Starlink

4wanderingeyes

5 year old buck +
Do any of you guys have Starlink? I had ordered it last year, and it is finally being shipped, I should have it Monday. Just wondering if you have it, any tips on the install, set up? Do you like it? Can you have live meetings with it?

Reading on line, reviews are all over the place, but I wonder how much of that was how, and where they set it up, if they have obstructions, or just to high of expectations. As in comparing it to fiber.

My only option is ATT hotspot, and tethering from my phone. My speeds very a lot. With the ATT hotspot speeds can very from 60mb, to less then 1mb and won’t load a page. I have tried Hughs net, and the ping was so bad live calls were impossible, and it was worse then the ATT hotspot with slow speeds, or drop outs.

About 10 miles from me they ran fiber, but I will never see that in my area. The road I live on is a loop, and there is 4 houses on the 5 mile square loop, they wouldn’t waste their time.
 
I don't have it yet 4wnderingeyes but I plan to get it soon. Everything we hear from others around here who have it is that it is far better than Hughesnet which we have been living with since 2003. We don't have the option of cable or phone line so everything we use is Cell or Satelite technology for phone, internet and TV. I just have to call Hughenet today to find out if I am still under contract for any reason and if not, I am signing on to Starlink.
 
Here is the main reason why....

I have the 45 GB per month plan which costs me $126.68 with taxes, equipment lease, fees, etc.

I got an email alert from Hughesnet at 8:30 PM on June 18th that I had only 25% of my data remaining. I got another email at 10 AM on June 21 that I had only 10% of my data remaining and at 4 PM the same day I was notified that I had zero % remaining data. So in 67.5 hours I used the last 25% of my data and I still have 13 days remaining in that billing period. I either have to suffer with incredibly slow download speeds for the next 2 weeks or buy Tokens for additional data. This is getting real old.

I understand that I will have to pay $500 for the Starlink equipment but the monthly fee for unlimited data is only $100/month. Believe me, it will save me money in the long run...with hopefully, better service.
 
Well prices have increased some. $599+ tax, and $50 shipping, and $110 per month.

I feel your pain, my ATT Hotspot only has 15gb data, then they charge for each gig after that.
 
Mine was delivered about a week ago, but I haven't had a chance to get it hooked up yet.
 
Starlink is a satellite based service. It will have the same response time issues of any satellite based system, it is just physics. That may or may not be an issue for you depending on your application. If you need fast round trip times for your planned use, consider a terrestrial service. If there is fiber 10 miles, there may be local wireless point-to-point fixed location services that connect into it. Whether they exist in your area is market related. They are generally less expensive than the mobile wireless solutions.
 
Checked some reviews...

Speeds are far superior to either Viasat or Hughesnet and data is truly "Unlimited"

IMG_8435.jpg

From this link:

SpaceX Starlink Internet Review 2022: Should You Get It?https://www.satelliteinternet.com › providers › starlink

While Starlink is currently available very close to my location, they say it will not be available here until 2023. Nonetheless - I just opened an account and paid the $99 deposit to get it as soon as it does become available.
 
Starlink is a satellite based service. It will have the same response time issues of any satellite based system, it is just physics. That may or may not be an issue for you depending on your application. If you need fast round trip times for your planned use, consider a terrestrial service. If there is fiber 10 miles, there may be local wireless point-to-point fixed location services that connect into it. Whether they exist in your area is market related. They are generally less expensive than the mobile wireless solutions.


Starlink satellites are in lower space, much closer then the others, and there are many more then the others. Ping, and jitter are much lower on average. I had Hughes, it sucked. If it rained, if it was cloudy, if it was too sunny, no internet. Loaded ping was 750+ms, unloaded average 150-500ms. You need less then 100 to do anything live, without echo.
 
