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Starlink Best Effort Explained

Starlink Best Effort

Faster connection speeds are something we all want – especially if we’re living outside areas that offer reasonably functional fiber or cable connections.

Starlink Residential offers fast satellite-based connections, but Starlink Best Effort is what a great many people are ending up with.

What is it, how do you get it, and should you even make the leap? 

Wondering what Starlink Best Effort is, when you get right down to it? It could be seen as a waitlist stopgap that offers you connectivity via Starlink – just not as fast as the speeds promised to customers using the Starlink Residential package. 

What are people saying about it? Reactions are mixed. Best Effort allows Starlink to provide its service while it works to increase its capacity.

In out-of-town areas in particular, people who’ve accepted Starlink Best Effort are saying that they got better speeds than they otherwise would have been able to achieve.

But having said that, it might not suit you. Here’s everything you need to know about Starlink Best Effort. 

Why Starlink Best Effort Was Implemented

It could be said that SpaceX launched Starlink packages onto the market before its infrastructure was ready for market demand.

After all, its executives must have known that there was a massive market for fast, satellite-based internet. 

However, launching satellites into space is by no means a cheap business, and it’s understandable that Starlink wanted to see returns on its investments as soon as possible.

It seems likely that the company knew that demand for Starlink Residential would quickly outstrip capacity, and that’s just what it did. 

The result was a massive waitlist that included many households whose access to the internet was limited and whose download speeds were extremely slow.

Even less-than-ideal Starlink speed would be an improvement, so there was (and still is) a market for a deprioritized offer.

That’s when Starlink came up with Best Effort: a plan that would be rolled out by invitation to Starlink Residential waitlist customers. What would it do?

Well, it couldn’t match the promises of Starlink Residential, but it could offer a deprioritised package with slower speeds that fluctuate depending on current traffic. 

For many people living in out-of-the-way areas, Starlink could still offer better upload and download speeds than anything else they could get.

Many of them were perfectly willing to pay the same rates they’d have been charged for the Starlink Residential package to get functional internet. And many of them are very happy with the results.

At the same time, they can still look forward to their upgrades to the faster speeds of Starlink Residential. 

Starlink Best Effort Speeds: What You Can Expect

Around October 2022, Starlink began offering Best Effort to waitlist customers, some of whom had pre-ordered a year or more earlier.

It’s not a package you can simply order as is – if you’re offered it, it’s because of your waitlist status.  

The advertised Starlink Best Effort speed you’ll get is 5Mbps to 100Mbps, significantly slower than Starlink Domestic which advertises speeds of 50-200Mbps. 

Still, if you’ve been struggling along with speeds of just 2.5Mbps to 3.5Mbps, as many people living in rural areas do – or don’t have Internet access in your area at all – Starlink Best Effort is something to celebrate.

Speeds fluctuate based on demand, so you can expect to reach the faster end of the scale off-peak while being deprioritized severely during peak demand hours. With a bit of planning, one can work around this.

To top it all, you needn’t expect worst-case download speeds of 5Mbps. Although Starlink won’t promise you more on a Best Effort package, there are users who report speeds of no lower than 40Mbps.

And there’s talk about speeds improving as more and more satellites get launched. Thanks to this, there’s also an uptick in Best Effort Users who are starting to receive upgrades to the full Domestic plan as capacity improves. 

The downside of Best Effort? You’ll be paying exactly the same bill as users who get the full speeds of the Starlink Domestic package.

But, as many Starlink Best Effort customers are saying, when your choice is between something functional, and next-to-nothing, you’re likely to see Starlink Best Effort as worth having. 

Is Starlink Best Effort Expensive?

All things are relative, and that applies to the cost of Starlink Best Effort too. On the surface, it’s a pretty costly package – especially since Best Effort customers pay the same for their stopgap Starlink access as Starlink Domestic users. 

To decide whether Starlink Best Effort is worth your while (supposing you’ve received an invitation), you’ll need to look at your current costs. Once again, rural users are the most likely to see it as a good deal.

After all, if you’re relying on your mobile phone provider for what internet you have, Starlink could be cheaper and is certainly likely to be faster, than your best alternative. 

Wondering about Starlink competitors like HughesNet? It’s capped at 200GB per month and currently has slower data speeds than Starlink which offers unlimited data.

HughesNet is also launching more satellites but it seems that many internet users will see longer-term benefits if they opt for Starlink – even at Starlink’s Best Effort speeds. 

Pricing-wise, the top complaint against Starlink is the initial equipment cost – which is on the pricey side compared to its competitors. 

Coverage Is Improving, But Some Best Effort Users Still Report Slow Speeds

While Starlink’s Best Effort seems to have achieved an overwhelmingly positive reception, we can’t deny that people in some areas aren’t as happy.

Coverage may be an issue, and it’s possible that existing options may still be faster in certain locations.

However, it’s worth pointing out that if you aren’t satisfied with Best Effort, you can opt out without losing your place on the Starlink Residential waitlist.

Just be sure to act fast if you aren’t satisfied, and be aware that improvements are ongoing. What doesn’t work for you now may become your best option as Starlink continues to boost its capacity. 

Having said this, dissatisfied Starlink Best Effort users are in the minority, particularly in underserved areas.

And, there are already signs of improvement, with independent tests verifying that download and upload speeds match the figures advertised. 

Will Starlink’s Best Effort Be Right For You?

Once again, the answer to this question will come from comparing your alternatives. If you’re already on a relatively fast DSL, cable, or fiber connection, you probably don’t need Starlink Best Effort.

You can wait, watch, and meanwhile, you’ve got perfectly adequate internet. 

In areas with poor coverage from internet service providers, however, it seems that Starlink – even at the Best Effort tier – has a high likelihood of being better than anything you already have access to.

But don’t expect instant gratification. Starlink itself says that orders may take 6 months or longer to fulfil, so if you want Starlink at any level of “effort” you might still have a long wait in store. 

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