This is my first time posting on the forum and I'm looking for some information on Starlink before deciding to order the package at Starlink.com. I live in a rural area with trees all the way around my house. I'm currently getting my internet with a Viasat satellite dish and considering a potential upgrade to a local wireless internet provider that would likely require the installation of an 80 foot tower at a cost in excess of $2000. The maximum speed with this service is supposedly 25 mbps, with unlimited data at $90/month, but the provider has numerous negative reviews and my tower installation is a waste if the provider turns out to be a dud.
Thus my investigation into Starlink internet as an alternative. The following are questions which I was hoping would be answered at Starlink.com, but that location seems to be primarily a site to place an order with the assumption that you know all about what you're ordering. I don't.
What speed and data limit should I expect for $110/month and is there any assurance the speed indicated will prevail most of the time. (My current satellite service indicates 'up to 12 Mbps' which can ofter be 6 or 7 or less.)
What am I getting for $599 and $35 shipping. I assume an antenna, but does that also include a modem? What about connecting cable or mounting hardware?
Is there any guarantee on the equipment I receive and if so, how do I exercise my rights under this guarantee?
How far can the antenna be from the modem if I would need to mount the antenna away from the house to get an unobstructed view?
What about tech support if I initially or ever have a question or is this forum it?
I may have more questions when I use the Starlink App to see if I can even find an unobstructed view. The pictures I see of installed antenna's look like they're pretty much directed straight up which would be good because angling much towards the horizon will likely encounter a tree at least when locating the antenna on the roof.
Thanks for any help you're able to give me.
Thanks. This link was helpful, but the set up instructions for the dish and use of the Starlink App raised some additional questions. I live in the woods and I do have some open spots, but nowhere do I have an obstructed view of the sky all the way to the horizon. It seems like I need some angle off the center axis of the dish that needs to be unobstructed. Given that, I can build a jig with a piece of pipe that I can rotate around the dish axis to see that it has a clear view within a certain angle, but according to the 'set up' instructions I won't know the orientation of the dish or it's center axis until I receive it and plug it in so it can locate the satellites.
It seems like I should be able to specify the coordinates for my location and get the required orientation of the dish. At least with that information I'd know how to position my phone camera to best get the view the dish is going to have.
You've already provided me with a lot of information, but if you can think of anything additional regarding how to determine if I have a viable location for the dish, I'd appreciate hearing of it. Perhaps I'm over thinking this, I tend to do that.
Thanks for your response. I'm assuming the 'Dishy' that you refer to is the dish (although it appears to be a flat panel in the picture at Starlink.com) that mounts on the roof or elsewhere to receive the satellite signal. In my existing setup, the dish on the outside is connected to a modem in my house that is then connected to my WiFi routers (a Google Mesh system) It seems what you're telling me is that in the Starlink setup, the dish and modem are combined and I get a router whether I need one or not. Is there somewhere online that gives specifics on what is included in this kit so I can better plan what I need for the installation prior to receiving it? You evidently are an installer doing Starlink installations. I'm going to investigate to see if I can find anyone in my area that's installing Starlink as I might need to be more than 150' away.
Hello Ron, well these are some great questions. Good to see your doing your homework before ordering.
Starlink promises speeds from 50-150Mbps, this does fluctuate a lot and will probably jump over 200 and under 50 occasionally but will average around the 100 mark providing you have a clear line of sight.
You get the Dishy(Which is the modem) 75ft cable and a router with the kit. Everything you need to start running, installation accessories are sold separately if needed.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by a guarantee, I can say that you have 30 days to return Dishy if your unhappy with the service, and will get a full refund, and you have 1 year in which you can return undamaged equipment back within a year of service for a partial refund.
The max cable length you can get is 150ft with the Gen2 system. You can run aftermarket boosters that will go 300-400ft...but this does require a little bit of networking skill, but definitely doable as we have set up multiple systems this way.
Tech support with Starlink is online only, the tickets are kept in your app for record. As of late the response rate has been very slow, 1-2 days but there having a big influx of new customers that will hopefully settle down after a bit and get back to smae day response which it use to be.
Hope this helps!