StarLink Moving Forward

[SteveK]

I just finished a 2 week cruise to desolation sound in BC. A lot of the area had no cell service.We had good high speed internet wherever we went.we could do anything on the boat that we could do at home. we shared our connection with others and at one point had 19 connections and we were still able to stream netflix.We got into an area with cliffs blocking satellite tv so we streamed direct tv via the starlink.

Curious, did you try VOIP to make a call. I am planning a trip to desolation but must maintain communications with work. A working holiday.
Starlink will be on the boat.

 

[Sababa]

Curious, did you try VOIP to make a call. I am planning a trip to desolation but must maintain communications with work. A working holiday.
Starlink will be on the boat.

My wife and I both had separate Zoom video conferences going at the same time over Starlink in Desolation Sound without a hitch, and made and received voice calls via WiFi calling from our phones as well.

 

[SteveK]

My wife and I both had separate Zoom video conferences going at the same time over Starlink in Desolation Sound without a hitch, and made and received voice calls via WiFi calling from our phones as well.

That cinches it. Thanks

 

[bowball]

My wife and I both had separate Zoom video conferences going at the same time over Starlink in Desolation Sound without a hitch, and made and received voice calls via WiFi calling from our phones as well.

And I’m at 10mbs near Ladysmith

 

[Sababa]

And I’m at 10mbs near Ladysmith

Evenings when people are streaming are definitely slower, but we have always had service in the range of 50-100 mb/s or more for work during the day.

 

[magna 6882]

I have to say i have been impressed with the starlink system. It just seems to work. I set everything up temp.I duck taped the antenna to the roof and have the wireless router under a cover on the flybridge. Using zoom and wireless calling plus watching movies and reading forums and i am not even aiming this thing half the time. The boat rolls around the anchor and everything just works. I have a arlo camera system on board and family members enjoy following me and only once on the last trip i got a call that they couldnt see the cameras. It turned out the gfi breaker i plugged the thing into tripped. Reset the breaker and cameras were back online.
Even though we as boaters enjoy the luxury of streaming from the boats i think about the impact this is going to have on so many lives. There are so many people in our country who do not have access to the internet. This system allows virtually anyone in the country to get mail and services that are mostly only online. I am grateful that we have these entrepreneurs and dreamers. Who would have ever thought sending hundreds of satellites into space and provide this level of service at the price point they have established. If i was told this even 5 years ago i would have thought they were nuts.
I will be running the rv south when the weather changes so i am leaving the install temp and will take the system with me in the rv. In the spring i will make it permanent on the boat. One thing i will need to figure out is how to keep the antenna mounted on the boat and purchase a second antenna for the rv. I am not sure if i need two accounts and suspend one while activating the other or is the account info stored in the router or the antenna?

 

[Tator]

Makes me wonder and question the billions that are being spent to bring broadband to thinly populated areas.

Tator

 

[psneeld]

Makes me wonder and question the billions that are being spent to bring broadband to thinly populated areas.

Tator

Billions are spent everyday on all kinds of things and on all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons.

At least much of it is not taxpayer money directly from what I have been following.

 

[Bmarler]

Makes me wonder and question the billions that are being spent to bring broadband to thinly populated areas.

Tator

More subscribers means more advertising dollars. Somehow it always seems to be about money, and advertising is absolutely pervasive on the internet. Just try bringing up a news site and see how many ads you can count.

 

[catalinajack]

Makes me wonder and question the billions that are being spent to bring broadband to thinly populated areas.



Tator

You mean like all the money that was spent on bringing electricity to rural areas by the Rural Electrification Administration.

 

[dannc]

You mean like all the money that was spent on bringing electricity to rural areas by the Rural Electrification Administration.

The difference is that the REA actually brought power to rural areas. In my county, the money is being spent, but not bringing high speed internet service to rural areas. Our DSL is 1.5 mbps. CenturyStink has taken hundreds of millions of dollars and they have NOT improved service in my county. They have spent some of the money in our county but it has not gone to improve existing customers. This has been a constant source of conversation for years in my county. I am on a rural related website where I hear the same issue across the states. Especially with CenturyStink customers.

