Starlink, everyone's favorite satellite internet provider, is rolling out a new "Premium" subscription tier that will deliver faster internet from outer space to your door. The catch is that Starlink's new Premium tier will set you back an eye-watering sum each month, making the choice to upgrade a difficult one.Starlink Premium is due to go live in Q2 2022, but is the upgrade worth the money? And more importantly, will it even be ready to launch?
How Fast Is Starlink Premium?
Right now, the top speed a normal Starlink dish can receive is 150Mbps. It's not a bad speed, especially given the global average fixed broadband speed hovers just below 60Mbps, according to Speedtest.
Starlink's new Premium tier would push that speed to 500Mbps, more than doubling the capacity of the connection, a massive increase on the existing speed.
Starlink Premium has more than double the antenna capability of Starlink, delivering faster internet speeds and higher throughput for the highest demand users
For now, it appears Starlink is pushing its Premium service towards those with much higher data requirements than the regular subscription tier. However, the Premium tier's upgraded speeds will pique the interest of more than a few "regular" consumers too.
How Much Is Starlink Premium?
Now, here's the rub. While Starlink Premium offers super-fast satellite broadband, your bill will also rise—considerably.
Starlink Premium will cost $500 per month, along with a $2,500 Starlink Premium satellite dish. In comparison, the regular Starlink service costs $100 per month, and the dish costs $499, so you can see the significant difference between the two.
Elon Musk tweeted that the Premium dish isn't just more expensive. As you might expect, such a substantial upgrade requires some serious hardware, and the Premium dish is twice as big as the original and scans a larger area for incoming and outgoing connections, enabling faster speeds and better overall connectivity. Outside of Musk's tweet, little is known about the new Premium dishes and how they will function.
When Will Starlink Premium Launch? How Do I Sign Up?
According to the Starlink Premium site, deliveries for Starlink Premium hardware will begin in Q2 2022, which really isn't that far off at the time of writing. You can use the same link to register your interest in the Starlink Premium tier, too, although it appears sign-ups are only open to US citizens currently.
Critics were quick to call out this claim, as reports of unhappy Starlink customers waiting on their original hardware continue to make the news. The backlog of Starlink customers is already substantial, with some early adopters seeing their original orders pushed back to late 2022 or even 2023, though the pushbacks do appear at least in part region-specific.
Is Starlink Premium Worth the Money? Should You Upgrade?
There are a couple of things to remember about Starlink.
First, the satellite internet service was never meant to replace your regular ISP, especially for those consumers in areas with access to decent broadband. Starlink is a satellite internet provider, and with that comes a whole host of other problems that you might not experience with a regular ISP.
Second, Starlink's service will fluctuate as it changes. The service is still very early in its life. Users experience dropouts, slow-downs, lack of connectivity, and other issues as Starlink works to bring its satellite internet to the world. Again, if you're not in a remote location or suffering from terrible ISP connectivity, Starlink might not be the best way for you to get online.
So, is Starlink Premium worth upgrading to? At the launch price, I expect it will appeal mostly to businesses and other organizations in remote locations. With time, the general Starlink speed will increase (as more satellites launch), though as more users come online, it will place strain on the service.