Starry Internet Review: Fast Internet, No Strings Attached

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Starry Internet rating

How we calculated our rating

7.0/10

CNET Score

We score internet providers for speed, value and customer care. Our data sources include the FCC, J.D. Power, The American Customer Satisfaction Index and extensive in-house research.

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7.0

/ 10

SCORE

Speed

6.5/10

Value

7/10

Customer Care

7.5/10

Pros

• Fast speeds for a wireless connection
• No equipment fees, data caps or contracts
• No set price increase after 12 months

Cons

• Building must be equipped for service
• Gig speeds not available in all service areas
• Possible service disruptions during bouts of heavy rain

See more pros and cons

Internet providers run service to the home in a number of different ways, but the delivery method ultimately comes down to wired (cable, fiber, DSL) or wireless. Starry's broadband internet is among the next generation of wireless technologies that support high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity using millimeter-wave bands capable of sending large amounts of data over short distances. 

That sounds like 5G, and I'd say it's similar at least in its wireless delivery, but Starry doesn't quite bill itself as a 5G home internet provider. While 5G focuses on mobile, roaming access to the internet, Starry's technology leverages fixed sending and receiving points, allowing for potentially faster speeds and greater reliability.

Whether or not that makes for a noticeably better connection than what 5G offers remains to be seen. Still, there's much to like about Starry's prices and terms. The ISP has no contracts, data caps or equipment fees, and the simple, straightforward approach gives Starry a customer-friendly edge over many of its more established ISP competitors. 

Starry Internet plans and pricing

Starry Internet plans vary by location, but most customers can anticipate a selection of speeds ranging from 100 to 500Mbps. Select areas may also have access to gig speeds, up to 1,000Mbps down, while others may have the additional option of the provider's low-cost internet plan, Starry Connect.

Standard pricing goes into effect after 12 months, which is fairly standard for internet service providers. It is worth noting, however, that Starry's price increases are low compared to many ISPs.

A closer look at the Starry Connect discount plan

Most providers have an affordable internet plan intended for seniors, students and low-income households. They're typically $20 to $30 per month, offer download speeds in the 25 to 50Mbps range (and much lower upload speeds) and require a lengthy application process. Starry's affordable internet plan exceeds those expectations in several ways: It's only $15 per month; it offers symmetrical upload and download speeds of 30Mbps; the only requisite for service is living in a building where it is available. 

Starry SVP of Government Affairs and Strategic Advancement Virginia Lam Abrams explained that Starry partners with housing owners to eliminate individual eligibility requirements (such as proving income or an enrollment in WIC or school lunch programs, which are required by many ISPs to qualify for their affordable internet programs) to qualify for Starry Connect. 

"We tied qualification to our program directly to the premises," Lam Abrams said. "So, no matter who lived in apartment 101, if apartment 101 was a part of our Starry Connect program, regardless of who lived in that unit ... they would always get offered the opportunity to sign up for Starry Connect."

Unlimited data, no equipment fees and no contracts

Regardless of the Starry Internet speeds available in your area or the specific plan you choose, all come with unlimited data, no additional fees for equipment and no contract requirements. 

While unlimited data and no contracts are fairly common among cable and fiber internet providers, the free equipment is a nice perk. Renting a router can easily add $5 to $15 or more to your monthly bill, depending on the provider.

Starry Internet availability

Starry Internet is available in five major markets: Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C. 

Boston has the greatest availability, with coverage spanning much of the city. Service in New York is currently reserved for much of lower Manhattan but can also be found in parts of Queens and Brooklyn and across the river in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Residents of the DC area are most likely to find Starry Internet availability just north of the city in the Georgetown, Cleveland Park, Glover Park, Woodley Park and Columbia Heights vicinities, as well as across the Potomac into Arlington, Virginia.

Starry serviceability in Denver runs from the city's center to the southeast, whereas availability in Los Angeles extends northwest from the city center.

While there are no immediate plans to expand into new markets, expansion efforts in all current markets is ongoing. A Starry spokesperson confirmed with CNET that the company is "still expanding in those markets to new buildings and areas" and accepting new customers.

How does Starry's fixed wireless internet work?

Say you want to catch water in a cup. Mobile wireless internet is like holding that cup in the rain. You can catch raindrops pretty much anywhere as you move around the city, though it may be raining more heavily in some places than others (and the upgrade to 5G definitely means it is raining harder). Fixed wireless is more like aiming a water gun directly at your cup. 

As you can imagine, a fixed wireless connection is better equipped to deliver a stronger, more consistent internet stream than 5G, but most fixed wireless connections use unlicensed bandwidth toward the bottom of the spectrum, and that means that the speeds are pretty limited (to go back to the water and cup analogy, imagine the sort of cheap toy water gun that you might use to spray a misbehaving cat). 

However, Starry is different from other, slower fixed-wireless providers like Rise Broadband or AT&T because it licensed the use of higher frequency bands in the 24 to 37GHz range that can permit faster speeds and a higher rate of data transfer -- even more so than most 5G connections, which typically operate in the sub-6GHz range.

As a result, the connection is closer to a Super Soaker than a cat-sprayer, and it allows Starry to aim a fast, wireless connection at antennas perched atop buildings such as apartment complexes, condos and public housing units. The individual residential spaces within get wired to the antenna, and presto, everyone's online.

A fixed wireless flex

If you're familiar with fixed wireless internet, you may associate it with rural internet, but Starry's technology is intended and optimized for the urban setting. So much so, that Starry can deliver speeds and value that rival fiber and cable internet providers in some of the biggest US markets.

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Starry transmits wireless internet signals from base stations called Starry Titans, which are strategically affixed to a radio tower or the top of a building -- something high up where signal interference is minimal. 

