Starlink Just Unveiled A $40/month Unlimited Data Plan - But There Are A Few Catches

Starlink

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Starlink unveils a caller $40-per-month plan.
• This scheme is capped astatine 100 Mbps download speeds, but offers unlimited data.
• If readiness improves, it could lure customers distant from terrestrial broadband.

Starlink has been a awesome action for those who can't get entree to fast, reliable broadband, and prices person been rather competitory considering that you're utilizing a space-based infrastructure. But a caller scheme from SpaceX, revealed earlier this month, pulls nan value down dramatically.

So what's nan catch?

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The caller plan, called Residential 100Mbps is priced astatine $40 a month, which is substantially little than nan costs of SpaceX's existing Residential and Residential Lite plans, which costs $120 and $80 per month, respectively. The Residential scheme is simply a prioritized service, which intends it offers faster and much reliable service, cleanable for data-heavy households. In contrast, nan Residential Lite work is simply a deprioritized plan, resulting successful slower service, particularly during highest usage times. 

The Residential scheme offers download speeds ranging from 150 to 300+ Mbps, while Residential Lite offers speeds ranging from 50 to 200 Mbps. Both connection unlimited information downloads and upload speeds of astir 15 to 35 Mbps.

Residential 100Mbps, arsenic nan sanction suggests, is capped to 100 Mbps, and still offers nan aforesaid unlimited information downloads and upload speeds. 

Think of Residential 100Mbps arsenic a capped type of Residential Lite.

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However, astatine $40 a month, it's cheap, particularly erstwhile you see that emblematic broadband bills successful nan US mean astir $70, but tin scope from $20 to $300 per month. However, nan 100 Mbps capped download speeds are importantly beneath nan speeds group tin typically expect from terrestrial broadband. (Figures vary, but past twelvemonth US download speeds averaged astir nan 160 Mbps mark.) However, it's suitable for mini households aliases those pinch humble information requirements.

And if you don't unrecorded successful an area pinch entree to accelerated broadband, this could beryllium an option.

Well... maybe. 

Starlink Residential 100Mbps plan

Screenshot by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

Another drawback astatine coming is that readiness seems limited; I had to hunt rather a batch to find it offered. In nan end, I asked ChatGPT to make respective ZIP codes for much sparsely populated areas of each US state, arsenic I suspected that Starlink work cells successful those areas would beryllium little congested, and SpaceX would beryllium much apt to connection this caller work there. I recovered immoderate successful Wyoming and Nevada.

Note: Like cellphone providers, SpaceX divides areas into smaller cells, and nan much group utilizing nan work successful those areas, nan much congested nan satellites complete that location become, and nan slower nan work gets.

With broader readiness and beardown marketing, this could put unit connected a batch of terrestrial broadband providers.