Well I bought Starlink

[North American Sojourner]

Arrives today. Wanted the mini antenna but got the original sized one for $270 shipped.

Let the comms begin!

Jim

I just want to wish you good luck, we're all counting on you.
LOL
Zim

On a serious note I had one and it does not work in a river valley where the hills are steep.
Z

 

[John and Mandi]

We broke down and bought a standard kit as a back-up for home use but went with their roam plan so we can disable the service when we are not using it. Back to back hurricanes had us out for way too many work days, our cellular service still hasn't recovered. I was able to run the entire kit with an older Samlex 150w inverter from the van, ~5 A/H. This weekend I installed a XTar 12V POE with a different router in the van and got the usage down to ~3.5 A/H. Of course the heater in the dish is turned off. The free router that came with the 12v POE is cheap with limited options so we'll upgrade to something a little better that also does WiFi to WAN and maybe a USB connection for expanded cellular options. Not wanting to go the Peplink route due to cost and low usage so maybe a used/cheaper WiFi Ranger Router or similar. Speeds have broken 200MBPS but are usually around 140ish. We have lots of trees and the dish works great in one spot on the ground over being on the roof of the house. Haven't taken it camping but will do when we get out this winter just to play with it, we actually prefer no service when we are out in the bush.

 

[BroncoVandit]

Having a Starlink would free me up to do more overlanding while working. I need to be on about five hours of Teams video calls per week. Does anyone know if Starlink mini and the $50/month plan would suffice for one week per month of this kind d of use?

 

[Prerunner1982]

Having a Starlink would free me up to do more overlanding while working. I need to be on about five hours of Teams video calls per week. Does anyone know if Starlink mini and the $50/month plan would suffice for one week per month of this kind d of use?

On the weeks where my kids aren't with me it would be cutting it close for me, I am logged into teams all day but not actively using it for 5hours a day however my work phone is VOIP and I download/upload files. I would say get it, try it for a week and if it doesn't work return in within the first 30 days for a full refund of the equipment cost.

 

[BroncoVandit]

Having a Starlink would free me up to do more overlanding while working. I need to be on about five hours of Teams video calls per week. Does anyone know if Starlink mini and the $50/month plan would suffice for one week per month of this kind d of use?

On the weeks where my kids aren't with me it would be cutting it close for me, I am logged into teams all day but not actively using it for 5hours a day however my work phone is VOIP and I download/upload files. I would say get it, try it for a week and if it doesn't work return in within the first 30 days for a full refund of the equipment cost.

Thanks, that's a good recommendation.

 

[Dave in AZ]

Here, this guy has the best videos on Starlink, and last week had a good one on recent plan changes, and current subscription plans, roaming, recent changes, what is best for overlanding, turning plan on and off, etc.

Starlink Hardware

Starlink Hardware is an unofficial resource for SpaceX Starlink satellite internet users. Started in 2021, our mission is to provide the latest Starlink news, product reviews, and helpful tutorials. We are Starlink fans and users, and our aim to help others get the most out of the system. We...

youtube.com

 

[John and Mandi]

More testing and reasons why I want to run the Starlink in bypass mode.

My main reason to bypass the router that came with the Starlink is to expand my LAN ports to at least 4 (it has 2), be able to disable WiFi, run a separate guest wifi network, dual WAN, and WiFi to WAN. Our really old, ~10 year, WiFi Ranger Elite GO2 spoiled us with all of those features. It also has an encryption/tunneling mode that is also useful when connecting to open or even campground WiFi. Our unit also allows USB connection for a MiFi, dongle etc but we never used it. I bought the XTAR kit that included a router since I found a deal that was cheaper than just the POE injector. When I was testing the new 12v setup I noticed that the amount of data uploaded was greater than the amount of data I used. I streamed a few short videos to test so my uploaded data amount shouldn't have been greater unless the unit was doing something "else".

