I wasn't that happy with the performance of SB for the cost, but I also never tried them in fleets larger then 30. With the resource cap on planets, planetary links just became really important if you want REALLY large fleets. Unless you are happy to build a fleet, move it to another planet, scrap it, build a bigger fleet.
Yeah, I am lucky that my home planet is in a good network of connections.
Plus I have about 200 trade fleets in the air at any given time. Resources do get moved around my empire.
