Starlink?

[G G]

My wife and I bought an RV in February. We have been out for 3 or 4 short trips in it so far. The problem is some of the places we have been have no wifi, but we can live with that if we had to, but the cell service is pretty spotty as well. Since my dad was diagnosed with Dementia 3 years ago, it's of the top importance that I maintain cell service so that if something happens and or he needs me. I have been reading up on all the cellular routers and whatnot for RV use and it's crazy expensive and you don't get enough data to really use it as internet for streaming and whatnot.

Checking out Starlink and it looks like it's expensive too but it does have unlimited data and from what I understand wifi calling and FaceTime, etc works very well with it. The latency is much lower than any of the other satellite internet providers simply because Starlink has the satellites in low earth orbit instead of 23,500 miles up like viasat and hughesnet.

Does anyone else have it here and if so, how's it working for you?

[icehog3]

No experience with Starlink here, Greg, but I hope it's a solution that can give you some peace of mind.

[jledou]

We have a guy at work here who is using it, he lives in the country so working from home was an issue. Most of the time it is stable enough to do video calls with. Every once and a while it does drop a connection in the middle but overall it has done a good job and better than any other options he tried before.

[T.G]

The building I work in is the oldest building on the street where it is located, as such, there is no fiber optic coming in, no CATV, just a bunch of corroded pac bell copper. Two of the other tenants have starlink and they like it. It's fairly reliable. Long waiting list to get a dish though. We've been on the list for a year now, still nothing.

[Axeman]

Just got mine. Haven't set it up yet because it didn't come with the ethernet port so I can integrate it into my home network. I ordered that a week ago and it hasn't shipped yet.

[mmblz]

A coworker got one. I've noticed a difference in zoom meetings since then, it can get laggy/jumpy from time to time. Not a complete non-starter, but still kind of annoying when it happens.

[AdamJoshua]

Originally Posted by mmblz

A coworker got one. I've noticed a difference in zoom meetings since then, it can get laggy/jumpy from time to time. Not a complete non-starter, but still kind of annoying when it happens.

So it’s on par with my spectrum cable…

[Dukeuni]

I am a very happy Starlink user for the past 6 months or so. I live in Eastern Oregon, and we have no high-speed internet, and the only options we did have was Hughes net (Think DirecTV and super slow), or cell phone data (data caps). Starlink has been a life changer for us. Speed around 150 mps down, 20 up, able to stream TV's just fine. With this we were able to ditch DIrecTV and use YouTubeTV to save some money. Just a great experience.

[G G]

Thanks for the comments friends. I ordered it and it shipped yesterday. I reckon I picked a good or maybe bad time to order it. The monthly subscription is $110, and up til now they have allowed folks to move it around in the RVs from place to place, now they are going to start charging for what they call portability. $25 per month on top of $110. Not cheap, but reliable from your comments and other info I have read.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by G G

Thanks for the comments friends. I ordered it and it shipped yesterday. I reckon I picked a good or maybe bad time to order it.

Or it's regional by demand. There is high demand in this area.

Glad to hear that you got one.

How many twitter accounts did it come with?

[G G]

Originally Posted by T.G

Or it's regional by demand. There is high demand in this area.

Glad to hear that you got one.

How many twitter accounts did it come with?

Not sure yet, haven't received it. LOL

[G G]

Got the Starlink in Tuesday, but didn't get to set it up until yesterday. Very quick and easy setup. I placed the dishy (that's what they call it) only about 8 to 9 feet off the ground on top of a pump shed. Since it's primarily for our Travel Trailer, I ran the cord from the dish into the Trailer by sticking it through the slide seal and hooked up the router inside. Streams both tv's in the trailer simultaneously, which we never have both of them on at once but wanted to see. I am getting speeds faster than our home DSL package which is 100 mbps down and 10 up. The Starlink is kicking up to 140 mbps down and 5 to 15 up. Latency is a little higher than I'd like at anywhere from 15 ms to 70 or 80. I have all the hardware ordered for a bumper hitch with a flagpole holder on it, and I will get a 20 ft telescoping flagpole to raise it up higher than it is currently which should improve it.

[357]

Greg, I just saw this thread. I've had my Starlink for 3-4 weeks now. I love it. It's a gamechanger for me living in an RV. I have had cellular (Verizon) internet for 7+ years now. Often the best I could get was 15Mb/7Mb in weak areas. The better areas were 35/20 or so. With Starlink I'm consistently in the 140/10 range. Now that I'm further north I have no network outages. While I was in Texas I would get them every few hours, typically 5 seconds or less at a time. I added the portability feature as well since we're always on the move. I'm not ditching my cellular gear BTW. My Cradlepoint router will let me add Starlink as my primary and use cellular for backup or load-balancing. Once I get my Starlink ethernet adapter I plan to try to tie them all together. I need to order a pole mount too. I already have a pole in place (aluminum 2-piece teloscoping pole like painters would use for tall ceilings). It's U-bolted to my rear latter. I keep my cellular router and antennas mounted to the top section and put them in the rig when we drive. Bottom section is just below the level of my AC units. I'll need to run the dishy cable and an ethernet (2nd) one from inside to the pole to make it all work. I still need the ability to put the Starlink dish on the ground (or elsewhere on my roof) because some sites have trees hanging over them. Just something to keep in mind for when you run your cables. I ran my ethernet cable through the wall behind my living room TV, into my 2nd bath (under the sink) where it goes into the underbelly (next to the water supply lines). Then I pulled a few of the belly screws out to run the cables to the rear near the ladder then buttoned it back up.

