Starlink? Take it or not?

[masraum]

T-mo is performing upgrades on my local tower, so my service has been spotty and more variable during the upgrade. They are supposed to complete the upgrade today. Fingers crossed. But this is from the past couple/few days.

They are all more than good enough for work from home and streaming entertainment.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by masraum

Yeah, the problem isn't, I don't think, coverage. It's that they are only deploying the "unlimited home Internet" at certain locations. My guess is that they are waiting for infrastructure upgrades to support increased bandwidth, but that's just a guess on my part.

I looked at the allowed area for my guys in Idaho. For "Home" service they are a no go. For "Business" service, they can do it, but the cost is too high.

[Cairo94507]

I have been on the wait list for about 3 months now. I have SuddenLink and it is beyond horrible. I can't wait to cancel that service with extreme prejudice.

[red-beard]

I have a weird issue with my phone. On 5G, I can get 300 down, but the uplink side is 1 Mbps. If I switch it to 4G-LTE, my downlink is 25-30 MBps, but my uplink is 15-20 Mbps.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by red-beard

I have a weird issue with my phone. On 5G, I can get 300 down, but the uplink side is 1 Mbps. If I switch it to 4G-LTE, my downlink is 25-30 MBps, but my uplink is 15-20 Mbps.

that is weird, very weird.

[unclebilly]

Our rural internet provider has found a way to get even crappier… who knew this was possible?

I’m looking at Starlink which IS available in my area right now.

Who has it?
Is it fast?
Is it reliable?
Is it worth the money?
Would you recommend it?

[Seahawk]

Here is a recent thread:

Starlink? Take it or not?

I remembered it because I am interested as well.

Good luck!

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Here is a recent thread:

Starlink? Take it or not?

I remembered it because I am interested as well.

Good luck!

Friend of mine in Salisbury just got his. His words to me:

I may have mentioned - we live in an info desert at home with 1-bar cell and only Hughes and Direct TV for sat. services. No F'ing longer... STARLINK. Fing-A! I don't even have the antenna rigged to miss the trees and my speeds exceeded Hughes (cancelled!) and I am about to figger out whether we use YouTube TV, Roku or one of those others to work with the AppleTV gizmo. BUT - all the computers and phones have broadband access. Our Direct TV went out in a rain storm ...but not Starlink.

His photo:


I would be interested to hear others' opinions and feedback going forward.

Our cable service here is excellent but am always interested in new communications developments....

[tops911]

I live in rural Montana and I've very happy with Starlink. Actually I think it's the best out there. it's fast and reliable. We stream 2 TVs and be on 3 devices (computers, pads) and do not have issues. We also have a security system running. With our local provider we could not even run a ring doorbell.

[fintstone]

Yes. We have no cable or DSL here either. We gave up on Hughes for our rural internet long ago (as it did not work well and was very expensive). The best thing we have found so far is a large 5G mobile hotspot from AT&T that provides me 50G of service for $55 a month (but I had to buy the modem myself). That has been enough for me, but could increase to 100GB of data $90 per month if needed. I run my house off of it (added a really good mesh router to better distribute the WiFi throughout the house as it is quite large). The modem/box itself was a bit pricey though...but worth it to me as there were really no other acceptable options. I ran a similar 4G box prior to that...and it was ok, but not nearly as fast as the 5G box (even receiving 4G).

[jyl]

Starlink box arrived last week, today I opened it and set up the service.

There are zero instructions in the box, but you just install the Starlink app on your phone and follow the instructions. Which are basically:
- Use app to scan the sky while standing where you plan to install the dish, to see if the dish has a good enough view of the sky
- Set dish into base, place in location
- Plug dish cable into controller/wifi access point, plug that into power
- Connect your phone to STARLINK Wifi network
- In app, give the network a name and password
- Reconnect to the newly renamed network
- You’re online

Actually, there is waiting involved. The system needs to boot up, find satellites, etc, all takes 10-15 minutes before the app shows “ONLINE” and your phone gets internet.

If you set up in a bad location, ignoring the app’s reservations, like I did, there will be a further delay while you move the dish to a better location. As far as I can tell, all you do is pick the dish up and move it, there’s no rebooting etc.

My better location is still not great. I live on a tight urban lot, houses and big trees squeezed together, and the dish is on the roof of my one story garage with the three story house to the north (exactly where the satellites are) and my neighbor’s house to the south. But it seems to work.

I’m getting 90 to 140 Mbps down, per fast.com, when standing by the Wifi AP. I’m in the heart of urban Portland, I’ll guess there are very few Starlink users here, so I imagine these speeds reflect uncongested conditions.

