We had that same question. So in order to find out if Starlink works in San Diego County we ordered one ourselves. Once the kit arrived (which sometimes can take awhile), we had a real family do the self install at their rural home near Valley Center.
We did this to help you make a more informed decision about your Internet service. More importantly, if you feel your current service with San Diego Broadband is not working as expected, please contact Tech Support and provide them your Speed Test results so we can help you. If you are just learning about us, check availability online to see if we can serve your address.
Okay, let’s compare Starlink and San Diego Broadband. Starlink is a Low Earth Orbit satellite solution while San Diego Broadband is a point to point solution that beams the Internet from fixed relay sites to a fixed antenna at your property.
Here are 6 key comparison areas which are important when considering using Starlink:
| STARLINK | SAN DIEGO BROADBAND | |
| Technology |
The tech is quite cool, but Starlink customers report the service drops randomly and there are network congestion and buffering issues as well as latency problems. Making a Zoom call or playing an online game can be impossible for parts of the day. Our own test family (gamers and all) complained and begged to stop the Starlink test. Starlink thinks more satellites should alleviate these issues in the future.
[Starlink USA averages] 90.5Mbps down / 9.33Mbps @ 43ms latency |
We don’t say it often, but San Diego Broadband’s ability to beam high-speed Internet from point to point is quite a technological feat. For over a decade we’ve been pushing wireless technology to reach more customers in our community with even faster speeds. The infrastructure to make this happen is complex. High speeds up to 100Mbps are now available for $99.95.
[San Diego Broadband Platinum Speeds] 100Mbps down / 10Mbps up @ 15ms latency |
| Availability | Long wait for the Starlink dish and router to arrive. | We have equipment on hand, ready to install. |
| Location and Installation
|
The Starlink installation is a DIY self-install. You may need to put yourself at risk or make multiple trips to Home Depot to complete the install. You will need 360-degree view. A gap in the trees won’t be enough. | Our installation teams are on roofs daily and have all the tools required to attach and aim the equipment and run ethernet cables to your router, so nobody trips. No duct tape or DIY – we handle it all for you. |
| Cost | The upfront costs and monthly costs make Starlink an expensive solution in comparison.
The cost to the environment is high. The launch of each new batch of 50-60 satellites takes about 30,000 gallons of fuel. $599 for equipment / $110 monthly |
Our Basic Package has remained consistent for several years now, starting at $59.95. Supporting local is a good thing! Paying a local small business for your Internet puts a portion (in taxes and jobs) back into your community. $100 install / $59.95 monthly |
| Speed and Performance | Speed and quality has been filled with mixed reviews depending on time of day and weather. Our test family had issues and begged to have SDBB hooked back up again. Many Starlink customers share they experience some type of slow-down and buffering and longer outages. Rain appears to be a performance weakness of Starlink. | With a 25mbps Basic plan, customers can stream without buffering. Coupled with 15ms latency speeds, it’s a recipe for Internet success! If your service is not up to these standards, we’d like to know. We now have 100Mbps service available in most areas. |
| Support | With increased customer demand, the support problem has grown for Starlink. Some customers received quick responses, but others are finding they need to wait days or even weeks to hear back from a support engineer. | Our Tech Support team is local and monitors our network status constantly. All it takes is a phone call. We’ll even carry a battery or generator out to relay sites to mitigate a power outage. Questions about your account or billing and we’re here to discuss and get to the bottom of it together. |
Thanks for taking a moment to gain more insight into Starlink’s Internet service. If this is your only option for high-speed Internet in your rural neck of the woods, then we support you in your choice to use Starlink. If you already have Starlink today, please do your own comparison and share your findings with us. We’d love to hear about your experience.
Starlink is not meant for everyone, and the more subscribers they get, the slower their speeds will become. They encourage Internet providers like ourselves to continue to grow and reach the customers we can, while they try to reach the truly remote customers around the planet that still need Internet.
NOTE: Our new policy on retrieving equipment; should you decide to cancel your service, has been extended to 4-6 weeks to make sure customers are satisfied with their new Starlink Internet service. We’ve already had to do reinstalls for customers not finding the service reliable for them.
