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What changed
On September 15, 2026, Broadband Breakfast reported on Ookla’s US broadband performance report for the first half of 2026. For Starlink, the report said:
- The share of Starlink Speedtest users reaching the FCC’s 100 Mbps down / 20 Mbps up benchmark doubled year over year.
- 17 states had at least half of Starlink users meeting that benchmark, up from 5 states in the second half of 2025.
- South Dakota led at 58.2% (up from 37.1% a year earlier), followed by Nebraska at 57%. Colorado, Wyoming and Minnesota were above 55%.
- Illinois rose from 43.2% (2H 2025) to 53.2%.
- Lower shares in some large states: California 42.8%, Texas 31.4%, Florida 30.9%.
The report’s framing: “Starlink is narrowing a long-standing performance gap with terrestrial broadband.”
What it means for you
The benchmark needs both 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up, and upload has been Starlink’s weak point. A doubling in one year means many more users now clear both lines. Still, in most states fewer than half of Starlink testers did, and the gap is widest in some of the most populous states.
That pattern lines up with where capacity has been tightest. The states with lower shares include areas that appeared in earlier sold-out and surcharge reports. We note the overlap but do not claim a cause; the report does not make that link.
Who this covers
- Speedtest users on Starlink in the US during 1H 2026. Not a random sample of all customers.
- State-level shares, not county figures.
What you can check now
- Test your own upload as well as download, at peak and off-peak. Our upload and download page lists the ranges Starlink publishes per plan.
- See why evenings are slower.
- County medians appear on our speed explorer once 20 or more reader tests exist.
What stays the same
Starlink still publishes typical ranges, not guarantees. Peak hours remain 6 pm to 11 pm local time in its help text.
How this fits the record
This is the third Ookla release in our news list. Q1 2025 put the national median download at 104.71 Mbps with about 17% of users meeting 100/20 (item). Late-2025 data showed medians above 100 Mbps in 49 states (item). This release shows the upload side catching up.
What we don’t know yet
- National Starlink median download, upload and latency for 1H 2026 from this report. The article we read focused on the benchmark share.
- County-level detail inside the large states with lower shares.
Our data
None yet for speeds. Press figures are never merged with crowd medians.
Source
Ookla: Starlink Performance Surged in First Half of 2026 · reports Ookla's U.S. Broadband Performance Report for 1H 2026
Retrieved Oct 6, 2026
Correction log
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