Starlink was turned down for getting access to funds to provide Internet service to rural areas because Starlink speeds cannot be guaranteed. Well, I am guaranteed 1.5 mpbs with CenturyStink. Starlink seems to be at least 40-50mbps but that is not good enough to get the money but CenturyStink get the funds with so many customers stuck with 1.5 mpbs. Things that make you go hmmmmm.

Later,
Dan

 

[Tator]

No complaint at all with the rural electrification program. And I have no complaint with well run government programs. I don't have time to research right now as we're putting the boat away for the season but, I seem to remember many billions of Fed money being/or to be spent bringing broadband to remote and rural areas-a worthwhile goal. I was just curious as off the top of my head it seemed that Starlink might have been a more reasonable approach.

Tator

 

[tpbrady]

Tator,

What's missing is a rational economic analysis of alternatives for providing broadband. The Feds are on a singular mission of putting fiber everywhere and nothing else will do. Their approach to rural Alaska ignores the key questions of how much will it cost, how long will it take, and how much continuing subsidy will be required so someone can afford it.

Where we live in the winter in southern Idaho, our only internet options are wireless service providers with speeds topping out at 20 Mbps. In the latest FCC auction to award subsidies to providers from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, no one bid on providing service in my zip code. I didn't have any problem with the FCC initially awarding Starlink money and then taking it away, I had a problem with some areas getting a subsidy for the same product (Starlink) that I had to pay the full price. That's the irrationality of government programs.

Tom

 

[Lepke]

From the conversations here, and on the Cruising Forum, Starlink is working as long as one is within the 12 mile limit.

I have a friend commercial fishing in the PNW that's using Starlink averaging about 30 miles off the coast. Claims it works fine.

 

[psneeld]

And sometimes the irrationanality of powerful people, lawsuits, private/public companies,etc, etc ... coerce government officials to promote, enact, oversee irrational government programs.

 

[dannc]

I have a friend commercial fishing in the PNW that's using Starlink averaging about 30 miles off the coast. Claims it works fine.

That is good to know. There seems to be different distances being reported for offshore access, with most that I have read being 12 NM. Which does make some sense but I would assume that once enough of the laser connected satellites are in service the 12NM limit can be removed. I could see there being a limit/restriction if in another country.


I saw a Starlink service map, not sure it was from Starlink though, that showed lack of service in one hex grid in a northern NC sound, somewhere in the Chesapeake Bay, and another in one of the Great Lakes. All were very odd outage zones if the map was correct.


Later,
Dan

 

[HTurner]

CARR CRITICIZES AGENCY'S ABRUPT REVERSAL OF $885 MILLION INFRASTRUCTURE AWARD TO ELON MUSK'S STARLINK. Unjustified Backtracking Costs Taxpayers, Leaves Families on Wrong Side of Digital Divide. by News Release.


https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-386525A1.pdf

 

[ksanders]

I love my starlink, but it does have some limitations.

I installed Starink in anacortes and headed South down the Pacific Coast.

In this area the starlink worked perfectly in every harbor, but during the parts of my journey where I went offshore it would stop working.

Nearshore meaning within a mile or so of shore it would work fine.

Right now It's working wonderfully in Ensenada Mexico


The account I have is a RV account.

 

[Sticky]

People are using RV starlink on boats?

The Starlink marine setup is $5k per month with $10k hardware cost...

 

[Simi 60]

People are using RV starlink on boats?

The Starlink marine setup is $5k per month with $10k hardware cost...

Sssshhhhh, the dish doesn't know it's on a boat

 

[DNT99611]

You guys do not know what slow is. You speak of Mbps and the best I ever see is 300 kbs. This is after giving just about everything a try. I dream of the day Starlink will reach 60 north.

 

[sjisailor]

IIUC from the interested sidelines ... the StarLink "marine" accounts are primarily for commercial vessels and will eventually work worldwide, offshore anywhere, and while in motion.

The "RV" service is for both RVs and recreational boats, or for any other reason to have a portable service that moves among stationary points (not supposed to be used in motion -- although it's unclear to me how much that is enforced).

