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A comment on SpaceX Starlink average speedtest is 42.3Mbps down / 9.7 Mbps up. Parent comment

Re:SpaceX Starlink average speedtest is 42.3Mbps down / 9.7 ... by emteycz on Thursday August 27, 2020 @06:01AM (#24291934)
How could zigzagging through fiber be faster thaz zigzagging through vacuum? You still need to cross nearly the same distance with fiber.
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Re:SpaceX Starlink average speedtest is 42.3Mbps down / 9.7 ... by raducu on Thursday August 27, 2020 @06:06AM (#24291968)
The fiber is a fixed geometry.

The satellite mesh is not, a straight line from point A to point B is not possible most of the time, given the number of satellites available and range of laser communication in space.

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Re:SpaceX Starlink average speedtest is 42.3Mbps down / 9.7 ... by iso1210 on Thursday August 27, 2020 @08:19AM (#24292896)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEIUdMiColU is an animation of how it's supposed to work, including latencies

There are enough satelites and low enough routing on the lasers to mean packets will arrive from London to NY faster than even a great-circle fibre.

In reality how much bandwidth is available is a function of money, and HFTs tend to have a lot of money.

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