Out came our old WiFi Ranger Elite Go2 and I configured it to utilize the primary port as WAN. It is a 10/100 unit and 2 GHz so I knew it would cap the Starlink to 90mbps max. Supposedly it can handle 300mbps through put. I tested both WiFi and LAN, max was indeed 90mbps but consistently 75-80mbps. Power usage remained the same, ~3.5AH, since the XTAR has a port to power a router I used for both the GO2 and the cheap one from the kit. Consumption does fluctuate, breaking 4AH and sometimes being under 3AH, so once I get the system completely honed in I'll run it for several hours and track the total AH used. The 75-90mbps is plenty to work from with the upload running from 15-20mbps. I could try and run 2 devices at once to see if they impact each other but I instead scoured Ebay and located a 10/100/1000 (also 2 and 5GHz) version of our router and ordered it. Since this system is home back-up first, van second, I want to maximize our available work speeds. Anything greater than 50mbps is more than enough for camping, probably even as low as 15mbps. I might end up using the newer unit in the house and installing the GO2 unit in the van, more likely the GO2 with remain a backup squirreled away somewhere. Big caveat is the GO2 and the newer (but still older) unit have internal antennas so range from the van is limited. That is inconsequential for us, the much smaller form factor and feature set is the priority. There are really nice Peplink and other brands that have greater range but come at a significant price difference, some even require subscriptions for expanded features (don't get me started on that garbage).

Powering the dish when using bypass mode in the house. The Starlink router is still the dish power supply when in bypass mode, only the router is disabled, so I connected an ethernet cable to one of the ports on the back of the Starlink router to the GO2. Everything worked the same as in the van. The only way to exit bypass mode is to factory reset the Starlink router, something I will only do if required.

Data usage. I worked through the Starlink for a few hours and played around for a collective few more, not reaching a full work days worth. So far I've used 14GB as reported by Starlink. I could shave a bit off since I stream quite a bit throughout the day and haven't been data conscious at all. I went with the unlimited roam plan since if we are in a situation where we "need" it, our neighbors probably will need to use it some too. Once it's honed in it'll remain mostly paused.

 

[Kent R]

Here, this guy has the best videos on Starlink, and last week had a good one on recent plan changes, and current subscription plans, roaming, recent changes, what is best for overlanding, turning plan on and off, etc.

Starlink Hardware

Starlink Hardware is an unofficial resource for SpaceX Starlink satellite internet users. Started in 2021, our mission is to provide the latest Starlink news, product reviews, and helpful tutorials. We are Starlink fans and users, and our aim to help others get the most out of the system. We...

youtube.com

Good explanation of the two plans, thanks for posting the link

 

[John Bishop]

More testing and reasons why I want to run the Starlink in bypass mode.

My main reason to bypass the router that came with the Starlink is to expand my LAN ports to at least 4 (it has 2), be able to disable WiFi, run a separate guest wifi network, dual WAN, and WiFi to WAN. Our really old, ~10 year, WiFi Ranger Elite GO2 spoiled us with all of those features. It also has an encryption/tunneling mode that is also useful when connecting to open or even campground WiFi. Our unit also allows USB connection for a MiFi, dongle etc but we never used it. I bought the XTAR kit that included a router since I found a deal that was cheaper than just the POE injector. When I was testing the new 12v setup I noticed that the amount of data uploaded was greater than the amount of data I used. I streamed a few short videos to test so my uploaded data amount shouldn't have been greater unless the unit was doing something "else".

Out came our old WiFi Ranger Elite Go2 and I configured it to utilize the primary port as WAN. It is a 10/100 unit and 2 GHz so I knew it would cap the Starlink to 90mbps max. Supposedly it can handle 300mbps through put. I tested both WiFi and LAN, max was indeed 90mbps but consistently 75-80mbps. Power usage remained the same, ~3.5AH, since the XTAR has a port to power a router I used for both the GO2 and the cheap one from the kit. Consumption does fluctuate, breaking 4AH and sometimes being under 3AH, so once I get the system completely honed in I'll run it for several hours and track the total AH used. The 75-90mbps is plenty to work from with the upload running from 15-20mbps. I could try and run 2 devices at once to see if they impact each other but I instead scoured Ebay and located a 10/100/1000 (also 2 and 5GHz) version of our router and ordered it. Since this system is home back-up first, van second, I want to maximize our available work speeds. Anything greater than 50mbps is more than enough for camping, probably even as low as 15mbps. I might end up using the newer unit in the house and installing the GO2 unit in the van, more likely the GO2 with remain a backup squirreled away somewhere. Big caveat is the GO2 and the newer (but still older) unit have internal antennas so range from the van is limited. That is inconsequential for us, the much smaller form factor and feature set is the priority. There are really nice Peplink and other brands that have greater range but come at a significant price difference, some even require subscriptions for expanded features (don't get me started on that garbage).

