The ins and outs of Starlink: Internet from the sky

[RV_]

"This Ask Me Anything" Reddit had lots more details and hotlinks in the article for more.

Excerpt:

"A recent Reddit ask-me-anything revealed more about the increasingly popular Starlink near-Earth orbit internet provider service.

It's no wonder a recent Satellite Internet survey found that 36% of people surveyed said poor internet access was keeping them from moving to the country. As Alexandre Menard, a leader of the McKinsey Center for Advanced Connectivity, told CNET's Eric Mack, "You have still 10% to to 20% of the population, even in developed markets … that have an average DSL or bad 3G connection, and therefore doing video or doing higher-requirement usage is a challenge." Working from home is only a dream for tens of millions, but the answer to their internet prayers may lie in the skies above them -- with SpaceX Starlink satellites."

Much More in the full article here:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-ins-and-outs-of-starlink-internet-from-the-sky/?ftag=TREc64629f&bhid=22078230483476385315599228605251&mid=13176860&cid=2210234375

[CFerguson]

I am SO looking forward to giving Elon my money for this!

If you watched last night's (11/24/20) SpaceX Starlink launch, you probably saw the discussion of Starlink's current beta testing coverage. It appears that the geofence is because there is actually a 'patchwork' of coverage and if you move X miles down the road, your signal may drop out due to the low satellite count as it stands now. Obviously this isnt a prob once more sats are in place.

Here's a bit of a interesting blurb on how the ground receiver works:

Quote

The Starlink team also explained how the dish locates satellites. "[The dish] is able to electronically scan the sky in a matter of milliseconds and lock into the satellite overhead, even though it's traveling 17,500 mph overhead," DishyMcFlatface answered. "When it detects a satellite, the Starlink hones in on its position and makes a request to join the internet. After that, the dish is able to download a schedule of which satellites to talk to next, and with that it can point right at the satellites when the time comes."   https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-100th-falcon-9-rocket-launch

LOTS more stats and information on SpaceX at that link as well.

 

[RV_]

Good link. Yeppers, it just gets better and better.

 

[Chalkie]

I read that article and it said you needed line of sight to 53 degrees latitude. Really? Is this a misprint? That places them over Canada.

[RV_]

I don't know that but they did say from before the first launch that they are starting in the Northern tier states first and then working their way down and around the world.

I don't expect them to be competitive until at least a year or tow out. But as opposed to nothing in RVs and the boonies, it is cheap at that price.

[Lou Schneider]

From what I understand it's not just having satellites in the sky but also having regional ground stations for them to link to.  Starlink is starting with ground stations in the NW US, thus the geofencing to limit the beta test to that area.  Yes, the satellites can link from one to another to increase their range from a ground station but that adds to the load on the satellites and decreases system performance.

Edited December 5, 2020 by Lou Schneider

[Dutch_12078]

The majority of the Starlink sats currently in orbit do not have sat to sat linkage capability. The laser link system is currently in test using a few of the most recently launched sats. Full implementation of the laser linkage will dramatically improve speeds while cutting latency.

[Randyretired]

I have read that the antenna and receiver draw around 100 watts of power.  That will add a lot of draw to typical RV solar and batteries while boondocking. 

[Darryl&Rita]

News: Business Insider

[RV_]

Great article! It slower than I thought and twice the price per month. If I didn't have faster at 1/3 of their price. My so called 250Mbps in Louisiana actually ran ~ 70-85 Mbps and we had no trouble streaming 4k.movies. I have yet to see if it has a monthly maximum limit and how much data is included at that price.

But if I were RVing I'd pay it gladly.

 

[Darryl&Rita]

19 minutes ago, RV_ said:

twice the price per month

Guessing taxation? Can't cost that much more to get across the pond.

[Chalkie]

14 hours ago, Darryl&Rita said:

Guessing taxation? Can't cost that much more to get across the pond.

That may be a good guess, after all it is the country that taxes you watch over the air television, although they call it a license. 

[packnrat]

if a company charges you... it a "fee"

if a state charges you............it's a tax.

 

but a state can add on there tax on top of the fee.

Edited January 13, 2021 by packnrat

[Darryl&Rita]

If a State charges more taxes than a neighboring State, and the business pays taxes to both States, and the business passes on their increased costs to their customers, is the resulting billing difference due to fees or taxes?

[Dutch_12078]

If the business is only passing on the tax increase to the customers in the state that imposes the tax, then it's a tax.

[Darryl&Rita]

The company just keeps rolling along, setting records as they go. Space.com

[Vladimir]

Does anybody know what the imput voltage is for StarLink.  I know it plugs into 115 VAC, but is that what is delivered to the device??

[Dutch_12078]

A Reddit post of the "Dishy" specs lists the power supply output at 56 volts.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/jllpet/starlink_beta_report_specifications_dimensions/

 

[Darryl&Rita]

2 hours ago, Vladimir said:

Does anybody know what the imput voltage is for StarLink.  I know it plugs into 115 VAC, but is that what is delivered to the device??

I think I remember seeing an "Unboxing" video where they went through each item in detail. Try YouTube.

[dlundby]

4 hours ago, Vladimir said:

Does anybody know what the imput voltage is for StarLink.  I know it plugs into 115 VAC, but is that what is delivered to the device??

