SpaceX’s satellite network showed signs of congestion in Nevada’s Pershing County last week.

Starlink today uses around 8,000 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide Internet connections to roughly 7 million customers around the world. But an event in the desert of Nevada last week collected enough Starlink users in one place to create a measurable effect on the company’s network in the region.

Key Takeaways:

A large number of Starlink users gathered in rural Nevada for the annual Burning Man event.

Starlink’s daily speeds in the area slowed to a low of 66 Mbps during Burning Man, but rose as the event wrapped up.

The annual Burning Man event draws enough Starlink users to affect Nevada’s statewide Starlink speeds.

Starlink satellite Internet connections have become increasingly popular at the Burning Man desert arts festival, a nine-day event that occurs annually. The festival attracted around 70,000 attendees last week. According to Ookla Speedtest Intelligence data, Starlink’s speeds slowed slightly amid Burning Man demand.

Specifically, Starlink download speeds surpassed 200 Mbps in Pershing County, Nevada – where Burning Man takes place every August – in the days leading up to the event. But during the actual Burning Man event itself – which took place from August 24 to September 1 – Starlink speeds dipped well below 100 Mbps. On August 28, Starlink speeds hit a daily low point of 66 Mbps, but then began to rise again as the event drew to a close.

It’s worth noting that, while there was a dip in speeds, Starlink users at Burning Man still received Internet speeds in rural Nevada that were faster than what some 5G networks provide in major US cities.

Starlink daily download speeds during Burning Man
In Pershing County, Nevada, USA. Burning Man was held August 24 – September 1.

Burning Man Goes Online

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Starlink services have become increasingly popular at recent Burning Man gatherings, and were prevalent across this year’s 1,500 Burning Man camps and art installations.

The event is big enough to earn itself a listing on Google Maps, and that location information is reflected in Ookla Speedtest Intelligence data for the month of August:

Moreover, Ookla recorded a major spike in the number of Speedtest users in Nevada’s Pershing County during the week of Burning Man. That’s no surprise considering Pershing County’s annual population sits at around 6,000, but spikes by 11x during the week of Burning Man.

Finally, it’s worth noting that a dip in Starlink speeds in Pershing County – one of more than a dozen counties in Nevada – also occurred last year during Burning Man. Indeed, Nevada’s median statewide Starlink speeds also dipped during the month of August 2024, mainly because of the network demands created by last year’s Burning Man during that month. But Starlink’s speeds across the entire United States were not affected.

Starlink monthly median download speeds
Burning Man is held annually at the end of August.

Network Loading

The dip in Starlink’s speeds last week was likely due to the loading that the company’s network experienced during Burning Man.

After all, a wireless network like Starlink’s satellite network is a shared resource, much like any other telecom network. As more users connect to such a network, they all compete for access to the same limited bandwidth. This competition can lead to a decrease in network performance, as the available bandwidth is divided among an increasing number of devices. Consequently, if too many users are streaming video, downloading large files, or engaging in other high-bandwidth activities at the same time, the network can become congested, resulting in slower speeds for everyone connected.

Some Starlink users are already familiar with this concept. According to PCMag, Starlink last year introduced $100 congestion charges for select areas where its network had become strained from too many users. This year, that fee rose to $250 in some cities. But in other cities where Starlink has excess capacity, the company has been offering potential customers free equipment.

Network congestion is also a well-known issue for cellular operators like Verizon and T-Mobile. That’s why some deploy temporary cell sites during major events like concerts.

This is all particularly relevant as SpaceX – the rocket company building Starlink’s satellite constellation – hopes to win hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for rural broadband Internet services through the U.S. government’s Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) program.

According to the financial analysts at New Street Research, Starlink has so far won $387 million in BEAD grants to provide Internet services across 213,000 rural locations in the U.S.

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About the Author

Mike Dano

Mike Dano is a Lead Industry Analyst in Ookla’s research and content team. He covers the North and South American markets, and global technology trends. Previously, Mike was a journalist covering the global telecom industry for 25 years at publications including RCR Wireless News, Fierce Network and Light Reading.