Question: Elon Musk's Starlink satellite service.

[FitToBeTide]

Got my notification today from StarLink that I can go ahead and order the kit. Service rollout is to go live in the fall, or thereabouts. For those unfamiliar, StarLink is Musk's internet service using satellites that his SpaceX rockets have been deploying for a while now. Before ordering the kit ($499) would like to know if anyone has already gotten theirs and your take on it. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to take the plunge. We travel a lot in our RV and having internet available wherever we are is the big draw for me.

 

[Toddrn]

Got my notification today from StarLink that I can go ahead and order the kit. Service rollout is to go live in the fall, or thereabouts. For those unfamiliar, StarLink is Musk's internet service using satellites that his SpaceX rockets have been deploying for a while now. Before ordering the kit ($499) would like to know if anyone has already gotten theirs and your take on it. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to take the plunge. We travel a lot in our RV and having internet available wherever we are is the big draw for me.

What is the monthly cost after the 499.00?

 

[FitToBeTide]

What is the monthly cost after the 499.00?

$99.00/mo.

 

[Elefantman]

We just got high speed internet here in middle of nowhere RcanSaw about four months ago. A local outfit built their own set of towers similar to cell towers to provide the signal. I get 50 Mbps for $100/month with no restrictions. My friend down the road is working for this local outfit doing installs and he said he is going with Starlink. He plays online games and wants more speed. I'm happy with what I have and price is more important than speed. Question is, how long before Starlink increases their price?

 

[FitToBeTide]

We just got high speed internet here in middle of nowhere RcanSaw about four months ago. A local outfit built their own set of towers similar to cell towers to provide the signal. I get 50 Mbps for $100/month with no restrictions. My friend down the road is working for this local outfit doing installs and he said he is going with Starlink. He plays online games and wants more speed. I'm happy with what I have and price is more important than speed. Question is, how long before Starlink increases their price?

How long is always the question. Who knows. It's a crap shoot like any other subscribed business. If it gets out of reach, I'll fire them just like I did with Comcast cable tv. I'm probably going to give them a shot at some point as we travel and like the idea of having internet access with big pipes away from home.

 

[BamaSC]

If I were like you and spent significant time moving around in an RV, I’d probably go for it. It’s too expensive, too slow, and not yet reliable enough to replace my home service from Spectrum.

 

[Ratal]

You can place your pre-order for $99. The $499 is not charged to you until they ship the unit. I signed up for it. You can cancel and receive a refund before that point. I have read a lot of reviews on Reddit. There are some that complain but the overall response is that it is amazingly better than what was previously available.

I live in a town of 17,000 people. I am about a half of a mile from the city limits. Cable companies refuse to build their plant here because the cost to build is too high for the amount of houses on the road. I can only get 10 meg DSL from Windstream. It is terrible because I work as a network engineer.

 

[FitToBeTide]

Right. This tech is tailor-made for those like you; out beyond the reach and interest of cable service. From what I've read, the download and upload speeds are purported to be significantly increased by the end of the year and on into next year as it comes out of beta and in full bloom. It's geo-fenced for the moment but is scheduled to open up for full mobile capability later this year.

 

[FitToBeTide]

If I were like you and spent significant time moving around in an RV, I’d probably go for it. It’s too expensive, too slow, and not yet reliable enough to replace my home service from Spectrum.

I would add that, like satellite tv, you'll need clear line of sight to get a signal. It needs a 100º cone of non obstructed view view of the sky. That's something that a user will have to be aware of. As time goes on, SpaceX will be deploying many more satellites which will help with coverage limits now.

 

[BamaNation]

We just got high speed internet here in middle of nowhere RcanSaw about four months ago. A local outfit built their own set of towers similar to cell towers to provide the signal. I get 50 Mbps for $100/month with no restrictions. My friend down the road is working for this local outfit doing installs and he said he is going with Starlink. He plays online games and wants more speed. I'm happy with what I have and price is more important than speed. Question is, how long before Starlink increases their price?

I get 1000mbps for $50/mo. Not bragging or anything It was so frustrating to be one block away from really high speed for a couple years before they finally brought it into my neighborhood! I would have definitely paid $100/mo for 50mbps before then.

 

[Elefantman]

Once Starlink is up and running I would imagine HughesNet will go the way of Blockbuster. From what I understand, the Starlink setup should be fairly easy even if you move around.

 

[FitToBeTide]

Once Starlink is up and running I would imagine HughesNet will go the way of Blockbuster. From what I understand, the Starlink setup should be fairly easy even if you move around.

A couple of youtubes I watched on setting it up verifies what you say. Very easy indeed.

 

[CrimsonNagus]

I got the same email even though I live in Montgomery. I am not pre-ordering though because I can’t afford the $500 and the $99 is too steep for the speed vs other ISPs in the city. I hope the monthly rate comes down as then network keeps growing, I dream of a day when I can be free of the greedy telecom companies.

 

[BamaNation]

Great article in WSJ.com today about satellite internet. (May be paywalled, but here's a summary):

Guy in CO is off the grid living on side of mountain with his wife and attended a remote conference in Japan and got 150mbps speed, etc. 10K current testers getting great speeds. What happens when 1MM people connect via satellite? Competitors are lining up. Starlink has 1K satellites in orbit with 11K more on the way. OneWeb has 110 with 550 more coming. Telesat has a similar but different service offering coming on about 300 satellites in 2023 that doesn't require special equipment. China will have 10K satellites of its own. FCC is giving starlinke nearly $1B to connect rural homes. What about space junk?

Elon Musk and Amazon Are Battling to Put Satellite Internet in Your Backyard

For rural homesteaders and suburbanites alike, no matter where they live on the globe, fast, reliable internet connectivity is on its way—from outer space.

www.wsj.com

 

[B1GTide]

In 10 years we will have a wall of satellites that we have to pass through to get into space.

 

[Elefantman]

In 10 years we will have a wall of satellites that we have to pass through to get into space.

Guess we can stop worrying about global warming. We will completely block the sunlight with satellites.

 

[NationalTitles18]

In 10 years we will have a wall of satellites that we have to pass through to get into space.

AKA the Arcnet.

 

[NationalTitles18]

I'm interested in it, but don't want to pay $500 up front for it. I think I'll wait for now.

 

[Zorak]

Guess we can stop worrying about global warming. We will completely block the sunlight with satellites.

Since the beginning of time, man has yearned to destroy the sun. I will do the next best thing--Block it out!

 

[BamaFlum]

In 10 years we will have a wall of satellites that we have to pass through to get into space.

W-A-L-L-E!