Starlink

[klee wyck]

Starlink has been a game changer for us in the Sea of Cortez. Previously, we needed to plan our travels so that we would hit an area about every three days that had cell service or wifi to get a good forecast of how big the northerlies or corumels would be. The alternative was to use sat phone or vhf to get weather but that is caveman like compared to PredictWind or Windy with internet connectivity.
We are in our migration south from San Carlos and will end up in La Paz by mid-December. Now with Starlink in the remote anchorages we can look at good graphic forecasts in motion with download speeds approaching 200 mbps.
Unbelievable really, what an upgrade!

 

[tpbrady]

Lepke,

Those news reports create the wrong impression. Yes, a terminal can acquire and use a satellite, but quite frequently there is no satellite available and the terminal is offline. There are two things you have to consider, the uptime of the terminal and the average time between failures. The uptime south of Petersburg is very good and time between failures is quit long. In Anchorage it is not so good and the time between failures is measured in minutes. Starlink needs another 100-200 satellites in polar orbits to improve service in the far north. The next group of 52 are supposed to go up tomorrow.

Frankly DOD testing Starlink for troops on the ground in the far north is a waste of time and money. With the exception of the airborne terminal, testing ground terminals when there are 700,000 of them already in use worldwide is like testing light bulbs. The only thing they need to know in the far north is when there are enough satellites in place to make them useful.

Tom

 

[dannc]

Regarding the orbit of the Starlink satellites, this is one of a couple of websites that show their locations, https://satellitemap.space/#. I have no idea how they make this map, nor it's accuracy, but it is interesting.

One can see that the poles have very little coverage. The red dots are ground stations. The satellite "trains" that have recently been orbited are also interesting to watch. If one zooms in enough, one can see the satellite you are likely using, how fast they are moving, and how many are near you. Another map I have seen shows which ground station is being used by the satellite. The link above does not seem to show the satellite and ground station linkage.


Later,
Dan

 

[Larry M]

Folks, let’s try to keep the thread on track. StarLink and boating?

Thanks for understanding.

 

[ksanders]

Interesting tidbit...

My American starlink has been in Mexico since early august, working great!

It quit working about three hours south of Ensenada. I tried slowing down to 7 knots. I tried a power cycle reboot and it never came back online. The app showed "searching"

I plugged into the same cable my Mexican starlink that I had pre-tested in ensenada, and it immediately came online and has been flawless.

The big question will be wether my american one comes back online later, or if I need to change the country, because I at three months + I am in violation of their terms of service.

 

[SailorGreg]

Folks, let’s try to keep the thread on track. StarLink and boating?



Thanks for understanding.

This should get us back on topic. Usage report after three months w Starlink: boat is a Krogen trawler ( <10 knots)
Beginning in Newport, RI in a slip: data rates from 30mbps to 100 or so. Likely local competition for bandwidth. In September we began our track south. From Newport to Norfolk off the coast it stayed on line, even when we were max 40 miles from land. Similar performance in hops down to Florida. Pulling up statistics, often had 3-4 minutes of cumulative offline. I did notice that the rougher the seas, the larger the cumulative offline time.
Sitting at the dock in Stuart, my antenna looked north while my neighbors looked south, but we were both getting decent bandwidth. One night my antenna rotated to look south.
Just crossed over from West Palm to Chubb. First part of the GS was a little lumpy and we had more periods of disconnects. Most were just for seconds at a time, but if I was on line, it would knock me off. Data rates were often in the 20-40 range. Got a few “ obstructed” complaints, even though there were no obstructions. Offline for minutes at a time.
Sitting here at Chubb we are getting the highest data rates I have ever recorded, 150mbps at time.
Now we wait and see what happens after three months….
I am using the Starlink modem for all connections. I have the starlink adapter and it is wired to a switch and then to the boats LAN, but regardless my location on the boat, the direct connection to the Starlink modem provides better data rates than through my LAN. I understand this may depend on specific LAN hardware.
I also have my appleTV connected via the same switch, so hardwired from the Starlink to the TV. Mostly good HD reception for DirectTV and Netflix. No issues with Bahamas location for any streaming service. My assumption is, since the Starlink DNS says New York or Atlanta ( currently) it effectively spoofs location protocols. I haven’t tried, but my guess is, I would be having issues now if I were to try and stream from a hand held device ( air play, or whatever).
Again, I am just reporting one person’s experience.

 

[Simi 60]

Odd one for me today
We are on the RV plan, can see the coastline clearly yet have had this for a few days
Speed unaffected.

 

[SteveK]

Odd one for me today
We are on the RV plan, can see the coastline clearly yet have had this for a few days
Speed unaffected.

If you get an explanation do post it.

