Elon says Starlink out of beta by summer, mobile for RVs before the end of the year!

[RV_]

Pretty good news for RVrs. Just announced today.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10165130308945125&set=gm.1083434175512876

 

Edited April 16, 2021 by RV_

[agesilaus]

$500 for the gear, $100/mo and it needs a broad view of the sky. And no mobile installation that I've heard about.  I'll stick with my $40/mo Visible which has been perfectly adequate for my needs. I already have hundreds of bucks of worthless gear from the ToGo fiasco sitting no top of the rig.

[Zulu]

12 minutes ago, agesilaus said:

$500 for the gear, $100/mo and it needs a broad view of the sky. And no mobile installation that I've heard about.  I'll stick with my $40/mo Visible which has been perfectly adequate for my needs. I already have hundreds of bucks of worthless gear from the ToGo fiasco sitting no top of the rig.

Sure, when cell service is available, but when it isn't . . .

For example, we're planning a 2-week stay at Grand Canyon Trailer Village in Fall. When we camped there in 2019, cell service was not available in Trailer Village, so we were glad to have our humongous .98 meter HughesNet Gen 5 dish. PITA but we got very good Internet service.

It would have been great is StarLink was available then.

Regardless, this year may be a bit early to buy a mobile StarLink (if available) system. StarLink sats may not cover all areas and the number of customers in an area may be maxed out.

[Twotoes]

I only use my data connection on my iPad. I volunteer in National Parks in summers and many do not have cell service. I also would love to get rid of DirecTv at $125 a month. I will be following mobile Starlink but will wait a year for all the bugs to be resolved. 
 

 

[Kirk W]

Elon Musk wants to connect RVs and trucks to the internet through SpaceX’s Starlink satellites

[palmeris]

FYI they have placed a star link dish on the latest Starship SN15 and the FAA has given them approval to use it in the next test flight of that rocket from Boca Chica TX

[LindaH]

8 hours ago, agesilaus said:

$500 for the gear, $100/mo and it needs a broad view of the sky. And no mobile installation that I've heard about.  I'll stick with my $40/mo Visible which has been perfectly adequate for my needs. I already have hundreds of bucks of worthless gear from the ToGo fiasco sitting no top of the rig.

No, it hasn't gone mobile yet, but according to the FB page RV posted, Musk says Starlink should go mobile by the end of the year.  We use our phone as a hotspot, too, but it doesn't help when you're someplace that doesn't have cell service.

Are you really paying $40/mo for Visible?  You do know that you can drop that down to $25 by joining a Party Pay Plan with 4 people?

[agesilaus]

11 hours ago, Zulu said:

Sure, when cell service is available, but when it isn't . .

Well we did 10000 miles, 21 states last summer, and 2500 miles 7 states this year, so far. Florida to idaho and back. That includes boondocking and over 40 different camp sites. And we were out of cell phone contact maybe twice.

And our next stop is boondocking outside the South Rim. And I can live with that if we don't have a cell phone I'll just use my Kindle. We use Visible (Verizon) and have a cell phone booster and I've added a 24 ft extendable mast mast for the antenna. Thats a $40 painters pole.  I could get a directional antenna too for $50 if I needed one.

I'm not against this Starlink, but just do not need it. And I will certainly take a wait and watch position on it.

[RV_]

12 hours ago, agesilaus said:

And no mobile installation that I've heard about.  I'll stick with my $40/mo Visible which has been perfectly adequate for my needs.

You just heard about the mobile version from the horses mouth, Musk, in the article above. 

 

[DanZemke]

4 hours ago, LindaH said:

Are you really paying $40/mo for Visible?  You do know that you can drop that down to $25 by joining a Party Pay Plan with 4 people?

agesilaus,

I too, started Visable at $40 a month.  But a few months ago I joined a large "Party" and have been paying $25 a month since, without any downsides that I'm aware of.  The members of the Party (including the starter of the Party) do not know anything about the other members.  Not phone numbers, email addresses - nothing.  IMO, very large Parties have an advantage in that the odds of losing enough members to drop below 4 (the minimum number to owe $25 a month) are low.

I chose to join RVmobileInteret's Party because they support Escapees and I assumed they would have a fairly large group.  The group size was over 100 when I joined.  Their referral code is included in this link:

https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/visible-makes-changes-to-party-pay-referral-codes-and-international-calling-texting/

 

[RV_]

I am with you guys. This is exactly what we all have wanted while full time or just halftime. I remember in 1999 when we did a season in Alaska I had to bring my system to the RV Park office to use a phone line to do email for my then only online way to answer questions. IN 2000 I did my website, but still had to connect when possible to upload. My website content is done I just need to upload it to GoDaddy. I am using FB a bit but prefer a locked down friends only presence there.

The next generation of RVrs will never believe we did it without Satellite or cell phone connectivity. Remember the first smart phones did not come out until 2007 with Apple first and Android delayed to the end of that year. We full timed 1997-2003. Many RV park managers and owners had no idea about the Internet then. Even land lines in those days were slooow because we did not even have XP, just Windows 98 and 98SE. I skipped the cobbled together mess called Millenium edition and did XP after we came off the road in 2003 I believe. I remember being happy to get 10KBps!

This opens a whole new era. This is like buying a new computer. If you wait for the latest greatest to come along you'll never buy. I have to just stop, buy what will I think will be perfect. Then realize I need to sell it and get something else. No matter what we think, if we can buy it, it is already obsolete and we will hear the new tech a month later.

