Starlink

Before Starlink, satellite internet was synonymous with high latency and low data caps — a last resort for remote locations with no other option. SpaceX changed that equation by placing thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbit, roughly 550 kilometres up, rather than the 35,786 kilometres of traditional geostationary satellites. The difference is dramatic: Starlink latency typically runs between 20 and 60 milliseconds, which is competitive with many fixed broadband providers and a fraction of the 600-plus millisecond round trips that plagued legacy satellite services. By early 2024, Starlink had over two million subscribers across more than 60 countries.

The constellation works by routing traffic through a mesh of satellites that communicate with each other and with ground stations around the world. The small, self-orienting dish antenna — nicknamed "Dishy" by users — automatically finds satellites, maintains tracking, and manages handoffs as satellites pass overhead. SpaceX operates its own ground infrastructure, core network, and the Starlink app used to monitor signal quality, manage devices, and configure the router. The system is especially significant in disaster recovery scenarios, maritime use, and rural markets where terrestrial broadband simply does not exist.

Starlink outages and degradation events tend to look different from traditional ISP problems. Obstruction — trees, rooftop edges, wet snow on the dish — causes brief disconnects that the app logs as "obstructions detected." Satellite constellation maintenance windows cause brief network interruptions. Ground station failures reduce available gateway capacity, causing increased latency and packet loss across a region. Software updates pushed to the dish or router can cause unexpected reboots. In severe cases, authentication to the Starlink network fails entirely, leaving the dish unable to obtain an IP address.

Outage.gg tracks Starlink service disruptions with community-submitted reports from users worldwide. If your Starlink connection is down, latency has spiked, or the app is unresponsive, the live status page shows real-time impact data from others on the network.