On the other hand, starlink satelites fly in low orbit where there is enough air that they are dragged down and must be replaced. This is expensive and only possible because SpaceX made rocket launches significantly cheaper.

The advantage of the low orbit is the low latency which makes it possible to steer drones.

[–] ECB@feddit.org 5 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

Having used both systems (my parent used to only have satellite available):

Traditional satellite has a ping of around 600-700 ms, while starlink was around 70.

[–] Lv_InSaNe_vL@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago

I also see (my parents recently "upgraded" to wireless nternet) better speeds and a whole lot less jitter.

My parents get about 100mbps both ways, and relatively consistent jitter. The jitter can vary depending on if there's a storm or something but since those don't usually blow in and out in a few minutes, it's not really a problem.

[–] Kage520@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

Oof 700ms is going to be worthless for anything besides downloading stuff. Video calls would even be very frustrating

[–] Comment105@lemm.ee 6 points 9 hours ago

Specifically they're at an altitude of ~600km and the atmospheric drag limits their lifespan to roughly 5 years.