Starlink Cuts Rural Internet Latency to 34.7ms From 334.9ms, Halving 4G Speed Gap
Updated
Updated · MUO - MakeUseOf · Jul 19
Starlink Cuts Rural Internet Latency to 34.7ms From 334.9ms, Halving 4G Speed Gap
1 articles · Updated · MUO - MakeUseOf · Jul 19
Summary
PowerShell tests at one rural site showed Starlink Mini delivered 22.26 Mbps with 34.7ms average latency, versus 12.08 Mbps and 334.9ms on the author’s previous 4G connection.
The bigger gain was stability: jitter fell to 9.3ms from 231.5ms, packet loss dropped to 0% from 12.5%, and maximum latency stayed at 56ms instead of spiking to 1,845ms.
Those results came only after the dish was moved from under a roof awning; a roughly 5% obstruction had caused timeouts and buffering even while Speedtest.net still showed strong download numbers.
The comparison argues that bandwidth alone masked the 4G link’s real weakness—wildly inconsistent response times—while Starlink’s app-based obstruction map made its main problem easier to diagnose and fix.
The author cautioned the test reflects one location, and said Starlink still costs more, uses more power and remains sensitive to placement, weather and congestion.