Powering the dish when using bypass mode in the house. The Starlink router is still the dish power supply when in bypass mode, only the router is disabled, so I connected an ethernet cable to one of the ports on the back of the Starlink router to the GO2. Everything worked the same as in the van. The only way to exit bypass mode is to factory reset the Starlink router, something I will only do if required.

Data usage. I worked through the Starlink for a few hours and played around for a collective few more, not reaching a full work days worth. So far I've used 14GB as reported by Starlink. I could shave a bit off since I stream quite a bit throughout the day and haven't been data conscious at all. I went with the unlimited roam plan since if we are in a situation where we "need" it, our neighbors probably will need to use it some too. Once it's honed in it'll remain mostly paused.

I wish I understood half of what you said. lol

 

[John and Mandi]

I wish I understood half of what you said. lol

Haha, it is a bit technical. If there is something you need me to expound on just ask. In short summary...the router that came with the 12v power supply I bought for the Starlink dish (XTAR kit) seems to be spying and is limited in the features I wanted. Switching to the 12V power supply seems to have cut power consumption down by about 1.5 Amps per hour because I'm not having to run my 150W inverter. All the other garble gook is just speed tests with an old router and the features I like. A good feature to have is WiFi to WAN which is just a fancy way of saying that my router can connect to a campground/free WiFi network and share it with all my devices. That means all my devices stay connected to my WiFi and only my router is connected to the campground/free WiFi, no need to set up each device on the campground/free WiFi. With a decent power supply most people would be fine just running a small inverter, or plugging into a power bank, to power the Starlink kit but I'm a power miser so I must shave it down... it's probably a form of OCD.

 

[K12]

The starlink app has integrated a power use module. Mine Dish is normally between 20-30wh useage on the 12v system. I have an after market router that uses about 12-20w. so total im using around 50w max. On the inverter and the starlink router i was using around 80w with normal usage.

As for the data, teams doesnt use too much and depending on what you would be downloading you should be fine with 50gb/mo. I work in telehealth and do video calls all day long (10hr a day 4 days a week). these are usually only kb/s and an hour would generally be a few MB. if you start to toss in streaming youtube or netflix this is where you would run into problems, or if you are downloading large files at work. standard docs like word, excel and what not shouldnt be an isssue.

 

[BroncoVandit]

.

As for the data, teams doesnt use too much and depending on what you would be downloading you should be fine with 50gb/mo.

Thanks! That’s great to hear about Teams. And would browsing OB during the workday consume much? Asking for a friend….

 

[K12]

.

As for the data, teams doesnt use too much and depending on what you would be downloading you should be fine with 50gb/mo.

Thanks! That’s great to hear about Teams. And would browsing OB during the workday consume much? Asking for a friend….

Not at all. that would likely add up to maybe a couple MB. If you are looking at 1 week a month definitely should not be an issue. For reference. I had 10 hours of video calls yesterday. a little gaming. about 4gb of downloads and streamed hockey for 3 hours and atreamed a couple of tv shows and hit 32gb.... doubt that you will hit that in 5 days and go over 50gb.

 

[GroovinMatt]

All I can say about Starlink is that it really frikin awesome!

In the middle of nowhere NM it saved us by getting up to date fire information. Thanks @Kelly for bringing it on our trips.

It's so cool to hear how helpful it is in the middle of nowhere.

 

[BanthaOverland]

Agree on Starlink being a gamechanger. While I love being in the middle of nowhere and offline, I also couldn't travel as often or as far if I couldn't mix work and play while traveling. I've owned and traveled with all the Starlinks and recently compared the Standard vs Mini. FYI might be helpful to those of you trying to decide between the two models. I'm also curious what others have noticed comparing these two models?