[Starlink] speedtest.net takes a look at sat internet around the globe

[Ricky Mok]

I think the blog used the data they collected from speedtest.net. I 
conducted research on that topic. Ookla's speedtest is TCP based 
(usually 4-6 concurrent TCP flows to a test server). Ookla deployed over 
12k test servers (many ISPs contributed to it). The test used IP 
geolocation to pick a set of ten nearest servers geographically and 
establish WebSocket to send "ping"s to test the network latency. The 
test then chooses the server with the lowest latency and send 10 more 
probes to test the RTTs. The "latency" they referred should be the 
extract from the RTT tests.

I think it is a norm to have shared last mile and advertise the "max" 
capacity, just like what cable providers did.

I remembered when they start launching the beta test. Only that latitude 
range had continuous satellite coverage. I assume the service outside 
that range would be unstable. But they have ground station built out of 
that range already. So, they just need to launch more SpaceX rockets...

For CDN, they signed agreements with Google (and Azure?) I expect ground 
stations have direct interconnection with the cloud providers for 
content. They can also have caches installed in the ground station 
(e.g., netflix, youtube), similar to some ordinary ISPs installed 
in-network caches in Central Offices. However, i agree that they cannot 
do caching on the satellites, particularly we have HTTPS :)

Ricky

On 8/12/2021 3:34 PM, Ulrich Speidel wrote:
>
> It always pains me to see "speed" tests like these, especially if the 
> methodology they've used isn't clear. My big gripes:
>
> - I strongly suspect that the speed tests here (and in so many other 
> blogs/vlogs) are UDP-based, which doesn't tell me a thing about how 
> much TCP goodput I'll get over any of these links.
> - Latency is measured between end user and ... what? The satellite 
> gateway? Some imaginary fixed point on the Internet that all our 
> traffic has to to through? Or maybe just speedtest.net's servers, 
> whose locations possibly don't matter one iota for my Internet 
> performance?
> - If we reasonably assume that the capacity of a Starlink satellite 
> needs to be shared between its users, then few users / satellite 
> equates to a large share of the capacity. From Starlink's front page: 
> "Starlink is available to a limited number of users per coverage area 
> at this time." Guess what? What we see here may not last, but it's 
> sure great for marketing.
> - Ever wondered why Starlink's bulk of beta users sits between 
> 40-something and 50-something degrees of latitude? That's right, 
> because that's where you get the largest concentration of satellites 
> right now, which helps keep the number of users per satellite down. 
> Elsewhere? Tough luck.
> - At the other end of your terrestrial broadband connection might be a 
> few CDN servers, meaning you and your fellow customers will only need 
> to use the ISP's feed once for that viral cat video everyone wants to 
> watch. Starlink goes direct to site, not to a local ISP. So if your 
> ISP is in space and the CDNs are on the ground, a thousand Starlink 
> users on a satellite wanting to watch the cat video will need to bring 
> it across the satellite a thousand times. Your terrestrial ISP (or 
> even sat-based ISP with a terrestrial network connecting end users) 
> only needs to do this once.
>
> But big numbers always look great, don't they?
>
> On 13/08/2021 9:22 am, Darrell Budic wrote:
>> https://www.speedtest.net/insights/blog/starlink-hughesnet-viasat-performance-q2-2021/ 
>> <https://www.speedtest.net/insights/blog/starlink-hughesnet-viasat-performance-q2-2021/> 
>>
>>
>> Nothing we didn’t know, but interesting comparisons between the 3 sat 
>> companies and fixed breadboard around the world.
>>
>> Made me wonder if there’s anyone else contributing to the speed tests 
>> in Iowa county, WI, looks a lot like my averages there...
>>
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>>
> -- 
> ****************************************************************
> Dr. Ulrich Speidel
>
> School of Computer Science
>
> Room 303S.594 (City Campus)
> Ph: (+64-9)-373-7599 ext. 85282
>
> The University of Auckland
> ulrich at cs.auckland.ac.nz  
> http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~ulrich/
> ****************************************************************
>
>
>
>
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