Mr Viral
Over the last six months, Opensignal noted that Starlink’s performance declined while fixed wireless access improved.
Feb 10, 202510:00 AM EST
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Opensignal released its report comparing Starlink and fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband performance in Canada. The report comes after Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s decision to “pause” all retaliatory measures against the U.S., including the cancellation of the $100 million Starlink deal.
Opensignal analyzed the performance of Starlink’s satellite network and FWA’s radio signal-based network across Canada in both urban and rural areas. The report found that Starlink’s performance still outpaces FWA in rural areas, even though FWA performance improved and Starlink performance declined over the last six months.
The report highlights the Canadian government’s ‘High-Speed Access for All’ initiative, which aims to connect 98 percent of the population to high-speed internet by 2026 and achieve 100 percent coverage by 2030. As of March 2024, the government says almost 94 percent of Canadians had access to high-speed internet — defined by the CRTC as providing speeds of at least 50Mbps download and 10Mbps upload.
Currently, Starlink is meeting those target speeds, with average download speeds reaching more than 50Mbps and average upload speeds exceeding 10Mbps. FWA falls slightly short, with download speeds reaching 37Mbps on average and upload speeds of 8Mbps on average.
Opensignal’s report highlights that stability matters more than speed for most consumers. The organization measures this through its “Consistent Quality” metric, which assesses a network’s reliability when supporting activities on a single device, such as HD video streaming, video calls, and online gaming.
During Opensignal’s user experience comparison during two 90-day periods, one in February 2024 and the other in August 2024, it found average download speeds on Starklink dropped by 16Mbps while FWA remained consistent. FWA outperformed Starlink in “Consistent Quality” in most provinces.
While Starlink may be the best choice today for rural Canadians, expanding FWA infrastructure and investing in alternatives like Telesat Lightspeed could offer long-term solutions, reducing reliance on foreign providers — especially amid uncertainties in Canada-U.S. trade relations.
To read the full Opensignal report, click here.
Header image credit: SpaceX
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