Starlink

swimmy

An honest tune with a lingering lead
Ok, after yesterday's initial trial run here is what I can share. I'm kind of comparing to the Hughes system I've had for the past few years since I also have experience with that.

Let's start with Hardware. Starlink is $650 for the unit/modem. Hughes is around $1k.

- The dish is light and compact. It is a little larger than a notebook computer. Compare that to the Hughes Net dish which is about the size of small table and Starlink wins. Luggin' around the big Hughes dish got super annoying.
- Because the dish is small and fits on it own little tripod, it is much more stable and will not affected by high winds like my Hughes (which I'd mount on a survey tripod)
- It is super simple to set up. Download the app, plug in the modem, scan the sky, and it will then find the satellites for you. That is amazing. With the Hughes system you have to set up the dish, find the satellite, tune it, and hope the satellite doesn't get bumped or moved by the wind. Hughes does sell a system that also will find the satellites for you but it runs $7k and is still massive.
- Hughes I connected to one satellite. 145 degrees SE, about a 35-40 degree angle. That's a pretty low angle and if there was a mountain in the way, I was screwed. This limited me to certain campsites. Starlink has a much broader spectrum and higher angle which opens up a lot more options.

When it comes to hardware, no doubt Starlink wins. It isn't even close.

Now service.

- I chose the Residential + Portability which runs around $135 per month. Because I have the portability option, I can take the system with me and pretty much set up anywhere. This option also prioritizes you and you will not get throttled down during high usage. The only downside is I currently can't pause the service during the winter when I'm not using it. I could see cancelling your cable internet and just using starlink at both your house and while out camping.
- They do have a RV option that you can pause but you might suffer speed or even lose service during high usage. I might look at this down the road.
- I get unlimited data with Starlink compared to the 10 gig I had each month from Hughes.
- speeds are up to 5, 6, 7 times faster. I was getting about 25 mbps with Hughes. Just in my first speed test yesterday I got 88. This is faster than my cable internet at my house. I've heard of folks getting between 100 and 200 mbps. Insane. This is plenty fast enough to stream and I might end up cancelling my direct tv subscription which I currently use in the camper.
- it is plenty fast enough to run my phone calls through. With Hughes, it was often choppy and I'd have to call people back.

Again, there is no comparison. Starlink wins.

I guess the only negative is the wait list. Last year I bough a Starlink but the wait was so long I cancelled. I re-ordered last week after hearing all of the good stuff and it showed up at my door three days later. Go figure.

You can go to their coverage map on the website and see if you are in a high demand area. That will tell you if there is a wait or not.

Maybe that helps. Let me know if I missed anything. I'm pretty stoked.
 

swimmy

An honest tune with a lingering lead
Tagging @creekx in this as he was also very much aware and interested in the technology. It wasn't quite ready last year but a lot of progress with access has been made in just a year.
 

brownheron

corvus ossifragus
We tried the Starlink system at our place on the river but had to return it due to the huge trees blocking the satellites. Our house is in a hole in the middle of 100'+ trees so no love for us. The signal would be cutting in and out every minute or two. Our neighbors have more open space around their house and it works great for them. It's been a game-changer for their family.

If anyone is interested in Starlink, you can download the app and run the satellite finder from where you will put the small dish and it'll tell you whether it will work well or not.

We're looking at taking out some trees so may give it another go next year.
 

creekx

not crate trained
Tagging @creekx in this as he was also very much aware and interested in the technology. It wasn't quite ready last year but a lot of progress with access has been made in just a year.
Nearly 2 years later still on the wait list...
I live in a rural zip code of 10 acre-plus parcels and lots of farmland. No idea why I'm still waiting.
 

TicTokCroc

Sunkist and Sudafed
Forum Supporter
We tried the Starlink system at our place on the river but had to return it due to the huge trees blocking the satellites. Our house is in a hole in the middle of 100'+ trees so no love for us. The signal would be cutting in and out every minute or two. Our neighbors have more open space around their house and it works great for them. It's been a game-changer for their family.

If anyone is interested in Starlink, you can download the app and run the satellite finder from where you will put the small dish and it'll tell you whether it will work well or not.

We're looking at taking out some trees so may give it another go next year.
Put it on top of a pole?
 

wanderingrichard

Life of the Party
Put it on top of a pole?
Yeah my thoughts too: elevation when possible. We had to do that outside Fairbanks just to get a baseline ping. (Hughes/Irridium/MilSat) Otherwise our dishes would have been at full depression to access the birds. (not good for cable connections.)
 

TicTokCroc

Sunkist and Sudafed
Forum Supporter
Yeah my thoughts too: elevation when possible. We had to do that outside Fairbanks just to get a baseline ping. (Hughes/Irridium/MilSat) Otherwise our dishes would have been at full depression to access the birds. (not good for cable connections.)
Yea we have to do the same thing to get inline with the signal being rural, now if the dickhead local cop would just cut, or let us cut the scrubby tree/brush that's blocking our signal things would be a lot better in the neighborhood :LOL:
 

brownheron

corvus ossifragus
Put it on top of a pole?
Wouldn't help in our current situation. Our house is in a small open area surrounded by very large fully mature Sitka Spruce, Hemlock and Doug Fir, and Big Leaf Maples. I got on top of the house and the Starlink app was pretty clear that it wasn't going to work well.

If we cut down a bigger circle of trees, a pole might be an option but the current 24MBps via DSL isn't preventing me from doing anything right now. Works fine for work via Teams and we don't watch much TV or streaming out there. 1st world problems...

Straylight-Aerial.jpg
 

Zak

Legend
Forum Supporter
Wouldn't help in our current situation. Our house is in a small open area surrounded by very large fully mature Sitka Spruce, Hemlock and Doug Fir, and Big Leaf Maples. I got on top of the house and the Starlink app was pretty clear that it wasn't going to work well.

If we cut down a bigger circle of trees, a pole might be an option but the current 24MBps via DSL isn't preventing me from doing anything right now. Works fine for work via Teams and we don't watch much TV or streaming out there. 1st world problems...

View attachment 21566
Nice place, and great photo!
 

wanderingrichard

Life of the Party
Yea we have to do the same thing to get inline with the signal being rural, now if the dickhead local cop would just cut, or let us cut the scrubby tree/brush that's blocking our signal things would be a lot better in the neighborhood :LOL:
There's no town or county office of code compliance that would give you a permit ? Sounds hokey one local yokel cop has the authority to tell you no, unless hes your neighbor and the trees are on his land.
 

swimmy

An honest tune with a lingering lead
Nearly 2 years later still on the wait list...
I live in a rural zip code of 10 acre-plus parcels and lots of farmland. No idea why I'm still waiting.

I don't understand why you get delayed and why my unit was on my front porch three days after ordering.

Makes very little sense.
 

TicTokCroc

Sunkist and Sudafed
Forum Supporter
There's no town or county office of code compliance that would give you a permit ? Sounds hokey one local yokel cop has the authority to tell you no, unless hes your neighbor and the trees are on his land.
Yep, it's on a scrubby overgrown little corner of his land. It's not even a nice conifer.
 
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