Satellite Internet Latency Gaming

Spacex disclosed the benchmarks in a presentation the company sent to the fcc last friday.

Satellite internet latency gaming.

This distance is 36 000 km. Latency is the time required for the data to travel the distance between your satellite dish to the geostationary satellite and back. To have a reference satellite internet can have a latency of about 500ms cable internet 25 to 30ms and fiber internet up to 15ms. Some speed test tool calls it ping rate.

The recommended latency or ping for online gaming is less than 100 ms. Plenty of people will tell you outright that you can t play games on a satellite connection due to issues like latency and restrictive data caps. Latency from a geostationary satellite is approximately 500 800ms milliseconds depending on where you are under the satellite s footfall. Latency is just exaggerated for satellite internet customers courtesy of the laws of physics and that 45 000 mile roundtrip journey.

We re talking the kind of online gaming where fractions of a second dictate whether you win or lose. And while you probably don t notice this latency on news or shopping sites for online gaming it can create issues. Spacex s starlink satellite broadband will have latency low enough to support competitive online gaming and will generally be fast enough that customers won t have to think about internet speed. Satellite internet doesn t exactly have a perfect reputation among the gaming community.

Spacex confirmed during the webcast of its latest launch on monday that employees have been testing starlink s latency and download speeds key measures for an internet service provider. Latency is measured in milliseconds. Satellite internet for gaming latency the delay on an internet connection to go from point a to b is called latency. Satellite latency doesn t affect regular internet browsing using email transferring large files and watching streaming video and music.

Spacex s satellite internet service latency comes in under 20 milliseconds. Fixed wireless with its lower latency is still an option. Latency is usually not an impediment to an enjoyable online experience but there is one application of the internet that is so time dependent that satellite internet may not be quite the thing.