SpaceX Starlink public beta offers 150Mbps for $99/month

ARS Technica reports SpaceX has kicked off its public beta version of Starlink, the company's satellite Internet service. Thanks to the use of lots of small satellites in a very-low Earth orbit, SpaceX is able to deliver satellite Internet with low latency.

The public beta is available in some locations in Northern US. SpaceX claims users can expect bandwidth from 50Mbps to 150Mbps and latency from 20ms to 40ms. Signing up requires the purchase of a $499 package which includes the Starlink phased-array user terminal, a mounting tripod, and a Wi-Fi router. The Internet service itself costs $99 a month.

SpaceX is calling it the "Better Than Nothing" beta, perhaps partly because the Starlink satellite service will be most useful to people who cannot get cable or fiber broadband. But the email also says, "As you can tell from the title, we are trying to lower your initial expectations."

The rest of the email reads as follows:

Expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mbps to 150Mbps and latency from 20ms to 40ms over the next several months as we enhance the Starlink system. There will also be brief periods of no connectivity at all.

As we launch more satellites, install more ground stations, and improve our networking software, data speed, latency, and uptime will improve dramatically. For latency, we expect to achieve 16ms to 19ms by summer 2021.

The Starlink phased-array user terminal, which is more advanced than what's in fighter jets, plus mounting tripod and Wi-Fi router, costs $499 and the monthly subscription costs $99.