Starlink satellites are in lower space, much closer then the others, and there are many more then the others. Ping, and jitter are much lower on average. I had Hughes, it sucked. If it rained, if it was cloudy, if it was too sunny, no internet. Loaded ping was 750+ms, unloaded average 150-500ms. You need less then 100 to do anything live, without echo.
LEO still has significant response delays. Hughes and others have made deals to go to LEO. With LEO, it is kind of like upside down cell service. Instead of you moving around being switched between towers, the "towers" move around and you're switched between them.

I'm not at all downplaying the value of Starlink. I'm just saying the physics are still present and if you need response time, terrestrial wireless is a better solution. If you just need speed and volume, Starlink will be a boon to rural folks. However $110/mo is still pretty pricy.

Fortunately, we just got fiber through the local power cooperative. Folks might be surprised where it shows up. The power company already owns the ROWs which are expensive for new players to get. They also want to fiber for better power management, so selling excess capacity is a no-brainer, especially with the government incentives.

Thanks,

Jack
 
Here is the main reason why....

I have the 45 GB per month plan which costs me $126.68 with taxes, equipment lease, fees, etc.

I got an email alert from Hughesnet at 8:30 PM on June 18th that I had only 25% of my data remaining. I got another email at 10 AM on June 21 that I had only 10% of my data remaining and at 4 PM the same day I was notified that I had zero % remaining data. So in 67.5 hours I used the last 25% of my data and I still have 13 days remaining in that billing period. I either have to suffer with incredibly slow download speeds for the next 2 weeks or buy Tokens for additional data. This is getting real old.

I understand that I will have to pay $500 for the Starlink equipment but the monthly fee for unlimited data is only $100/month. Believe me, it will save me money in the long run...with hopefully, better service.
I used to have hughesnet. Never ran out of data with the 25 g package. We dont stream tv, no alexa, none of that. Then, a couple years ago, we started running out of data with ten days still in the month. Last year, we started running out of data with 20 days left. Fortunately, or Rural elect co-op and four state fiber ran high speed fiber all over the country here. My closest neighbor is almost a mile away. 1 gig speed, no equip cost or rental, $89 per month unlimited. Would have gone starlink had this fiber not just come in
 
I'm sure you've looked into it already but wireless internet (from a tower to an antenna on my roof) works great at my house. Im sure it doesn't hurt that the tower is about 400 yards away.

We moved during 2020 covid hysteria and were working from home, needed reliable wifi. Being restricted to satellite and 1 mbps fiber service almost killed the sale before we found the wireless internet setup.
 
Do any of you guys have Starlink? I had ordered it last year, and it is finally being shipped, I should have it Monday. Just wondering if you have it, any tips on the install, set up? Do you like it? Can you have live meetings with it?

Reading on line, reviews are all over the place, but I wonder how much of that was how, and where they set it up, if they have obstructions, or just to high of expectations. As in comparing it to fiber.

My only option is ATT hotspot, and tethering from my phone. My speeds very a lot. With the ATT hotspot speeds can very from 60mb, to less then 1mb and won’t load a page. I have tried Hughs net, and the ping was so bad live calls were impossible, and it was worse then the ATT hotspot with slow speeds, or drop outs.

About 10 miles from me they ran fiber, but I will never see that in my area. The road I live on is a loop, and there is 4 houses on the 5 mile square loop, they wouldn’t waste their time.
After waiting almost a year, we‘ve had StarLink at the Ky farm for a few weeks, and I love it. Much, much better that the old Verizon hotspot or ATT tether! It even seems better than the 30GB Cox cable service at the Florida home. Would never consider HughsNet, as their higher orbit causes WAY too much latency. Everything we have tried on StarLink works great. Security camera systems, NetFlix, zoom calls, etc. Not the lowest price, but worth it if it is your only option. If available for a reasonable cost, fiber is obviously faster than all of these.
 