Unfortunately, the station is in a bathroom at one end of the house and my favorite napping couch is at the other end of the house, where I get only 36 Mbps. So I’ll deduce the Starlink Wifi AP doesn’t have as good coverage as the Orbi mesh APs I use with cable internet, and there are no ports on the AP to cable it to repeater, router, etc. Odd design decision, maybe there is a more featured AP available for a higher price? But the cable from dish to AP is very long, maybe 100’ (?), and I could put the AP in a better location, if I cared.

No comment on reliability etc, the system has been online for all of half an hour.

I am probably going to try this out for a month or two, then switch from the residential account to the RV account ($135/mo, can turn service on and off, can use dish anywhere, but speed may be slower than residential account if there is congestion in the area) because I don’t need this thing for my primary internet service and that way I won’t pay $110/mo all the time, just pay $135/mo for the months that I switch service on (either because I’m camping or because internet is out in my office).

Anyway, my very brief experience is good. Those of you in rural locations should consider Starlink if you’re unhappy with what you have.

[masraum]

Nice, sounds like good results.

Apparently, my area is saturated, because there's a wait if you want to get in now, with a note that they plan to expand service in 2023.

I bought a commercial SOHO device for our place that has a 4G modem (with an option to get a 5G modem that should be out now/soon/this year). T-Mobile recently upgraded my tower to 5G, and I've been getting the occasional disconnect since that upgrade which is a little irritating, but not a catastrophe.

I get reasonably service via 4G.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by fintstone

Yes. We have no cable or DSL here either. We gave up on Hughes for our rural internet long ago (as it did not work well and was very expensive). The best thing we have found so far is a large 5G mobile hotspot from AT&T that provides me 50G of service for $55 a month (but I had to buy the modem myself). That has been enough for me, but could increase to 100GB of data $90 per month if needed. I run my house off of it (added a really good mesh router to better distribute the WiFi throughout the house as it is quite large). The modem/box itself was a bit pricey though...but worth it to me as there were really no other acceptable options. I ran a similar 4G box prior to that...and it was ok, but not nearly as fast as the 5G box (even receiving 4G).

I'm using a commercial 4G SOHO router myself. I'd like to add a better antenna, but 4x4 MIMO cell antennas are expensive, and I get reasonable service with the standard small paddle antennas.

[jyl]

I believe you can get “business” Starlink and “RV” Starlink without waiting. I’m reading that biz isn’t any faster than residential and is mostly a way to jump the queue for a premium price. RV is “deprioritized” so during congested periods it gets slower speeds. 70-100 Mbps from 4/5G is perfectly fine, in my view. For people in urban markets, I don’t know that Starlink has major advantages. And the need for reasonably clear sky views will rule out many urban locations.

If Starlink ever goes public, that’ll be an interesting analysis. If a service’s sweet spots are just rural markets, mobile and maritime, how financially attractive is that? Enough to justify all the capex?

[Seahawk]

jly,

Do you mind of I merge the other thread with this one?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jyl

I believe you can get “business” Starlink and “RV” Starlink without waiting. I’m reading that biz isn’t any faster than residential and is mostly a way to jump the queue for a premium price. RV is “deprioritized” so during congested periods it gets slower speeds. 70-100 Mbps from 4/5G is perfectly fine, in my view. For people in urban markets, I don’t know that Starlink has major advantages. And the need for reasonably clear sky views will rule out many urban locations.

If Starlink ever goes public, that’ll be an interesting analysis. If a service’s sweet spots are just rural markets, mobile and maritime, how financially attractive is that? Enough to justify all the capex?

they are VERY proud of their business class, but I suspect you do get better service even during the most congested times. But no way in hell am I paying $500/mo.

[Cairo94507]

Apparently Elon Musk just launched another rocket with 53 new Starlink satellites on board. I would love it if one was positioned over my area.... OH, and it is not $500 per month; that is the equipment fee.

[Sooner or later]

Starlink business is $500 per month.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Cairo94507

Apparently Elon Musk just launched another rocket with 53 new Starlink satellites on board. I would love it if one was positioned over my area.... OH, and it is not $500 per month; that is the equipment fee.

they aren't actually positioned over an area. They orbit the earth once every ~90mins. There are currently about 2700 satellites in several different orbits. They are like a convoy where several satellites follow each other through the same orbit.

And if you wanted to order "business" service to get inserted into an area that currently does not have residential available, the price is $500/mo. Just look at the screenshot below. It's pretty clear that's exactly what it says.

Originally Posted by masraum

they are VERY proud of their business class, but I suspect you do get better service even during the most congested times. But no way in hell am I paying $500/mo.

But, for residential service (no longer available in my area until when they expand service in 2023). It is less expensive.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by SpyderMike

The router is a bit basic with no Ethernet ports (separate add on required), and not much tweaking to be done, but it can be bypassed.

I'm guessing the business service is required to get a less basic device. That would explain the $2500 cost of the business hardware.