Lately, Elon Musk's Starlink has been the talk of the town, with the eccentric billionaire donating hardware to help keep Ukrainian citizens connected during the ongoing conflict.

In the rest of the world, however, the Starlink service remains a very pricey way to access the internet, particularly if you opt for the premium package.

For most households, Starlink doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but if you're in a remote rural location without access to mainstream broadband providers, it could be a godsend.

The question is, just how fast is Starlink in real-world use? Ookla, the company behind Speedtest.net, has used its vast pool of data to find out exactly how Starlink stacks up to the competition around the world.

In the US, Ookla found that Starlink was the fastest satellite internet provider, by a significant margin, during Q4 2021. However, it can't compete with the median speed of fixed internet providers in the States. Ookla also noted that Starlink saw a sizable speed increase from Q3 to Q4 of 2021, going from a median download speed of 87.25 Mbps up to 104.97 Mbps. 

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Starlink also has impressive latency figures and is the only satellite internet service to get anywhere close to the median latency offered by fixed internet providers.

This experience is not consistent across the entire United States, though, with speeds varying a lot depending on the location. The highest speeds were recorded in Miami Dade County, Florida with median download speeds of 191.08 Mbps.

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In the UK, where it appears most of us are struggling with slow internet, Starlink is nearly twice as fast as the median broadband download speed. It can't quite keep up with the upload speed, but the margin is very narrow. Median latency is low, too, and Ookla reckons it's good enough to reliably play online multiplayer games.

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When compared with SES satellite internet, there's just no comparison whatsoever. So, if you happen to be one of the few in the UK that requires satellite internet, Starlink looks like it could just be the best option.

To see how Starlink fairs across the globe, you can read the full report here.