Attached are the specs from the back of the Starlink power supply.

Edited February 6, 2021 by dlundby

[RV_]

dlundby,

If that is yours please supply a pic of the Ethernet ports on the power supply and on the dish. Your pic has the power stated for each but not which goes where. The link below has the best write up and test results from an average user. If you have even considered getting one, this should nail it. The best I can find is this:

""There is a single powered Ethernet wire from the antenna array to the power supply, and a single powered Ethernet wire from the power supply to the router. The provided antenna wire is fixed to the antenna, but well over 100' (by estimation, I didn't measure the length)."

Excerpt:

SpaceX Starlink users provide first impressions and unboxing pictures

"It feels like it's from the future... I am amazed at how well it works."

JON BRODKIN - 11/2/2020, 2:09 PM

One Montana resident posted a speed test result with a 174Mbps download speed, 33Mbps upload speed, and 39ms latency. "Way out in rural Montana where our alternative is to pay by the gig. Starlink will forever change the game," the beta tester wrote on Reddit yesterday.

 

"Everything is of an extreme build quality, and this works significantly better than I had ever imagined," Wandering-coder wrote. "It feels like it's from the future. Given a top-tier cell phone costs in the $1,000 range, I am completely amazed I have my hands on a setup like this for ~$500, so I am biased positively towards this service."

As revealed last week, the Starlink beta costs $99 a month plus $499 upfront for the user terminal, mounting tripod, and router.

Verified list of speeds with Starlink from this excellent article: 

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/11/spacex-starlink-beta-tester-takes-user-terminal-into-forest-gets-120mbps/ 

 

 

Edited February 8, 2021 by RV_

[RV_]

On 2/6/2021 at 9:26 AM, Vladimir said:

Does anybody know what the imput voltage is for StarLink.  I know it plugs into 115 VAC, but is that what is delivered to the device??

Vlad that article in my previous post just before this has all the running current tests and the static tests. Is that enough?

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/11/spacex-starlink-beta-tester-takes-user-terminal-into-forest-gets-120mbps/ 

[dlundby]

21 hours ago, RV_ said:

dlundby,

If that is yours please supply a pic of the Ethernet ports on the power supply and on the dish. Your pic has the power stated for each but not which goes where. The link below has the best write up and test results from an average user. If you have even considered getting one, this should nail it. The best I can find is this:

""There is a single powered Ethernet wire from the antenna array to the power supply, and a single powered Ethernet wire from the power supply to the router. The provided antenna wire is fixed to the antenna, but well over 100' (by estimation, I didn't measure the length)."

Excerpt:

SpaceX Starlink users provide first impressions and unboxing pictures

"It feels like it's from the future... I am amazed at how well it works."

JON BRODKIN - 11/2/2020, 2:09 PM

One Montana resident posted a speed test result with a 174Mbps download speed, 33Mbps upload speed, and 39ms latency. "Way out in rural Montana where our alternative is to pay by the gig. Starlink will forever change the game," the beta tester wrote on Reddit yesterday.

 

"Everything is of an extreme build quality, and this works significantly better than I had ever imagined," Wandering-coder wrote. "It feels like it's from the future. Given a top-tier cell phone costs in the $1,000 range, I am completely amazed I have my hands on a setup like this for ~$500, so I am biased positively towards this service."

As revealed last week, the Starlink beta costs $99 a month plus $499 upfront for the user terminal, mounting tripod, and router.

Verified list of speeds with Starlink from this excellent article: 

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/11/spacex-starlink-beta-tester-takes-user-terminal-into-forest-gets-120mbps/ 

Yes, the photo is from my Starlink power supply. The Ethernet ports are not labeled Port 1 or Port 2. The Ethernet from/to the dish is the Black one; it would be my best guess that the dish would require the most amount of power (1.6A). The dish warms up when it is cold to help melt snow that accumulates on the dish. I live on a farm in Montana and we are experiencing cold and some snow. This morning it was 20 below with a light cloud cover and I had 110 Mbps.

 

 

[docj]

On 12/5/2020 at 1:21 PM, RV_ said:

I don't know that but they did say from before the first launch that they are starting in the Northern tier states first and then working their way down and around the world.

FWIW as of yesterday Starlink is allowing people from all over the US to sign up for accounts, with delivery dates of your hardware depending on where you live.  Friends of mine in ID report they can take delivery immediately whereas my coastal TX address has been promised delivery in mid-late 2021.

There's no indication that Starlink has removed the "geo fence" requirement so it may still not be of interest to RVers in general, but if you spend your winters in a particular location it may be of interest to you.  That's why I signed up for it.  The cost to sign up is $99.

Edited February 9, 2021 by docj

[Dutch_12078]

3 hours ago, docj said:

FWIW as of yesterday Starlink is allowing people from all over the US to sign up for accounts, with delivery dates of your hardware depending on where you live.  Friends of mine in ID report they can take delivery immediately whereas my coastal TX address has been promised delivery in mid-late 2021.

There's no indication that Starlink has removed the "geo fence" requirement so it may still not be of interest to RVers in general, but if you spend your winters in a particular location it may be of interest to you.  That's why I signed up for it.  The cost to sign up is $99.

Elon Musk has indicated that mobile Starlink access will be coming, but it requires hardware and programming modifications. No timeline was given...