Starry COO Alex Moulle-Berteaux says that similar to a satellite provider, Starry finds height is an advantage and enables the company to use "much higher-frequency bands [than 5G] because we are targeting fixed points... So we ended up designing everything to be 24GHz-and-above-capable, and thereby using the properties of millimeter-wave bands that are very, very high-bandwidth, very, very high-data-speed bands." 

Conversely, 5G networks position similar base stations closer to the ground to allow the signals to bounce around trees, moving objects and more to reach multiple destinations.

Starry Tridents -- located up high in a fixed position atop an apartment or condo building -- receive the internet signals and send them along the building's existing wired network to your Wi-Fi router. There is also a smaller receiver, the Starry Comet, designed for smaller buildings and single-family homes.

Starry developed and manufactured the technology behind the service, from the base stations to the receivers and even the Wi-Fi router, so everything is designed to work together for optimal performance. It's also worth noting that, since Starry doesn't have to lay expensive cables and can use the existing infrastructure of buildings it beams service to, initial and ongoing operational costs are relatively low. 

Whose idea was all this, anyway?

That would largely be Starry founder Chet Kanojia, who seems passionate about simplifying access to information and media. Before Starry, Kanojia founded Aereo, an ahead-of-its-time streaming service that used small antennas to pick up live TV broadcasts over the air, enabling users to watch and record those broadcasts on "virtually any internet-connected device." 

Aereo ceased operations after several legal setbacks, including a Supreme Court ruling against the company. Not long after, Kanojia shifted his wireless initiatives from television to broadband internet, launching Starry Internet in 2016 with service available to those in the greater Boston area.

Comparing Starry Internet

If Starry Internet is an option where you live or where you're moving to, there's a good possibility that cable and fiber-optic options will also be available. Here's how Starry Internet compares with popular cable and fiber-optic providers that operate in the same markets as Starry.

Starry Internet vs. cable internet

Depending on which Starry Internet market you live in, Spectrum or Xfinity are likely to be the main cable internet providers, though Cox could be available in the DC area or Optimum in New York.

Starry's speed tiers and pricing are comparable to most major cable internet providers while the service terms and fees (or lack thereof) tend to give Starry a slight advantage. Starry's 300Mbps plan, for example, will run you $50 a month, which is about what you'd pay with Spectrum for the same speeds. However, Starry's price increase after 12 months is lower than Spectrum's, and Starry includes equipment at no extra cost whereas Spectrum charges $7 a month to rent a router.

Starry Internet vs. fiber internet

AT&T and Verizon Fios are the two fiber providers you're most likely to encounter in Starry Internet markets, though the Denver area may also have CenturyLink as an option. In any case, Starry Internet pricing is roughly the same as AT&T and Verizon Fios. Gig service from Starry and AT&T starts at around $80 a month, and Verizon's comes in just above that at $90 per month. AT&T, Starry and Verizon include the equipment fee in the standard monthly charge.

Starry pricing can be a bit more favorable when you consider the free equipment, but I'd have to give the speed advantage to the fiber providers. For one, you're likely to have a few speed options with fiber internet, including 300Mbps and 500Mbps speeds along with potentially multiple gigabit speed tiers to choose from.

Starry Internet vs. wireless internet, including 5G

Compared with other fixed-wireless connections, like those from Rise Broadband, AT&T and T-Mobile, Starry Internet can deliver much faster speeds, often for a lower price, and unlimited data. It's doubtful you'll have the option of choosing between Starry Internet and another fixed wireless provider, however, unless it's Google Webpass, which also operates in the Starry market of Denver. 

Webpass, another high-speed fixed wireless service, only comes with one plan option, gigabit service, starting at around $70 per month, or $63 per month if you pay a year in advance. It's slightly cheaper than Starry's gigabit plan, but there are no additional or cheaper plan options with Google Webpass like you'll get with Starry. 

As for comparing Starry with 5G home internet, providers like Verizon and T-Mobile offer plans in the range of $50 to $70 per month (possibly cheaper if you're a mobile subscriber, as well), with speeds from 72Mbps to 1,000Mbps depending on the provider and location. That's impressive for wireless service, but you're still likely to get more speed options, faster download and upload speeds and greater overall value from Starry.

Starry Internet customer service and satisfaction

Customer satisfaction indicators like the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Better Business Bureau and J.D. Power don't specifically name Starry Internet in their reports, but the company points to its Net Promoter Score, which "measures customer experience and predicts business growth," as an indication that Starry is on the right track. 

According to a Starry spokesperson, "In an industry where NPS scores hover somewhere near zero, Starry's NPS score has ranked consistently high, averaging between 60 and 70, highly unusual when stacked against other internet service providers."

The spokesperson also added that "our customer care team is focused on delivering personalized support, and they can do that because we designed the entire technology stack, from base station to home Wi-Fi hub, and we have a level of transparency into our network performance that allows our support team to quickly diagnose or proactively identify a problem a subscriber might be experiencing. That level of personalized care and our overall company focus on being customer-first is an important feature."

At any rate, we'll keep an eye on Starry as the company grows and starts developing a deeper track record on customer satisfaction. When we have more metrics to share, we'll update this post.

Summing it all up

Starry stands out among fixed wireless providers, enough to compete with cable and fiber-optic services in some of the country's largest metropolitan cities. Plan pricing is fair and transparent, especially when you consider that the equipment is included and pricing doesn't automatically go up after 12 months. Additionally, speeds can be comparable to fiber or faster than cable in select markets. 

If Starry is available at your address or the building you're moving to, it's worth checking out. But, as with any home service, explore all your options before signing up.