Starlink? Take it or not?

[jyl]

Does anyone have Starlink? What is your experience - reliability, speed, etc?

I got on the waitlist a year ago, and my number just came up. I’m deciding whether to take it. I don’t need Starlink for my normal internet service, but had thought it might be a good backup for my business (during a big winter storm a couple years ago, we lost power and thus internet at home and in my office) and a handy thing for van-camping (when i ever get time to do that again). And I’m pretty curious about it. I’d be getting the Residential service, but if I like it, have the option of switching to the RV service (can turn it on and off rather than pay for months when not using). It’s $500 equipment charge to start and $110/mo. There’s no annual commitment, but if I drop it later, I probably lose the $500.

[masraum]

I got on the wait list a bit over a year ago. I live very rural so I have 2 options for internet (dial up isn't a valid option) cell service or satellite. I was given the option for Starlink about a year ago, but at the time they said something like "this is still in beta, and it may go down at any time." Since I needed it for work, that wouldn't be good so I passed. Cell service has worked well for me. I'd still like to try Starlink, but right now, it's not available to me.

I used to work for a company that provided network (voice and data) connectivity to ships, oil rigs in remote places (like the Gulf of Mexico or the North Sea) via satellite. Starlink should be good stuff.

If you get it, I'd love to hear your experience.

[Rusty Heap]

here's a post on another forum about it, hope you can view it. might be members only.

https://www.viperalley.com/threads/starlink-rv-available-with-no-wait.304130/

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Rusty Heap

here's a post on another forum about it, hope you can view it. might be members only.

https://www.viperalley.com/threads/starlink-rv-available-with-no-wait.304130/

Yep, membership only.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by masraum

I got on the wait list a bit over a year ago. I live very rural so I have 2 options for internet (dial up isn't a valid option) cell service or satellite. I was given the option for Starlink about a year ago, but at the time they said something like "this is still in beta, and it may go down at any time." Since I needed it for work, that wouldn't be good so I passed. Cell service has worked well for me. I'd still like to try Starlink, but right now, it's not available to me.

If you get it, I'd love to hear your experience.

That is exactly where I am. Since my wife also works from home a few days a week (a lot more the past few years) we did both Hughes Sat Internet (relatively slow but reliable, we have had it a long time) and UbiFi cell service (fast but wonky the first 6 months so we have kept both).

I am very interested in your experiences as well, jyl, if you go the Starlink route.

Best.

[SpyderMike]

I finally got it after a lengthy wait. We had only one other option for the last 18 years and that was Hughesnet. They ripped my soul out over that time frame. Horrible I tell you. The best I could get on that high latency, low bandwidth, hard to dial in, poor support service was maybe 2Mbps down and 0.5 up with a latency of about 1 second.

I got the Second Gen Starlink system less that a month ago...plugged it all in, waited 5 minutes, and saw greater than 200Mbps down, 25 up and latency of about 50ms. What a game changer. Even at peak times in the evenings I see a minimum of 30Mbps down. This should improve as more sats get launched and the newer version of them starts laser comms.

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 now have wifi calling and texting working for reals. Calls sound better than our landline.

So far about one month in service and no hiccups. Streaming in HD no problem.

Me happy? Yes!

Check out this website to see how it works www.starlink.sx . Put your location as the target.

[red-beard]

Spydy, what is the cost per month for that service?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

That is exactly where I am. Since my wife also works from home a few days a week (a lot more the past few years) we did both Hughes Sat Internet (relatively slow but reliable, we have had it a long time) and UbiFi cell service (fast but wonky the first 6 months so we have kept both).

I am very interested in your experiences as well, jyl, if you go the Starlink route.

Best.

I'm surprised that you had relatively good luck with Hughes. I used to work with a place (23 years ago) that was the tech support for what was then called Hughes DirectPC. I've also heard from folks in my "local" rural area that have had bad luck with them recently.

I'm intimately familiar with that sort of service from a behind the scenes point of view, granted, on a commercial basis vs residential. I'm sure it could work OK until the weather went to hell. I didn't want to deal with the latency associated with a geosynchronous satellite.

I have my Internet through T-Mobile. Because I'm working from home, I purchased a commercial SOHO/branch style router to provide the service. I'm also fairly close to I-10, so I think most of the carriers try to have great coverage near major Interstates which is probably also more in my favor than some folks that are no where near an interstate.

The biggest downside to my current setup is that I have a 100Gig/Month contract, which is not really adequate for WFH + surfing + streaming TV. I recently bought a second SIM with a second 100G/m contract since my wife is going to be home more, and we were going to run out of service before the end of the month.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by SpyderMike

I finally got it after a lengthy wait. We had only one other option for the last 18 years and that was Hughesnet. They ripped my soul out over that time frame. Horrible I tell you. The best I could get on that high latency, low bandwidth, hard to dial in, poor support service was maybe 2Mbps down and 0.5 up with a latency of about 1 second.

LOL, yep, that sounds about right, and is what I would expect to hear.

I got the Second Gen Starlink system less that a month ago...plugged it all in, waited 5 minutes, and saw greater than 200Mbps down, 25 up and latency of about 50ms. What a game changer. Even at peak times in the evenings I see a minimum of 30Mbps down. This should improve as more sats get launched and the newer version of them starts laser comms.

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 now have wifi calling and texting working for reals. Calls sound better than our landline.

So far about one month in service and no hiccups. Streaming in HD no problem.

Me happy? Yes!

