Reddit, Starlink was used for continuous livestreaming of the Philadelphia skyline. The results showed that the quality of Starlink alone can often be poor or low, with significant packet loss and latency resulting in live stream dropouts.
3. In addition, the Starlink system seems to recognize when it is connected to a larger network. In such cases, we noticed a drastic throttling of the download and an almost complete collapse of the upload.
4. Starlink also seems to throttle bandwidth when using multiple Starlink systems in a confined space. Our guess is that this is to prevent multiple Starlink systems from being connected together for more bandwidth.

However, these problems can be contained or even avoided altogether. That is why we are constantly developing our Starlink case.

Starlink Internet: a solution for all?

It turns out that Starlink is not the ideal solution for all use cases in the business environment. It is not enough to simply order a Starlink system and hope that all Internet problems will be solved forever. The system has its own peculiarities, which should be kept in mind at all times. It is constantly changing, both technically and in terms of rates. If you need fast Internet for small office tasks, you shouldn't have any problems. Starlink is ideal for this. However, anyone who needs Internet for project-critical services would be better off not relying on a single Starlink system in the standard or private household tariff.

It is expected that benefits for the residential rate will continue to decrease. Already, the expectation of performance varies greatly. Especially in the business environment, and even more so for events, you have to take this into account. Because here, reliability is the most important thing.

In a professional environment, we generally recommend using a connection with a somewhat lower bandwidth that you can rely on. Instead of choosing a solution that enables very high bandwidths - but is not very reliable. In short: stability is more important than speed in many cases. For this reason, redundancy should always be considered when using Starlink. After all, individual systems can always fail or their performance can fluctuate.

Customized Starlink system from Eventnet irons out problems

We have adapted the Starlink system for event needs and avoid the listed disadvantages even in the standard tariff with our own technical solutions. Thus, we can offer our customers the system, adjusted for the problems and with bandwidths of up to 200 Mbit at an economical price.

Standard functions are:

• Integrated hard case
• Outdoor capability of all components
• 4 PoE LAN ports
• Including industry WiFi for 300 users

Optional functions:

• Preventing data loss due to interruptions during satellite changes ("drop outs")
• Static IP address
• Bundling with other connections for added bandwidth

Conclusion

Is Starlink now a recommendation for the business and event environment? Starlink certainly has the potential to revolutionize the way we use the Internet. And even in the business environment, it can open up new possibilities with the right configuration, some adjustments depending on the use case and knowledge of its peculiarities. But it is important to see the reality behind the promises and understand that there is no universal solution for all use cases.

We have been using Starlink from the very beginning in various scenarios of our customers who rent the Eventnet SAT case (with Starlink) from us. In this context, we were able to gain some experience with the technology. We will be happy to advise you on this.

 

TLDR:

(Too Long Didn't Read)

• Starlink, a project by SpaceX, promised fast, worldwide Internet, but the reality is more complex.
• Despite increasing user numbers and decreasing prices, there are concerns about Starlink's sustainability and performance.
• Download speeds are falling, while prices for business rates are rising.
• Starlink has peculiarities, such as short interruptions (data drop-outs), which can be problematic for certain applications, such as livestreaming.
• Starlink is not the ideal solution for all use cases in the business environment.
• Benefits for the private plan are expected to continue to decrease.
• For Internet and WiFi in the event area, a reliable connection with lower bandwidth is often better than an unreliable connection with high bandwidth.
• Despite the challenges, Starlink has the potential to revolutionize the way we use the Internet.