Starlink for RVs

[K12]

Have been doing a bit more messing around with SL and trying to reduce the overall power consumption/load on the aux batteries.

In the past, I've just used SL and it's own wifi router powered by an inverter. Mainly because for short durations off grid, power usage isn't a problem (batts recharged when driving, or by solar (not always good here in the UK, especially in the Winter, but great in Southern Europe most of the year)), or on grid with elec hook up (mains or generator) battery charge really isn't an issue.

But, now looking to consolidate all to 12vdc power supplies only and do away with SL wifi router in favour of a Unifi outdoor AP for better wifi range.
To do away with the SL router, and as a part of the 12vdc conversion for SL, there are a few different options which I'm happy with.
By doing away with the SL router, another router is needed, so I've settled on the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter-X, which is 24vPOE and has a pass through capability to power the AP. It's also very small, and low power consumption.
To do this, I've been looking at an EdgePower supply, which will provide 24v POE for the router (and therefore) the AP. The beauty of the EdgePower supply is that as well as mains, it can also be powered from a 12v battery - designed for fail over purposes, but suits what I'm trying to do.

But, it would be good to find a POE power supply that can be 12vdc powered (in the same way as the EdgePower) but provide two POE outouts at different voltages (1 at 24v for the router and AP, and 1 at 48vdc for SL).

The attached diagram is where I am at the moment (although ?I haven't bought the EdgePower supply yet. If I can't find a POE power supply that can do the two outputs at different voltages that I'm after, I'll just go with the 24v EdgePower supply and one of the SL conversion (probably this one).

So - open to suggestions please for POE adapters, with 2 configurable outputs at 24 and 48v, with a total power capability of around 50 - 60w, maybe a bit more - my calcs don't take into account the SL snow melt current draw.

Nick, I had done the modification to use the SL dish and my own personal router. I ran into a couple problems with powr going to the dish. While I was attempting to diagnose the problem I hooked back up to the SL router and found the the speeds where almost 3x faster than I was getting withbmy router and the 12v setup. I am not sure if this is the same reason as the lack of power getting to the dish and a problem with the cable.

I have been running it quite a while on the inverter and found the power consumption difference is very little (im running a victron 2000w inverter which has very low idle consumption). I still want to get the 12v system working but I need to figure out the dish power and speed issue first.

 

[nickburt]

Nick, I had done the modification to use the SL dish and my own personal router. I ran into a couple problems with powr going to the dish. While I was attempting to diagnose the problem I hooked back up to the SL router and found the the speeds where almost 3x faster than I was getting withbmy router and the 12v setup. I am not sure if this is the same reason as the lack of power getting to the dish and a problem with the cable.

I have been running it quite a while on the inverter and found the power consumption difference is very little (im running a victron 2000w inverter which has very low idle consumption). I still want to get the 12v system working but I need to figure out the dish power and speed issue first.

SL dish can use quite a lot of power (servos, snow melt etc.. etc...), so a fairly hi power 48v POE injector (some reckon it can get upto 60 or 70w at times) will be needed. Lack of power will degrade ethernet speeds. When I researched this, I came to the conclusion I would over engineer it a bit and go for a 70 or even 90w 48v injector for SL.
In the tests I've been doing with the EdgeRouter (5w) and UAP (manual says 8.5w max - but I doubt it's that much most of the time) a 24w, 24v injector has been more than enough to keep things going at decent speeds.

I originally decided that the parasitic inverter (Renogy 3000w) consumption probably wasn't worth worrying about, but now want to avoid that, having left it switched on (no load, so only idle consumption) and it dropped my 2x 110Ahr aux batts by around 20% overnight.

Cable size and length, as per any cable calc, can affect performance - volt drops and all that ...... if you read the article I linked above, he mentions "thick" and thin" ethernet cabling - the thicker ones being the dish POE - for a reason.

 

[nickburt]

Just re-visited Tuck's Truck power supply web pages and he reckons it uses a lot less than expected - 25 - 31w on 12v. 90w at 48v POE

 

[K12]

Nick, I had done the modification to use the SL dish and my own personal router. I ran into a couple problems with powr going to the dish. While I was attempting to diagnose the problem I hooked back up to the SL router and found the the speeds where almost 3x faster than I was getting withbmy router and the 12v setup. I am not sure if this is the same reason as the lack of power getting to the dish and a problem with the cable.

I have been running it quite a while on the inverter and found the power consumption difference is very little (im running a victron 2000w inverter which has very low idle consumption). I still want to get the 12v system working but I need to figure out the dish power and speed issue first.

SL dish can use quite a lot of power (servos, snow melt etc.. etc...), so a fairly hi power 48v POE injector (some reckon it can get upto 60 or 70w at times) will be needed. Lack of power will degrade ethernet speeds. When I researched this, I came to the conclusion I would over engineer it a bit and go for a 70 or even 90w 48v injector for SL.
In the tests I've been doing with the EdgeRouter (5w) and UAP (manual says 8.5w max - but I doubt it's that much most of the time) a 24w, 24v injector has been more than enough to keep things going at decent speeds.

