Recently, there has been much fuss in the news around Elon Musk’s international broadband internet network called Starlink. Many articles and news ventures by top, well-respected media companies have presented varied angles and differing opinions on the project.
One of the stories that gave Starlink headlines is their actions in Ukraine, gifting the war-ravaged nation free broadband internet.
In more recent claims over the last few days, the National Broadband Network (NBN) has singled out other competing wireless internet services, including Starlink. They blame the new competition as a significant reason for the inevitable hike in their internet prices. But many beg the question:
What is Starlink?
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by the privately Elon Musk-owned SpaceX.
The long-term project holds an emphasis on high speed and low latency, claiming numbers are as low as 20ms in most locations. This means that Starlink users will be able to stream, game, video call, and do other high-speed, internet-cloggy activities with minimal delay and buffering.
One of Starlink’s key markets is rural and remote areas due to most of the world’s rural population having little to no access to the ‘normal’ fibre optics-based broadband. Therefore, these populations are forced to use satellite broadband which is inherently slow due to the satellites orbiting so far away from the Earth’s surface, somewhere around 36,000km above.
But Starlink’s constellation of satellites sits just above 550km from the Earth’s surface. This allows for considerably faster streaming speeds for a global, inequitable residential price of $139AUD a month and a hardware fee of $924 plus shipping and handling. The plan cost does not alter depending on your location.
They also run a business and RV package, priced at $750 and $174AUD a month.
Is Starlink available in Australia?
In short, Yes.
Historically, rural areas in Australia have only been able to access SkyMesh NBN Sky Muster satellites. But with Starlink’s much faster internet speeds, rural Australians will be able to experience a slice of what cities have internet-wise (the two are compared further down in the article).
Currently, you are only recommended to use Starlink’s wireless broadband if you live in rural or remote areas with slow or no internet. As in populated urban and suburban areas, you can still receive much faster internet compared to Musk’s Starlink.
Starlink services are available on the east coast in all parts of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and most of southern Queensland.
As for central Australia, only South Australians can access it. Also, only the southern half of Western Australia is entitled to Starlink as of May 2022.
The rest of Australia, being north Queensland, Northern Territory, and north Western Australia, are promised to be able to have access to Starlinks internet services from 2023 onwards.
Starlink is also readily available in 36 countries globally, most recently approved in Nigeria and Mozambique.
You can view the full global network of Starlink here.
Starlink vs Sky Muster
Before the introduction of Starlink, the only reliable internet service remote populations could obtain was the Sky Muster satellite service. But the long, unchallenged reign is over now with Starlink at play as well, but how do the two compare?
Availability – Sky Muster
Currently, Sky Muster is available everywhere in Australia.
Starlink is only available in parts of rural Australia the moment including Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, most of South Australia, the south half Western Australia and the south half of Queensland.
Starlink promised by the end of 2023, their internet services will be accessible Australia wide.
Internet Speed – Starlink
Starlink has faster internet speeds. The self-proclaimed high speed, low-latency does produce results in most cases, especially compared to Sky Muster
The main reason for this is Starlink’s satellites orbiting almost 60 times closer to the Earth’s surface than Sky Muster.
Reliability – Sky Muster
It is a difficult metric to analyse due to the differing experiences consumers have. But overall, Sky Muster have reportedly high reliability in terms of frequency of drop-outs and reception.
Keep in mind that Starlink are still in the building blocks of their satellite constellation and company as a whole, so this may be a reason for the more frequent internet outages.
Customer Experience – Sky Muster
Reading reviews online, Starlink’s customer support is apparently very poor in comparison to the local SkyMesh (provider of Sky Muster).
Being a global company with no centralised Australian support number, customer experience is inherently lower in quality to SkyMesh. SkyMesh aren’t particularly great either but are definitely more reliable, friendly, and helpful with any issues with your software and hardware issues.
Variety – Sky Muster
Starlink does not mess around when it comes to plans, providing three internet plans; residential, business and RV. All are pretty self-explanatory but you can view them all on their website here.
Sky Muster offers a range of plans, prices from $34.99 a month to $199.95 a month, these plans offer a variety of internet speeds and gigabytes which you can view here.
Value – depends
Even though Starlink’s residential plan comes in at a hefty $139AUD/month along with a one-time hardware cost of $924, you receive unlimited access to the internet. Meanwhile, Sky Muster does not have any unlimited data plans available, only ranging from 60GB to 300GB.
So the overall value of the product depends on your internet usage.
For a full comparison of Starlink and Sky muster read our article on Starlink vs NBN Sky Muster Satellite.
In Conclusion
Starlink is another progressive initiative from Elon Musk and SpaceX. They now provide a large percentage of the world’s rural population with unprecedented internet speeds at a moderate cost.
If you live in rural Australia and are seeking faster internet, Starlink is your best option. But keep in mind if you do make the switch, you’re at risk of poorer customer experience assuming you do experience a problem.
Need Help Choosing Your Internet?
Not to worry, we have our very own, unbiased plan comparer here.
If you are unsure about what types of internet and broadband are available in Australia, you can view our extensive breakdown of the different types in this article.