 

[tpbrady]

I wonder if they are starting to distinguish between RV and maritime service based on distance from shore. I have seen the service areas in Alaska on the Starlink service map following the shoreline with a couple of areas in Frederick Sound as having no service since they are more than 3 miles from shore.

Tom

 

[ksanders]

I can report that I had almost continuous starlink service between ensenada and Trurle Bay. Including the offshore section of Vizcaino bay

 

[Sababa]

I just spent a week taking advantage of some gorgeous late fall weather to work remotely in the San Juans and can report great Starlink speeds throughout the trip. I was even able to stream HD shows during peak hours in the evenings. Of course, there was nobody else up there to jocky for bandwidth—or dock space or mooring balls either! Definitely beats the summer zoo!

 

[Simi 60]

I wonder if they are starting to distinguish between RV and maritime service based on distance from shore. I have seen the service areas in Alaska on the Starlink service map following the shoreline with a couple of areas in Frederick Sound as having no service since they are more than 3 miles from shore.

Tom

I doubt that could be an issue here as we are in a bay 3 miles from shore but map shows service on other side of island to the right of pic

 

[ksanders]

I still cannot believe it.

I am sitting in Turtle Bay Mexico.

There is a 115 mile dirt road from here to get to the main highway #1 up and down the baja.

I'm getting 200 MBPS download on my starlink.

Yippee!!!!!

 

[Airstream345]

Nice writeup on SeaBits about the new Marine antenna (on the $135/mo RV plan) - https://seabits.com/starlink-flat-high-performance/

 

[Helmsman]

Nice writeup on SeaBits about the new Marine antenna (on the $135/mo RV plan) - https://seabits.com/starlink-flat-high-performance/

Well worth the read. Thanks for posting.

 

[Sykes]

This should get us back on topic. Usage report after three months w Starlink: boat is a Krogen trawler ( <10 knots)
Beginning in Newport, RI in a slip: data rates from 30mbps to 100 or so. Likely local competition for bandwidth. In September we began our track south. From Newport to Norfolk off the coast it stayed on line, even when we were max 40 miles from land. Similar performance in hops down to Florida. Pulling up statistics, often had 3-4 minutes of cumulative offline. I did notice that the rougher the seas, the larger the cumulative offline time.
Sitting at the dock in Stuart, my antenna looked north while my neighbors looked south, but we were both getting decent bandwidth. One night my antenna rotated to look south.
Just crossed over from West Palm to Chubb. First part of the GS was a little lumpy and we had more periods of disconnects. Most were just for seconds at a time, but if I was on line, it would knock me off. Data rates were often in the 20-40 range. Got a few “ obstructed” complaints, even though there were no obstructions. Offline for minutes at a time.
Sitting here at Chubb we are getting the highest data rates I have ever recorded, 150mbps at time.
Now we wait and see what happens after three months….
I am using the Starlink modem for all connections. I have the starlink adapter and it is wired to a switch and then to the boats LAN, but regardless my location on the boat, the direct connection to the Starlink modem provides better data rates than through my LAN. I understand this may depend on specific LAN hardware.
I also have my appleTV connected via the same switch, so hardwired from the Starlink to the TV. Mostly good HD reception for DirectTV and Netflix. No issues with Bahamas location for any streaming service. My assumption is, since the Starlink DNS says New York or Atlanta ( currently) it effectively spoofs location protocols. I haven’t tried, but my guess is, I would be having issues now if I were to try and stream from a hand held device ( air play, or whatever).
Again, I am just reporting one person’s experience.

Please keep updating!! How did it work crossing the bank?

 

[bowball]

What works today may not work tomorrow as Starlink continuously optimizes its network and its revenue model, without notice.

 

[socalrider]

What works today may not work tomorrow as Starlink continuously optimizes its network and its revenue model, without notice.

Yeah that's the concern - especially with a $2500 dishy versus the $600 version.

That said, there's no alternative when outside cell service range that's even remotely in the same price/performance ballpark.

Since the data throttling is likely to happen mostly in populated areas where there is at least some cell service, bonding the Starlink to a cellular data stream one way or another still seems like the prudent course of action if greater reliability is required.

 

[SailorGreg]

Please keep updating!! How did it work crossing the bank?

Chubb to West Bay today. Worked every time I checked while on the trip. Getting 100+ mbps here in west bay, even though we are rolling a bit. ( it is west bay!). For the last week or so I have been getting an “obstructed” message. But nothing above my antenna other than sky. Doesn’t seem to affect performance. Normans tomorrow.
Last I checked, the Bahamas was not a serviced country and it is outside Elon’s definition of “North America”. So we are about 80 miles from the US Coast, yet doing fine. May be that with USVi and PR further out, it is difficult to not support the non- service islands between the US mainland and islands that are serviced. Pure conjecture on my part.