I originally decided that the parasitic inverter (Renogy 3000w) consumption probably wasn't worth worrying about, but now want to avoid that, having left it switched on (no load, so only idle consumption) and it dropped my 2x 110Ahr aux batts by around 20% overnight.

Cable size and length, as per any cable calc, can affect performance - volt drops and all that ...... if you read the article I linked above, he mentions "thick" and thin" ethernet cabling - the thicker ones being the dish POE - for a reason.

I followed most of what you did. My old inverter that cane with my system would idle draw almost 6% of my 600ah system. This one will only idle draw 1%... so a vast improvement.

I was/am using a 58v 130w poe injector that should have not problem keeping up. Im not aure it was the injector, the cable or the connector. But something in there was causing problems.

 

[nickburt]

I followed most of what you did. My old inverter that cane with my system would idle draw almost 6% of my 600ah system. This one will only idle draw 1%... so a vast improvement.

I was/am using a 58v 130w poe injector that should have not problem keeping up. Im not aure it was the injector, the cable or the connector. But something in there was causing problems.

Must be either a cable or connector issue then.
58v might be a bit much - rectangular SL is 48v, original circular "dishy" is 48 - 52 (I think).

 

[K12]

I followed most of what you did. My old inverter that cane with my system would idle draw almost 6% of my 600ah system. This one will only idle draw 1%... so a vast improvement.

I was/am using a 58v 130w poe injector that should have not problem keeping up. Im not aure it was the injector, the cable or the connector. But something in there was causing problems.

Must be either a cable or connector issue then.
58v might be a bit much - rectangular SL is 48v, original circular "dishy" is 48 - 52 (I think).

I believe you are correct. The poe injector is variable (5v-58v) so would only use the voltage necessary for the dish. If you find something that works better it would be appreciated. I much prefer the use of my personal router so I can use my personal router configuation. would also be nice to put an AP on the roof of the trailer for outside use.

 

[nickburt]

I believe you are correct. The poe injector is variable (5v-58v) so would only use the voltage necessary for the dish. If you find something that works better it would be appreciated. I much prefer the use of my personal router so I can use my personal router configuation. would also be nice to put an AP on the roof of the trailer for outside use.

Think I'm going to try the Tycon POE-INJ-1000-WT that everyone seems to be suggesting - here in the UK, it's just over £30 on Amazon - Tycon website
I'll update my drawing later and post it here - then ....... watch this space. If you see a puff of smoke from somewhere in the NW of the UK in the next few days, you know I got it wrong ......

 

[K12]

I believe you are correct. The poe injector is variable (5v-58v) so would only use the voltage necessary for the dish. If you find something that works better it would be appreciated. I much prefer the use of my personal router so I can use my personal router configuation. would also be nice to put an AP on the roof of the trailer for outside use.

Think I'm going to try the Tycon POE-INJ-1000-WT that everyone seems to be suggesting - here in the UK, it's just over £30 on Amazon - Tycon website
I'll update my drawing later and post it here - then ....... watch this space. If you see a puff of smoke from somewhere in the NW of the UK in the next few days, you know I got it wrong ......

that is the one im using as well. The first one I had was faulty and had to exchange it. I am going to try and move stuff around and see if i can get it going better. Hopefully you dont see any puffs of smoke from my area. lol

 

[nickburt]

that is the one im using as well. The first one I had was faulty and had to exchange it. I am going to try and move stuff around and see if i can get it going better. Hopefully you dont see any puffs of smoke from my area. lol

Current thinking attached.
This is based on the also attached 12 hack, but with the detail of my router and AP.

The UAP-AC-M is a long range outdoor AP - this will end up permanently mounted on the outside of my truck somewhere, connected via a waterproof RJ45 panel mount socket and plug.
I've already chopped a SL 75ft cable to fit one of these plugs and sockets for the dish cable. The dish mounts on the roof rack using a SL pivot mount. The already chopped cable will get shortened again (the spare turned into an extension cable), so that when mounted on the roof rack, there's as little cable as possible, or can be extended when needed.
I also have a SL150ft cable for when I park the truck in the shade, or have lots of obstructions, and need to get the SL dish right out in the open, or up high.

Current testing has the Router and AP working (anywhere between 100 and 200+ Mbps) using a standard mains powered 24v injector. This will now get replaced with the 12vdc powered 24v EdgePower supply, whilst overkill at 72w, it has the ability to be 12v powered, can provide a separate 12v output, and gives me expansion possibilities, if needed, and will comfortably do the job.
The EdgeRouter X is 24v POE powered and I've configured eth1 to be internet input so that eth0 can be used for POW input only and eth4 is set up for POE passthrough to the AP. eth2 and 3 are configured as std LAN ports, and the router managing all the DHCP.