[G G]

Originally Posted by 357

Greg, I just saw this thread. I've had my Starlink for 3-4 weeks now. I love it. It's a gamechanger for me living in an RV. I have had cellular (Verizon) internet for 7+ years now. Often the best I could get was 15Mb/7Mb in weak areas. The better areas were 35/20 or so. With Starlink I'm consistently in the 140/10 range. Now that I'm further north I have no network outages. While I was in Texas I would get them every few hours, typically 5 seconds or less at a time. I added the portability feature as well since we're always on the move. I'm not ditching my cellular gear BTW. My Cradlepoint router will let me add Starlink as my primary and use cellular for backup or load-balancing. Once I get my Starlink ethernet adapter I plan to try to tie them all together. I need to order a pole mount too. I already have a pole in place (aluminum 2-piece teloscoping pole like painters would use for tall ceilings). It's U-bolted to my rear latter. I keep my cellular router and antennas mounted to the top section and put them in the rig when we drive. Bottom section is just below the level of my AC units. I'll need to run the dishy cable and an ethernet (2nd) one from inside to the pole to make it all work. I still need the ability to put the Starlink dish on the ground (or elsewhere on my roof) because some sites have trees hanging over them. Just something to keep in mind for when you run your cables. I ran my ethernet cable through the wall behind my living room TV, into my 2nd bath (under the sink) where it goes into the underbelly (next to the water supply lines). Then I pulled a few of the belly screws out to run the cables to the rear near the ladder then buttoned it back up.

Awesome Mike. I bought a bumper hitch mount and flagpole for the hitch that goes on the rear bumper, then I got a 20 foot telescoping flagpole from Harbor Freight. Gotta make some small adjustments and wait for the bushing that slides into the top of the flagpole so that the dishy clicks in and we should be set. For now I am just running the cable in through my slide seal. We don't travel a lot so I may just do it that way, or maybe later make it more permanent. I have researched all the different ways with cell boosters and cellular modems, but it just didn't seem to me that any of them were really any cheaper and or work as good as the research on Starlink. Can't wait to actually go on a trip and try it out. And if you are ever in NE Florida, let me know I have a 30 and 50 amp hookup, I also have a quasi jumpstation as well.

[Axeman]

I made an adapter out of a pvc fitting and put my dishy on an old Direct TV small dish mount. I've got it tied into my home network with the ethernet adapter. Speeds are about twice as fast as DSL when either is at maximum. It tells me it's having outages but I never notice them. The latency seems to have no effect.

[G G]

Originally Posted by Axeman

I made an adapter out of a pvc fitting and put my dishy on an old Direct TV small dish mount. I've got it tied into my home network with the ethernet adapter. Speeds are about twice as fast as DSL when either is at maximum. It tells me it's having outages but I never notice them. The latency seems to have no effect.

Same here, DSL is rock solid and going to be upgraded to fiber real soon. Still will only be getting 100 mbps down and 10 up. I clocked the Starlink at 193 down and about 10 up. If it wasn't for the security cameras at my home that are internet connected I would cancel the DSL and just use Starlink at home and then take it with us when we travel.

[357]

Greg, I will shoot you a message next time I'm in NE Florida. We will likely spend some time in Ormond Beach this Fall, Winter, or early Spring 2023. The details just aren't nailed down yet. Right now we're planning to be back in Florida around the end of October. Not sure which part of Florida yet as we have about 40 Encore parks to choose from, and my son wants to play high school basketball, so we're trying to coordinate all of that. I really appreciate the offer.

[G G]

since getting the Starlink. I have it attached to the Travel Trailer with the the stuff I mentioned above. I checked speeds and it's anywhere from 50ish mbps all the way up to 225 mpbs download. Upload is as others have stated around 10 mbps. We are finally gonna get to go try it out on the road next week. Gonna take a 5 day trip up NE of Atlanta to visit family. The RV Park has no wifi at all, but it does have cell service they say. It will be nice to stream our regular stuff on the road because all the other trips we have taken we had to rely on OTA TV channels and you can't pick up many in rural areas.

[357]

Greg, I've been getting 125-150Mbs consistently here in South Dakota. It was the same in Kansas. I guess I got it just in time too. I got an email from Verizon threatening to terminate my grandfathered unlimited data plan that has my Cradlepoint Router on it. I guess they are sweeping GUDP lines now for data-only devices and sending termination letters. I've had that setup since early 2014. Been pulling over 1000GB/month for years too. No throttling, no caps either. I'm fighting them best I can, including an FCC complaint but it's not looking good. Starlink has been superior I just wanted both tied together in a load-balanced or failover config since Starlink doesn't like trees much.

[G G]

Originally Posted by 357

Greg, I've been getting 125-150Mbs consistently here in South Dakota. It was the same in Kansas. I guess I got it just in time too. I got an email from Verizon threatening to terminate my grandfathered unlimited data plan that has my Cradlepoint Router on it. I guess they are sweeping GUDP lines now for data-only devices and sending termination letters. I've had that setup since early 2014. Been pulling over 1000GB/month for years too. No throttling, no caps either. I'm fighting them best I can, including an FCC complaint but it's not looking good. Starlink has been superior I just wanted both tied together in a load-balanced or failover config since Starlink doesn't like trees much.

I reckon that's why I got Starlink because I had read where the cellular routers were getting swept and terminated or threatened to be. I hate to pay the $110 a month year round because I won't use it at home, plus it's now $25 extra when you roam. But I HAVE to have it on the road so we will do it until something better comes along. They did just announce an RV package a couple days ago that lets you pause the subscription when not using it, but it's $135 a month plus you are de-prioritized when traveling.