This article discusses the impact of the Starlink service on TCP, the main transport protocol of the Internet. Geosynchronous satellites have limitations in terms of latency and capacity due to the high altitude, leading to longer round trip times. Low Earth Orbit systems aim to address these issues by bringing satellites closer to Earth. Starlink uses dynamic channel rate control to adapt signal modulation based on varying Signal to Noise Ratios (SNR) for peak carriage efficiency. TCP performance on Starlink circuits experiences congestion-induced packet loss and latency spikes, leading to reduced sending rates. The article showcases the difference in TCP performance during peak and off-peak times on Starlink.
https://www.potaroo.net/ispcol/2024-05/starlink-tcp.html