Ignore the solar panel on the roof rack, that was thrown on for some cloudy weather testing, connected in parallel to the panel on top of the roof tent and between them, surprisingly produced up to 3 or 4 amps of charge with the cloud cover in the photos and a full 20 amps (limited by the Victron MPPT controller) in bright sunlight.
Ignore the messy cabling in the photos, this was all thrown together for testing.

 

[nickburt]

Just done a speed test - down ave 180, max 230, up ave 20, max 24. Up speed will be reduced by some other data FTP tests I'm doing.

 

[nickburt]

Decided to change the PoE power supply to something more appropriate (35W instead of 72W) and half the price ......

 

[nickburt]

So, this evenings exercise has been to put it all together and do some testing.
Connected up as per the attached pdf drawing. Had some head scratching, until I realised I'd missed the static route for the SL ethernet adapter input on Eth1. Once added, it sprang into life.
Screenshot of speed test - fairly normal for this time of night here in the UK.
All in all, happy with this now - so next thing is to build it into the truck.

 

[nickburt]

Some load testing today.
SL 12v supply runs at around 2 or 3 amps most of the time, peaks at 6.5 when booting up. Snow melt turned off.
12v supply to the router and AP runs at around 0.5 amps most of the time.

 

[nickburt]

Drg updated to clarify battery supply and 12-48vdc step up - min 150w for inclusion of power for snow melt.

Photo of the temporary lash up: left to right
EdgeRouter (ER-X)
Tycon 12-24v PoE injector (TP-DCDC1224)
Tycon PoE-INJ-1000-WT
12-48v (384w) step up Tx
SL ethernet adaptor
12v bench power supply
Long range outdoor WiFi access point - UAP-AC-M

 

[El-Dracho]

@nickburt It's fantastic that you share your realworld experience with the system in detail here. Not this theoretical stuff and hearsay that you often find elsewhere on the web, but real experiences from somebody who uses this and knows what he is talking about. That really helps a lot of members. Thanks for that!

 

[nickburt]

Just need to sort a way of installing it all in the truck. Possibly on a board, or in a ventilated box of some sort.

 

[nickburt]

@nickburt It's fantastic that you share your realworld experience with the system in detail here. Not this theoretical stuff and hearsay that you often find elsewhere on the web, but real experiences from somebody who uses this and knows what he is talking about. That really helps a lot of members. Thanks for that!

Theory is always good, but real World use will always find the design weaknesses (note I'm on revision 7 of the drawing ).

I originally wasn't going to go down the road of 12v conversions and just run off an inverter, as I did on our trip to Greece last year, but with improved solar (more on that later) and the fact that an inverter is just wasting energy (especially if I forget to turn it off when not in use - 30% battery (2x 110ahr) degradation overnight ), I ended up deciding to go for 12v power for everything. I really must look at what parasitic drains are going on......

There was some trepidation as I switched it all on for the first time, especially the SL PoE, as it's an expensive bit of kit to fry and destroy any possible warranty claim !!!
Check twice (3 or 4 times), cut once ..........

 

[nickburt]

A few more power tests today.
Around 2 - 3 amps when just idle and surfing the 'tinterweb.
6.5 amps briefly while booting up from a power cycle - i.e. not first start up and satellite search and orientation. This would be the situation most mornings, when it had been in use the day before.
3 amps to stow.
Less than 1 amp during initial start up, then up to 6 during initial search and orientation - servos for orientation draw next to nothing.
Total power consumed during boot up less than 1 whr. On line and posting this in under 5 mins.

 

[nickburt]

A few more power tests today.
Around 2 - 3 amps when just idle and surfing the 'tinterweb.
6.5 amps briefly while booting up from a power cycle - i.e. not first start up and satellite search and orientation. This would be the situation most mornings, when it had been in use the day before.
3 amps to stow.
Less than 1 amp during initial start up, then up to 6 during initial search and orientation - servos for orientation draw next to nothing.
Total power consumed during boot up less than 1 whr. On line and posting this in under 5 mins.

 

[nickburt]

Having slight issues with the 12-48v converter. When on battery, with no charging, SL keeps dropping out.
Turns out these converters produce quite a bit of noise below 12.4v input. Not good if trying to use when no battery charging going on.
So now researching a different converter.

 

[K12]

Having slight issues with the 12-48v converter. When on battery, with no charging, SL keeps dropping out.
Turns out these converters produce quite a bit of noise below 12.4v input. Not good if trying to use when no battery charging going on.
So now researching a different converter.

This is what I'm using and never had a problem with it: https://a.co/d/0PAaFEh

I am also reattempting the 12v system, I found an adapter that converts the starlink plug to standard ethernet, and a poe injector made for dish v2. Both parts are coming from China so will be a couple weeks. I'll keep updated after install on how well they work. I much prefer my own router but dont like the pass through option and additional hardware needed to do so.