Starlink internet onboard?

[SteveK]

I have not had a loss of service moving or at anchor. What I have noticed is evening streaming I get the whee spinning as in low band, very brief as they throttle service back for roam. My overall high MB is also lower.
Seems like the same process cable companies use, set you up with more than you expected and then throttle back slowly.
Wonder if they lost any satelittes a few days ago in the solar storm

 

[O C Diver]

My luck has been very good up here in what Starlink considers the ocean (Lake Superior). No issues with connection anywhere up here and was able to cross Lake Superior 10 days ago without losing signal on low priority.

Ted

 

[Coppercove1]

We have been away from home port since June 15th, up the BC Central Coast. No problems thus far, reliable with good download speed for Teams and Zoom calls. Cellphone calls using IPhones is a real bonus!

 

[Tom-Jill-Lilly]

Starlink rocks

Okay I'm circling back. I was the one a way back asking about Starlink and it's application. I was very hesitant to install it based on rule changes etc.

I bought and installed it in March. We've been up cruising in the inside passage this summer with no real problems other than twice it took forever to connect (of 60 or so times). I do turn it off when we don't need it as it draws < 50 watts.

Fast speed, and I don't regret it. Great cell service using it.

Tom

 

[Helmsman]

I have had zero issues with Starlink on the Tennessee River system since installing in January.

 

[koliver]

it as it draws < 50 watts.

Tom

So about the same as a typical fridge, but without the fridge's down time, so really about twice the draw of a fridge. Add to that any inverter losses and you need a relatively large solar array and batteries in order to have SL at anchor without lots of generator usage.

 

[Tom-Jill-Lilly]

So about the same as a typical fridge, but without the fridge's down time, so really about twice the draw of a fridge. Add to that any inverter losses and you need a relatively large solar array and batteries in order to have SL at anchor without lots of generator usage.

We been on our virgin tour, new Helmsman was delivered this spring and went to the inside passage. 50 days out, with two 225 watts panels. We can do 2-3 nights on anchor on rainy dark days, about 4 nights on a cloudy/sunny day, 4+ days on a sunny days. turning off starlink and invertor when out hiking, dingying, or at night., after that the engine gets started (twice so far) to charge AGM 1100 amp-hr batts. No gen set, no fuel cells, no Lithiums (yet)

 

[Delfin]

The geofence is probably coming, but I haven’t found it yet while crossing the Pacific. I’m posting from Starlink RV right now and we’re 2100nm west of Hawaii and 1250nm east of Guam. Not many RVs out here!

Retriever, two questions. I assume you have the 'mobile priority' toggle on, and if you reboot offshore, does the antenna go into flat orientation?

 

[Delfin]

Did he have an RV unit or did he try to take his residential unit away from home? You pay a $25 premium for mobility over the residential unit.

Ted

Ted, that may have been me. I have the RV antenna, and lost signal with the Roam plan with the mobile priority toggle on and received an email that I had to upgrade the plan to use it in the ocean. After a number of attempts and contradictory answers from SL support, they essentially admitted they had a glitch, now fixed that caused the problem. I upgraded to their Mobile Priority plan, which, if you use more than 50 GB per month (I certainly do) costs the same as the Roam plan with priority data toggled on.

I think they're still trying to work out their business model....

 

[Sababa]

Can you use it when at anchor, with juice coming only from solar panels?

I can use it at anchor but I don’t have any solar panels. Thinking of getting some for next season.

 

[Sababa]

I have not received any emails from starlink for using it while on the move. My travel speed is 10 knots.

I do not normally use the starlink while in motion but there is always background apps and incoming phone calls that happen while traveling.

The system is pretty smart. It knew when I crossed into Canada so I’m sure it knows how fast I am moving.

Until recently I have had no issues with being on Low Priority Roam plan. The only time I had an issue was when 3 large cruise ships passed me in a 15 minute time span. For about 7 minutes I saw some serious pixelation on the tv. Other than that, no issues for me.

I try to remember to turn on the priority/in motion data when underway but sometimes I forget. Haven’t gotten any emails from Starlink about it. I also cruise at 7-8 knots.

 

[Delfin]

Starlink seems to have no clue where we are. Left Hawaii two weeks ago, and now 250 miles from BC and Starlink still has us in Hawaii time. Phones and computers haven't updated to local time. On the way out, it did. Not now.

 

[Tom-Jill-Lilly]

Hi it's one year later. Love the starlink RV (now called Mobile). We are traveling 7 knots in the inside passage up from Seattle to Alaska. While starlink knows exactly where we are at on water, it appears they haven't geofenced us out. Is that still on Starlinks plan? I assume to make us buy an expensive deal just because I have my "RV" floating instead of on I5?

I heard a rumor a while back that the geofence is 200 miles out.

If starlink made us ante up (again), I'd probably drop it.

 

[tiltrider1]

Starlink uses a hexagon grid system developed by an independent 3rd party. If there is a spec of land in the hexagon then it is deemed as land and you won’t be geofenced out. Get far enough away from land and you will get fenced out.