 

[bowball]

Yeah that's the concern - especially with a $2500 dishy versus the $600 version.

That said, there's no alternative when outside cell service range that's even remotely in the same price/performance ballpark.

Since the data throttling is likely to happen mostly in populated areas where there is at least some cell service, bonding the Starlink to a cellular data stream one way or another still seems like the prudent course of action if greater reliability is required.

And the $2,500 one needing to be mounted differently (flat mount) than the $600 one (pole mount), which in my case would require re wiring, re locating, new mount etc. I hope that only the plans would need to be changed (I’m on a RV one at the moment, which I changed to from mobility before which I changed from fixed location, as the plans and conditions changed ).

 

[SailorGreg]

Please keep updating!! How did it work crossing the bank?

Normans Cay: highest data rates ever recorded. 212mbps. Probably due to lack of competition for bandwidth. Unless there is som significant change to service, I will stop sending comments. We will be in the Bahamas for six months so will see how long we stay up.

 

[mvweebles]

I've tried for a couple days to order Starlink for delivery in Ensenada MX. Unfortunately, I cannot get multiple credit cards to go through, and Starlink has zero customer service. No idea what the issue is - Ive called my bank, and the small test transaction ($0.05) goes through.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Peter

 

[ksanders]

I've tried for a couple days to order Starlink for delivery in Ensenada MX. Unfortunately, I cannot get multiple credit cards to go through, and Starlink has zero customer service. No idea what the issue is - Ive called my bank, and the small test transaction ($0.05) goes through.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Peter

I used a AMEX card. Visa typically denies if the address does not match.
I had my Mexican starlink delivered to the marina

 

[MYTraveler]

I've tried for a couple days to order Starlink for delivery in Ensenada MX. Unfortunately, I cannot get multiple credit cards to go through, and Starlink has zero customer service. No idea what the issue is - Ive called my bank, and the small test transaction ($0.05) goes through.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Peter

Step 1 would be to confirm that it isn't going through because your credit card company is declining the charge, which seems likely. If so, call your credit card company, customer service or fraud department, and let them know that the charge should be approved. If it was declined recently, it is an easy matter for them to know what to expect (vendor and amount) and to approve it on the next attempt. I have had that problem in Mexico (always an automated fraud concern, although once they couldn't believe I was buying over $10K in "gas" (fuel was cheaper then), but explaining that I was at a fuel dock, not a gas station, buying diesel for a boat calmed them down.

 

[mvweebles]

Step 1 would be to confirm that it isn't going through because your credit card company is declining the charge, which seems likely. If so, call your credit card company, customer service or fraud department, and let them know that the charge should be approved. If it was declined recently, it is an easy matter for them to know what to expect (vendor and amount) and to approve it on the next attempt. I have had that problem in Mexico (always an automated fraud concern, although once they couldn't believe I was buying over $10K in "gas" (fuel was cheaper then), but explaining that I was at a fuel dock, not a gas station, buying diesel for a boat calmed them down.

I called my CC company and spent some quality time with them (Schwab). I also have a travel alert with them showing I'm in Mexico, and have made several local transactions. I used a second CC (Citi) and also went online to approve the transaction - it too didn't work. Also used a third CC. So I suspect something in back-end with Starlink. Hmmm.....

Peter

 

[MYTraveler]

I called my CC company and spent some quality time with them (Schwab). I also have a travel alert with them showing I'm in Mexico, and have made several local transactions. I used a second CC (Citi) and also went online to approve the transaction - it too didn't work. Also used a third CC. So I suspect something in back-end with Starlink. Hmmm.....

Peter

Did either of your credit card companies confirm that the charge was submitted, and if so that they approved? If never submitted, then I agree, something went "wrong" at Starlink's end.

 

[Sykes]

This is great info, Thanks

 

[SeaDogAK]

As of a few days ago, Starlink is available in all of Alaska. They don’t have very many satellites up here yet. I wonder if anyone has tried it recently.

 

[GoneFarrell]

We got Starlink RV running here in Ensenada a couple days ago, works great!

Used it to buy Mex fishing licenses yesterday to my CC, that transaction went through easy peasy. But the website is not intuitive to figure out and that can be a hassle.

We went to the fishing gear store down off the Malecon to buy them over the counter and we were told no can do, buy them on line.

The only paper transactions we've had here are with the capatina de puerto for entry/exit, lots of rubber stamping.

 

[Simi 60]

It doesn't like rain.

We had a pretty intense last few days weather wise and found we lost solid signal for hours at a time due to rain/cloud cover.

BeiDou ,Galileo ,GLONASS and I assume GPS were still operational
The reason I mention that is on one occasion 6 years ago we did lose all of them as well but that was next level rain and hail, thankfully short lived.