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Rural UK Users Testing Elon Musk's Starlink Enjoy 'Amazing' Broadband

Rural UK Users Testing Elon Musk's Starlink Enjoy 'Amazing' Broadband

Some early users say their connection has never been better

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

People living in rural areas of the UK are enjoying 'amazing' broadband connectivity after using Elon Musk's Starlink satellite wi-fi service.

Some of the early testers of the service have reported speeds of up to 215 megabits per second (Mbps).

This is proving much faster than their traditional sources, which often suffered a lag of between 0.5 and 1 Mbps.

Speaking about the service, Aaron Wilkes, who lives in Bredgar, Kent, told the Press Association he usually manages about 20 Mbps, which is considerably slower than the 71.8 Mbps national average reported by Ofcom last year.

After switching to Starlink, however, he has witnessed a huge improvement, with speeds averaging 175 Mbps and going all the way up to 215 Mbps.

He said: "We moved up to this small village and it was an absolute ball ache when we got our slow connection here.

"The ability to be able to download content so quickly compared to our standard BT line is amazing."

Martin Langmaid - who set up Starlink at his mother's home in Dunsford, Devon - said Starlink had helped his mum run her business in lockdown, adding that the £90 monthly subscription fee is 'quite justifiable'.

He did add, however, that they were using a mixture of Starlink and 4G to deal with satellite outages.

Starlink is a satellite internet system launched by Musk's company SpaceX to provide high-speed internet around the world.

Philip Hall, who lives in rural Devon, recently told Insider that he was one of the first in the UK to receive the kit - which includes a tripod, WiFi router and terminal - and test out the internet connection.

According to reports, Mr Hall barely has any internet connection where he lives, which makes running a business and keeping in touch with people (especially at the moment) very difficult.

IT worker said: "Without broadband, you've got your arms behind your back."

PA

Philip paid £439 ($610) for the kit and the monthly subscription will set him back £89 ($123).

Once the service was installed, Philip's download speed jumped from 0.5 Mbps to between 85 and 90 Mbps, leaving him mightily impressed.

"It was wonderful. Elon Musk has transformed the whole thing. It's a very exciting time," he said.

However, Philip did say that the range of the router doesn't stretch too far, adding: "When we went to the other side of the house, we weren't picking it up."

It has allowed him to finally be able to stream TV series on Netflix as well as other services such as Chromecast.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: elon musk, World News, UK News