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I used to have hughesnet. Never ran out of data with the 25 g package. We dont stream tv, no alexa, none of that. Then, a couple years ago, we started running out of data with ten days still in the month. Last year, we started running out of data with 20 days left. Fortunately, or Rural elect co-op and four state fiber ran high speed fiber all over the country here. My closest neighbor is almost a mile away. 1 gig speed, no equip cost or rental, $89 per month unlimited. Would have gone starlink had this fiber not just come in

That would be really nice if they would run the fiber here but I am not hearing o any plans for it..
 
Jack there is no terrestrial wireless services in my area. No wired service, no cable, only satellite services, and cell phone, which without a Weboost, I was lucky to get 1 bar. It would switch between no service, and 1 bar on our phones, with the Weboost, I get 4-5 bars. I live in cabin country, lakes and woods. The closest town is population 885, and that is only because the "town" includes 10 miles in either direction of it, then the next closest town is 496, and I am about 10 miles from either of them. 20+ miles before I get to a town that has more then 1000 people, and that is barely over 1000. Population of 5000+ would be 50 miles+
 
I'm sure you've looked into it already but wireless internet (from a tower to an antenna on my roof) works great at my house. Im sure it doesn't hurt that the tower is about 400 yards away.

We moved during 2020 covid hysteria and were working from home, needed reliable wifi. Being restricted to satellite and 1 mbps fiber service almost killed the sale before we found the wireless internet setup.

Our nearest cell tower is many miles away. The best I can get with ATT is 2 bars. Verizon we can text but not voice. Internet would be pretty much out of the question.
 
There is fiber running through my ditch. They even were so kind as to put a nice fiber pedestal in the center of my damn lawn while improving the county road i live on last summer. But the providers still only offer us 1 mbps speeds, gee thanks!
 
Jack there is no terrestrial wireless services in my area. No wired service, no cable, only satellite services, and cell phone, which without a Weboost, I was lucky to get 1 bar. It would switch between no service, and 1 bar on our phones, with the Weboost, I get 4-5 bars. I live in cabin country, lakes and woods. The closest town is population 885, and that is only because the "town" includes 10 miles in either direction of it, then the next closest town is 496, and I am about 10 miles from either of them. 20+ miles before I get to a town that has more then 1000 people, and that is barely over 1000. Population of 5000+ would be 50 miles+
AKA Paradise!!!!
 
That would be really nice if they would run the fiber here but I am not hearing o any plans for it..
It is pretty amazing - no breaks in service for storms like satellite. So far so good. Screaming fast
 
From my understanding, starlinks biggest disadvantage aside from price, is that it actively tracks the sats across the sky so you have to get the dish above the tree line or a relatively open 360 view of the sky for consistent signal otherwise there can be interruptions.
 
Jack there is no terrestrial wireless services in my area. No wired service, no cable, only satellite services, and cell phone, which without a Weboost, I was lucky to get 1 bar. It would switch between no service, and 1 bar on our phones, with the Weboost, I get 4-5 bars. I live in cabin country, lakes and woods. The closest town is population 885, and that is only because the "town" includes 10 miles in either direction of it, then the next closest town is 496, and I am about 10 miles from either of them. 20+ miles before I get to a town that has more then 1000 people, and that is barely over 1000. Population of 5000+ would be 50 miles+

Most applications don't need good response times. Some VPNs don't like the long delay of satellite, but they may tolerate LEO delays. For most applications Starlink will be fine. We do have some fixed wireless in our area. They put towers on a mountain and can cover pretty much cover a valley and they use repeaters to extend it. It is not as expensive as satellite and doesn't have the response time issue. I was just starting to look into it when the local power coop announced the fiber rollout. It took about 2 years to hit us. I suffered with a Verizon hot spot with an external antenna in the mean time. We got it this past winter. We love it. It is less expensive an better than my Verizon FIOS in the suburb. I have 50mbs FIOS there. It is more than enough for everything I do and to stream to one TV. At the new place, I bought 100mbs business service. I could have had a gigabit/sec for the same price if I had bought residential service. I wanted a fixed IP and full control of the router and they don't offer that with their residential service.

Thanks,

Jack
 
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