 

[koliver]

On my boat there is only the cellphone access to the internet, so a Hotspot is as good as it gets. At my home, I have a fibre connection, from Shaw, that gives me good, fast (15Mbps) internet service, plus TV, plus a land line phone, all for $210 Cdn per month, whether I am there or not.
As I understand Starlink, it will improve the internet speeds by about 10x, lose the local TV and the landline, but I can use my Magic Jack VOIP phone, Amazon Prime and Netfix for TV, and any regular TV channels that are streamed, such as CBC, but not CHEK, All for less money per month. I will still need my Telus account for my cellphone, adding another $150 Cdn per month.
The only real improvement will be the ability to add the "RV" service, another $25 +/- during the months I want it, and take all of the Starlink advantages with me on the boat.
Am I missing anything?

 

[slowgoesit]

On my boat there is only the cellphone access to the internet, so a Hotspot is as good as it gets. At my home, I have a fibre connection, from Shaw, that gives me good, fast (15Mbps) internet service, plus TV, plus a land line phone, all for $210 Cdn per month, whether I am there or not.
As I understand Starlink, it will improve the internet speeds by about 10x, lose the local TV and the landline, but I can use my Magic Jack VOIP phone, Amazon Prime and Netfix for TV, and any regular TV channels that are streamed, such as CBC, but not CHEK, All for less money per month. I will still need my Telus account for my cellphone, adding another $150 Cdn per month.
The only real improvement will be the ability to add the "RV" service, another $25 +/- during the months I want it, and take all of the Starlink advantages with me on the boat.
Am I missing anything?

Nope, you pretty much summed it up!

 

[dannc]

...
Am I missing anything?

Just make sure that your planned location of the Dishy at the house will have a view to the satellites. Many people we know have horrible Internet speeds, if they could get 15mpbs they would be sooo much happier, but they can't use Starlink because of trees.

The Starlink phone application helps you figure out if you have an unobstructed view to the satellites.

Later,
Dan

 

[catalinajack]

On my boat there is only the cellphone access to the internet, so a Hotspot is as good as it gets. At my home, I have a fibre connection, from Shaw, that gives me good, fast (15Mbps) internet service, plus TV, plus a land line phone, all for $210 Cdn per month, whether I am there or not.

As I understand Starlink, it will improve the internet speeds by about 10x, lose the local TV and the landline, but I can use my Magic Jack VOIP phone, Amazon Prime and Netfix for TV, and any regular TV channels that are streamed, such as CBC, but not CHEK, All for less money per month. I will still need my Telus account for my cellphone, adding another $150 Cdn per month.

The only real improvement will be the ability to add the "RV" service, another $25 +/- during the months I want it, and take all of the Starlink advantages with me on the boat.

Am I missing anything?

Yes, you can get locals and any cable station via YouTubeTV ($65/month). YTTV is the only streaming service that includes PBS. We use YTTV at home and on the boat with the same account. We just moved into a new house in Delaware. XFinity is the cable provider. Internet-only service (300 Mbps) is $40/month for the first two years. After two years we will go back to T-Mobile wireless home internet ($50/month). We have used the T-Mobile box on the boat successfully in multiple locations but we are returning it tomorrow cuz we have XFinity at our home.

 

[bowball]

Yes, you can get locals and any cable station via YouTubeTV ($65/month). YTTV is the only streaming service that includes PBS. We use YTTV at home and on the boat with the same account. We just moved into a new house in Delaware. XFinity is the cable provider. Internet-only service (300 Mbps) is $40/month for the first two years. After two years we will go back to T-Mobile wireless home internet ($50/month). We have used the T-Mobile box on the boat successfully in multiple locations but we are returning it tomorrow cuz we have XFinity at our home.

I use yttv at home but it’s blocked in Canada. Probably could use a proxy server.

 

[dannc]

Yes, you can get locals and any cable station via YouTubeTV ($65/month)....

From home, he should be able to get get over the air(OTA) TV, which is what we do, and we get a bunch of PBS channels, though their programming lately leaves much to be desired. We get a bunch of OTA channels and it seems that more are added each year. Kinda odd compared to when I was a kid and we were happy with three networks channels and one independent.

For OTA we just use a "modern" bunny ears antennae. We have a "better" antennae in the attic but it somehow has died.

Later,
Dan