Best VPN for Starlink Internet Service

Spacex’s Starlink Internet Service has taken the satellite internet industry by storm and for good reason. Unlink traditional satellite internet services which use geostationary satellites about 22,000 above the earth, Starlink uses thousands of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites only 340 miles above the earth. This largely fixes satellite internets biggest flaw, latency.

Starlink offers latency in the 60 – 80 ms range only slightly higher than some traditional broadband services. This is in contrast to the 800+ ms of latency that legacy providers offer. Due to the lower latency offered by Starlink Internet Service VPN performs well and free from excessive latency.

Most VPN services will work fine with Starlink given that Starlink supports all of the major VPN protocols including IPsec, IKEv2, WireGuard, and OpenVPN. However though our own testing we have found two VPN services that work exceptionally well with Starlink Internet Services.

ExpressVPN – Our top choice when you simply want the best VPN that money can buy. Best for most.
NordVPN – Best if you want a dedicated IP address for gaming and port forwarding. Fast speeds.
Surfshark VPN – A less expensive alternative that still protects your privacy.

Why Should I Use a VPN With Starlink

There are several reasons that you should consider using a VPN service with Starlink Internet Service. Using a VPN service with Starlink is simple and affordable for most people.

Privacy and Security

The first and most important reason is privacy. Internet service providers collect a wealth of information about you whether you like it or not. Many internet service providers also state in their terms of service that they may sell your data to third parties or to business partners.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) (Starlink included) are required by law to log every website you visit and turn that information over to law enforcement if requested by a court order. Additionally many websites log your IP address to track your activity across the internet.

Fortunately using a VPN is a simply and highly affordable method of protecting your personal information including your browsing activity from being logged by your internet service provider (ISP) or by websites you visit.

A VPN in it of itself is a complete security / privacy solution, but it definitely goes a long way to protecting yourself. Other methods such as not allowing tracking cookies and keeping malware off of your device are still essential even when using a VPN service.

Online Gaming

Another reason you may want to use a VPN with Starlink Internet Service is for gaming. Starlink uses a technology similar to what cell phone carries use called carrier grade NAT (CGNAT). CGNAT allows Starlink to serve thousands of customers using a single public IP address.

This is helpful for Starlink as IPv4 address are in short supply and IPv6 is still not rolled out universally. CGNAT works by assigning you a private IP address that is not publicly routable and then using NAT to connect you to a public IP address.

CGNAT is not an issue for general web browsing but can be an issue for online gaming, If you connect a game console or PC to an ISP that uses CGNAT you will not be able to be a host in online matches. Your NAT type will show as strict because you will not be able to accept any incoming connections.

Using a VPN bypasses this issue by eliminating CGNAT and connecting you directly to a public IP address. a VPN connection is one of the only ways to fix the issues associated with CGNAT when gaming.

Using a VPN service for gaming is also recommended if you want to hide your IP address from other gamers. There are websites where you can find the IP address of a users by searching their gamer tag. A VPN will hide your true IP address and instead show the IP address of the VPN provider.

Accessing Geo-restricted Content

Did you know that many websites behave differently depending on what country they are accessed from. This could range from anything such as presenting different pricing, showing location specific content, or even not allowing access at all. Streaming services are a common example, many services are only available in certain countries, and certain content may also be region specific.

A quality VPN service will allow you to browse the internet for a variety of locations throughout the world, bypassing many of these restrictions. Local blackouts can also by bypassed, such as those often used by sports streaming services.