Network performance stats in the tech press catch our attention here at Ookla – especially download and upload speeds or latency. Here’s a quick look into this press release about the Starlink satellite internet service being offered by Claro Colombia. The release states that Starlink will offer download speeds ranging from 40 to 220 Mbps, upload speeds ranging from from 8 to 25 Mbps, and latency in the range of 20 to 60 ms.
Speed and Latency Ranges Are In Reach
On the surface, Starlink’s performance claims appear possible for users to achieve, even though Q3 2024 Speedtest user data for Starlink in Colombia is not yet there.
The article doesn’t state how its ranges were determined, so, to make a comparison, we constructed our own ranges by examining the lowest and highest 10th percentiles, along with medians, of Starlink Speedtest users.
| Low1 | Mid2 | High3 | |
| Download Speed (Mbps) | |||
| Starlink | 40 | 130 | 220 |
| Speedtest | 8 | 54 | 140 |
| Upload Speed (Mbps) | |||
| Starlink | 8 | 17 | 25 |
| Speedtest | 4 | 14 | 27 |
| Latency (ms) | |||
| Starlink | 60 | 40 | 20 |
| Speedtest | 116 | 44 | 30 |
For download speeds, the Speedtest range (8 – 140 Mbps) fell short of the Starlink range (40 – 220 Mbps) and the median Speedtest (54 Mbps) was well short of the middle of the Starlink range (130 Mbps). Still, there was a healthy overlap, and there are other factors that can explain slower speeds in Speedtest user test than what Starlink is providing, such as older user equipment or Wi-Fi propagation path loss.
To get a picture of download speeds, we mapped our Starlink Speedtest users’ tests based on the 40 – 220 Mbps range with a color break at the 130 Mbps midpoint. The light red and light green squares coalesced, forming an area of tests within the range – a clear visual majority. And while many tests fell below the range (dark red squares), a few were also above range (dark green squares).
Turning to upload speeds, the Speedtest range (4 – 27 Mbps) and the Starlink range (8 – 25 Mbps) were much closer than download speeds. Likewise, Speedtest median (14 Mbps) and the Starlink midpoint (17 Mbps) are close, too.
Last, the latency Speedtest range (30 – 116 ms) and the Starlink range (20 – 60) were also closer than they may appear. Latency tests are susceptible to extreme values (very high latency) that result in a long-tail effect. More insightful for latency is the closeness of the Speedtest median (44 ms) and the Starlink mid-point (40 ms).
Quick Take Away
Starlink began service in Colombia in February 2023. It continues to add capacity to its constellation and introduce new terminals to support more use cases.
The Speedtest perspective finds the speed and latency ranges in the press release to be credible, and we look forward to revisiting the data to see more Speedtest users enjoying the benefit of the Claro Colombia and Starlink alliance.
- Low for Starlink is the bottom of its stated range for speed and top for latency; for Speedtest it is the slowest 10th percentile for speed and highest 10th percentile for latency ↩︎
- Mid for Starlink is the simple average of its stated range; for Speedtest it is the median speed ↩︎
- High for Starlink is the top of its stated range for speed and bottom for latency; for Speedtest it is the fastest 10th percentile for speed and lowest 10th percentile for latency ↩︎
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