Starlink Is Now Offering a $40 Discount in 30 States. But There Is a Catch

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Starlink just got a lot more affordable for customers in 30 states. The internet provider is now offering a cheaper alternative to its $120 per month Residential plan. This new plan — dubbed Residential Lite — brings the cost down to $80 per month. However, that means slower speeds and some other compromises.

According to the Starlink FAQ section, the Residential Lite plan offers a range of 50 to 100 Mbps with no data caps or speed caps. The satellite internet service initially rolled out to 15 US states in March, but added another 15 this week.

There are some caveats to the less expensive plan. It's less than half of the speed of the Residential plan, with download speeds of 50 to 100Mbps. In addition, Starlink refers to these plans as getting deprioritized data, which may result in lower speeds during peak hours.

"This service plan will be deprioritized compared to Residential service during peak hours," Starlink says. "This means speeds may be slower for Residential Lite service relative to Residential service when our network has the most users online."

Peak hours are generally considered to be any time between 6 to 11 p.m. on weekdays. That's right around when everyone gets done with work or school and sits down to eat dinner, play some video games, or watch some Netflix before bed. Starlink says its network is a "finite resource" until the company can launch more satellites. Thus, Residential Lite users may see slow Internet if enough people are online.

The big picture for low-income households

The FCC ended its Affordable Connectivity Program last year, citing a lack of funding. Before the shutdown, the government was subsidizing low-income households anywhere from $30 to $75 per month to help them get internet in their homes. The end of the program saw around 23 million households lose their internet connection. While Congress has not yet passed a similar bill, other programs exist to assist.

At $80 per month, the Residential Lite plan from Starlink competes with much faster broadband plans from major ISP providers. For instance, I pay $80 per month to Spectrum for 600 Mbps of Internet. For around the same price, Cox offers 250 Mbps. Xfinity does 200 Mbps for around $45 per month.

People looking for more affordable internet have plenty of other options to choose from. But this less expensive, albeit slower, plan from Starlink could appeal to those in rural America without access to many options.

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