Is gaming latency good with SpaceX's Starlink system?

Currently, any game worth its salt has an online mode to be able to play with our friends or to be able to compete. The internet connection is not the same all over the world, and there are countries and areas where it is not very good. Surely you have wondered what the latency would be like when playing online with Starlink , and we bring you the answer.

For those who do not know what Starlink is, indicate that it is a way of connecting to the Internet through satellites. This technology has been developed by Elon Musk and his company SpaceX. Accessing this type of low-latency satellite internet has a fairly high cost, which we will discuss later.

Is gaming latency good with SpaceX's Starlink system

Playing online with Starlink is possible and with low latency

The colleagues from the Brazilian medium Adrenaline have acquired a Starlink internet connection system . In a video they explain how to connect to this network and also test it, both in speed tests and in games. The truth is that the speeds in the synthetic tests, as well as the latency in games , is very good.

This system uses special antennas that operate at frequencies between 26.5 GHz and 40 GHz . These frequencies are similar to the frequencies used by 5G, which in Spain is 26 GHz for the upper band.

Once everything is installed, they test it in the Tom’s Clancy Rainbow Six Siege game, showing the latency at each moment. For most of the time it shows at 30-40 ms latency , which is not bad at all. In some very specific moments the latency rises to 80 ms , being quite good latencies considering the connection time that it is.

We cannot say that it is comparable to a fiber connection, such as the conventional one for home, but the performance is very good. Testing is missing in more games, that’s true, since you depend a lot on the proximity of servers in games. But despite everything, the data we have seen in this video are good.

Starlink deadly price

The big problem with this type of internet connection developed by SpaceX is the cost of this system. The complete equipment is priced at 639 euros , to which we must add the price of shipping and handling costs, which are another 71 euros. Quite a high price for this whole system.

In addition to the cost of the device, each month we will have to pay 99 euros for the service and another 9 euros per month more for regulatory fees . Come on, to the initial 710 euros, we must add 108 euros per month to be able to connect each month.

This does not make much sense for Spain, not even in towns of the so-called emptied Spain, which are small. But for other countries, in more or less isolated communities where there is nothing connected, it can be interesting.

Do areas of Latin America or Africa where there is no internet connection because they are very isolated. This service paid for by the entire community or by a group of users, even subsidized by the state, can be an interesting solution to invigorate and give new possibilities to these communities.