Median upload speeds on Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by SpaceX, climbed 42% year-on-year in the United States through the first half of 2026, according to a new study by the speed-testing firm Ookla reported on 11 November by Light Reading. The improvement lands as SpaceX prepares to scale up launches of its high-capacity “V3” satellites and simultaneously moves residential customers onto demand-based pricing.
Key facts
- Median Starlink upload speeds in the US rose 42% year-on-year, from 14.63 Mbit/s to 20.73 Mbit/s, improving in all 50 states and Washington, DC, Ookla found.
- Median download speeds rose 12% nationally to 119.71 Mbit/s, but fell in 16 states and Washington, DC.
- Latency improved in 49 states and Washington, DC. Alaska saw the biggest change, from 105 milliseconds to 84 milliseconds.
- SpaceX ended the third quarter of 2026 with 13.6 million consumer Starlink subscribers.
- Starlink is moving residential service to pricing set by local supply and demand, reviewed on roughly a quarterly basis; Light Reading reports increases of about 20% in some cases.
Why it matters
Starlink is the only broadband option in many places it serves, and Light Reading reports the new pricing approach has already irritated some subscribers, particularly those with no viable alternative or on fixed incomes that cannot absorb swings. The scale is visible in individual accounts: this site reported bills changing days after sign-up, in one case from $130 to $156 a month — close to the 20% figure Light Reading cites.
The direction of travel also runs against the rest of the broadband market. Light Reading notes Comcast is offering price locks of up to five years, and T-Mobile’s T-Fiber a ten-year lock on its new 5-Gig tier, while Starlink moves the other way.
What is driving the speed gains
V2 Minis lifted the upstream
Ookla attributed the rise in upstream speeds to the deployment of V2 Mini satellites, pointing to a Starlink tracker showing V2 Minis made up about two-thirds of the company’s working satellites as of early October. Sue Marek, Ookla’s editorial director, singled out the upload figures as the standout result of the period.
V3 is the bigger bet
SpaceX deployed 26 V3 satellites on the most recent flight of its Starship rocket and plans another 26 on the next flight, which Light Reading says is slated for Friday 13 November. On SpaceX’s third-quarter 2026 earnings call last month, president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said a few hundred V3s would be needed before customers really feel the impact on speeds, and suggested that could be reached by mid-2027. SpaceX has separately floated far larger constellation plans beyond V3.
Availability stays unquantified
Marek tied Starlink’s two new tiered plans to regions where the network had spare capacity, which is also where its promotional offers ran. But neither the study nor Light Reading’s report gives a count of the cells currently closed to new residential sign-ups, or says whether V3 capacity will reopen them — so the availability side of the story has no published figure attached to it.
The satellite internet service is moving into cities
Ookla’s analysis of Speedtest data from the fourth quarter of 2025 to the third quarter of 2026 found roughly nine in ten new Starlink users switched from non-fibre connections, including cable, DSL and fixed wireless access.
Using the US Census Bureau’s urban-rural classification, Ookla found the number of Starlink Speedtest users testing in urban areas rose 73% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, more than double the 33% growth in rural areas. Urban users grew faster than rural users in every state except Alaska and Hawaii, Marek said.
Sample counts showed a 41.8% increase in usage and adoption, which Marek linked to the regional promotions and the new tiers. KeyBanc Capital Markets, a US investment bank, expects Starlink to add another 2.4 million consumer subscribers in the fourth quarter.
The pricing gamble
Analysts see a churn risk
Roger Entner, founder and lead analyst at Recon Analytics, told Light Reading the strategy is risky because it threatens the high net promoter scores Starlink has held over its broadband competitors. “Every time you raise prices, you get people who are less happy,” he said.
Teresa Mastrangelo, principal analyst at BroadbandTrends, told Light Reading that in markets where Starlink is the only option, customers are at its mercy until Amazon’s Leo satellite internet service comes online. She added that rural markets are probably less likely to be affected than denser suburban and urban ones, because the pricing relates to capacity issues and customers in those areas have alternatives such as fixed wireless access to churn towards.
The case for charging by demand
Tim Farrar, an analyst at TMF Associates, argued in a post on X that uniform national pricing makes it hard to compete with terrestrial operators, and that cutting prices where demand is low and raising them where it is high should push average revenue per user up.
The Ookla measurements cover US states only, and neither Ookla nor Light Reading says which markets beyond the US fall under the quarterly pricing review.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much more capacity do Starlink’s V3 satellites carry than the V2?
According to Light Reading, the high-capacity V3 satellites represent a 10x downlink and 22x uplink improvement over the V2.
How many of Starlink’s subscribers are in the United States?
Ookla told Light Reading that Speedtest data indicates about 22% of Starlink’s subscribers are based in the US. SpaceX does not break its subscriber numbers down by region.
What are Starlink’s Residential Lite and Residential 100 plans?
Ookla’s editorial director Sue Marek said Residential Lite is capped at 200 Mbit/s and Residential 100 is capped at 100 Mbit/s, and that Starlink promoted both during the first half of 2026.
Is Starlink faster than cable or 5G home internet?
No, on Ookla’s measurements. The study found DOCSIS networks hold a clear speed advantage over Starlink, and Light Reading reports Ookla found the same is true of the top fixed wireless access services in the US.
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