Check out this website to see how it works www.starlink.sx . Put your location as the target.

Very impressive! Have you had any issues when you get heavy storms?

[red-beard]

How much is your 5G for 100GB?

Comcast is 1000Mbps. But only 40 up. I have 50GB of data for $50 @4G and I can get 100GB for $50 if I have a 5G device

[masraum]

Originally Posted by red-beard

How much is your 5G for 100GB?

Comcast is 1000Mbps. But only 40 up. I have 50GB of data for $50 @4G and I can get 100GB for $50 if I have a 5G device

$50 for 100G of 4G which is my plan from a year ago.
When I bought the plan recently, they have 100G for $50 of 5G, but if you're device is only 4G then they want to give you 50G for $50, but I raised hell, and they said that they've given me the 100G even though my plan still says 50. Since you live in a more populous area, T-Mo has a "Home Internet" plan that I think is unlimited 5G for $50. It's not yet available in my area.

[Erakad]

I live in a rural mountain location. Cable, fiber, line of sight, not available...will never happen. For the past 5 years, I've used LTE from a local ISP. The ISP claimed 15 mbs download when I had it installed (they no longer claim that...probably due to my complaints). From midnight to 5 pm I could expect 8-12 mbs download, 2.5 upload. Between 5 pm and midnight, anywhere from 0.5 to 3.5 mbs, 1.0 upload, 600+ ms ping, and 800+ ms jitter. 5 years of complaining did nothing, it happened every night.

I received starlink last week.
Pros: Best speed so far was 130 mbs download, worse has been about 25, average around 50. Peak hours/high volume are really in the same time period as the prior ISP, but I'll take 25 mbs (worst) over 0.7 (best) any day. Installation was no big deal, used the their app to make sure no obstructions, used the starlink mount on the house roof peak.
Cons: Pricey! $110/mo, $550 for the "dishy", $45 for the mount, if I add the ethernet adapter do I can use my own router, another $25.
Is it worth it?: Yes, if you must have internet (I do), living in a rural location is a challenge. Slow, ripoff ISPs will promise you anything...and never deliver. I'm so happy to be done with that lying/theiving/worthless ISP, words (at least civil ones) can't describe. It took a year and half for starlink to deliver, and for at least today, I'm finally satisfied with access.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by masraum

$50 for 100G of 4G which is my plan from a year ago.
When I bought the plan recently, they have 100G for $50 of 5G, but if you're device is only 4G then they want to give you 50G for $50, but I raised hell, and they said that they've given me the 100G even though my plan still says 50. Since you live in a more populous area, T-Mo has a "Home Internet" plan that I think is unlimited 5G for $50. It's not yet available in my area.

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/coverage-map

[wildthing]

And if you have T-Mobile mobile plan, Home Internet is only an additional $30... but I live in a metropolitan area and get Xfinity for 1.2GBps (theoretical max). I see 900Mbps on a wired connection. Best T-Mobile could offer was like 75-100Mbps.

Starlink is a good option for those who don't have fiber or cable nearby. Just ask the Ukrainians.

[red-beard]

You will need to upgrade your internal network to see faster than 980 Mbps. Most wired Ethernet these days is 1Gbps.

[SpyderMike]

Red-beard...I paid $499 for the system and now pay $110 a month. NO DATA CAPS! HNS was $100 for 50Gig a month on a legacy plan.

[tops911]

I live in rural Montana, we used a local provider and we could not even run a ring door bell.
We got on the beta for Starlink and have been more than happy with it. During the beta testing it used to go out at the same time everyday for maybe 10 minutes, but as time went on the outages became less and for less time. For over a year we did not have any outages; however It seems like since the Ukrain/Russia war started we have some outages but they are for seconds to maybe 2 minutes. We got rid of direct TV. Now we stream TV and have quick internet. I dont know about the mbps stuff, but what I do know is we can stream 2 TVs and be on several other devices at the same time without issue. We've tried Comcast & Hughes net and they both sucked big time, their customer support or tech support seems to have the attitude of "be happy with what you have".
Starlink was the only provider doing anything for rural America and for that reason alone I'd happily recommend them.

[T6andT]

Started with Hughes, terrible. Slow with low data caps. Switched to Viasat, better speeds approaching 100 but still data caps and too much latency for Zoom. Have been using Starlink for about 4 months, much faster, around 200 down, very little latency and reliable. Only nearly down once. Only complaint is they are not kidding regarding clear views. We have trees, but mostly open around the house but still not a total clear view. With Viasat it looks at one spot where Starlink wants a bigger clear sky. At $110 a month half of the fastest Viasat fees. Overall I really like it. But don’t expect good customer service. This is terrible.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by red-beard

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/coverage-map

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.

[fireant911]

Originally Posted by Erakad

... used the their app to make sure no obstructions, used the starlink mount on the house roof peak...

We live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and reliable service here is an ongoing issue. There are not too many choices for us so we have been looking into something that works more consistently. No landlines are available so we have to depend upon our current internet service for our phones as well. It is not too bad for me but for my wife, who is a physician, this horrible internet service is unacceptable. Checked into the Starlink and downloaded the app and that is where we stopped... our beautiful land surrounding our home is heavily wooded with mature sugar maple trees - these are great for making maple syrup but wreck our signal according to the Starlink app!!! After checking a multitude of different spots on our lawn, the Starlink app advises us to find another location.

I have not yet climbed on our roof to check the signal but with all of the positive responses, I will ladder-up this afternoon and see if that signal improves!