A Multifaceted Look at the Starlink Network Performance

Speaker: Nitinder Mohan (www.nitindermohan.com)
Date: April 24 2024

Abstract: Starlink, with its expansive constellation size, is fundamentally transforming global Internet connectivity — positioning itself as a potential "global ISP" that can end global Internet monopolies and close connectivity gaps in remote and disaster-affected areas. Prior investigations into Starlink's network performance have been region-specific and lack a holistic understanding of its global operations. In this talk, I will unveil findings from our first extensive, longitudinal study of Starlink's network performance. Our analysis provides a global overview of Starlink's bandwidth and latency metrics, identifying key factors that influence its service quality. Additionally, I will explore Starlink's dynamic reconfiguration of its satellite links and examine the network's capability to support real-time applications such as video conferencing and cloud gaming.

Bio: Nitinder Mohan is a senior researcher in the Chair of Connected Mobility at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. His research interests are in scalable edge computing orchestration, next-generation network systems for reliable communication in mobile environments, satellite networks, multipath communications, and others — and wide-scale Internet measurements. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Helsinki and M.Tech. from IIIT Delhi. His Ph.D. dissertation received the "Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Award 2020" by the IEEE Technical Committee of Scalable Computing (TCSC). He is also the co-founder and co-organizer of IEEE PerFail and ACM LEO-NET workshop series.