So waiting for many will work out as much as buying now. Some folks just won't have the funds. But the RV park offices in the boonies and places like National Parks will have access, or RVrs that hot spot for friends like early in the Cell connectivity days.

I was going to get one now but decided to wait. I believe the hardware will stay the same as it is provided at a loss. But the economies of scale will kick in. Speeds and costs per month might go way down or not. I am connected at up to 150 MBps for $55 a month. I'll wait another year but I do not need it other than for a tech toy.

In any event, as I said in the last few years it has happened. Now worldwide access to broadband in rural areas, even in the middle of deserts, and where no cell phone has service, is real, and soon working in all North American areas, perhaps two more years for other continents. The old Sat phone prices had little data speed if any data and cost in the thousand a month for service with $1000 and up prices for the phone alone.

Things are looking up! (pun int.)

[Nwcid]

This interest me because I still have to work.  We spend most of the summer out because my wife is a teacher.  

Last year we had to travel and camp along cell service routes.  I am in the PNW and there are still a lot of areas without cell service.  We mostly boondock so we had a compromise a few times last year due to lack of cell service.

If I was not working, as much as I like the internet, I could do without. 

 

[Zulu]

6 hours ago, LindaH said:

No, it hasn't gone mobile yet, but according to the FB page RV posted, Musk says Starlink should go mobile by the end of the year.

According to Starlink Reddit, it takes 28 launches to get to full coverage. L28 is scheduled for this May / June plus 6 weeks to get the sats into orbital position.

So it may end up that the mobile kit, not the Starlink satellites that are holding things up.

Edited April 16, 2021 by Zulu

[RV_]

agesilaus,

There ya go! No need to get Starlink! Groups are the ticket.

Thanks Linda and Dan, good info.

I haven't looked into that. I tried one from AT&T and it not only did not work but they kept my money for the equipment that never worked in 2018.

Back in the day we had a Webley toll free number we could call others on and let them know via the RV park's phone if they let us use it for toll free access. Some charged us anyway and set three minute limits. It's amazing to think that was 17 or 18 years ago.

 

Edited April 17, 2021 by RV_

[hemsteadc]

Elon may have competition from new internet companies like Access...something  which I found at Las Vegas Bay CG a few months ago.  Darn fast, and if you pay a week it's only $2/day.  Also the KOA at Avi Casino recently upgraded theirs and it's really good.  But, I'm sure he wouldn't be going into this strictly for the benefit of Rvers! 

Visible sounds great, but it's hard for me to wrap my head around something that's "just as good" for $40/mo instead of $100.  I've been burned before on "good deals"!!

Edited April 16, 2021 by hemsteadc

[RV_]

21 hours ago, hemsteadc said:

Elon may have competition from new internet companies like Access...something  which I found at Las Vegas Bay CG a few months ago.  Darn fast, and if you pay a week it's only $2/day.  Also the KOA at Avi Casino recently upgraded theirs and it's really good.  But, I'm sure he wouldn't be going into this strictly for the benefit of Rvers! 

This Visible sounds great, but it's hard for me to wrap my head around something that's "just as good" for $40/mo instead of $100.  I've been burned before on "good deals"!!

Compare maximum speeds and the bandwidth limit before you are throttled or charged more.

I don't think it is comparable unless you can take those Access  . . .something and the KOA/AVI Casino Internet services with you as you travel down the road for your co-pilot/navigator if you have one. And at your next boondock place. WiFi can't.

No Elon was not developing this for just RVrs. But he has been to Burning man and other RV activities with an RV, he's been aware. He will be manufacturing Tesla HDTs before long now. The rest of the OTR drivers and trucking companies will surely use them for their businesses as well as shipping and commercial aircraft.

BYD is ahead of Tesla in BEV Buses, but not the battery/drivetrains. So the next big motorhome in the luxury class will have more than the few high end conversion bus platforms like Prevost, still in production.

 

Edited April 17, 2021 by RV_

[Kirk W]

I wonder what happened to the movement to provide free wifi access in downtown areas of some cities, about 15 or so years ago? I remember seeing signs that said "Free Wifi Zone" or something akin to that in some communities. If I remember right we saw that in Vicksburg, MS and also Loveland, CO and possibly a few other places. 

[bruce t]

Kirk you need to come back to Australia. Lots of free ares now. Some of the old payphone booths are now 'towers' for free wifi.

But someone is paying for it. No such thing as 'free' nowdays. They will be getting the money from someone else.

 

[DanZemke]

2 hours ago, RV_ said:

There ya go! No need to get Starlink! Groups are the ticket. Thanks Linda and Dan, good info.

RV,

I may not have been clear. I'm eagerly looking forward to StarLink service.  In fact, I ordered one as soon as I could on Feb 8 and my order was accepted the same day.  But after using Starlink's land survey app, it appeared that reception would be poor at my house.  I canceled my order on Feb 10.

My post about Visable was not meant to assert that it could be an alternative to StarLink - it isn't for most folks.  It was an  attempt to explain why joining a Party makes sense, and suggest a good way to do it.

[RV_]

Dan noooo I wasn't clear. I edited my post above because that first answer was to agesilaus, who said he didn't need it. ("I'm not against this Starlink, but just do not need it. And I will certainly take a wait and watch position on it. ") I just edited it so now it is clear up ^^^^^ in that post. Sorry bud.

Dan I remember something about your having to cancel because of the app saying it was not clear enough a shot. That hurt. On the plus side, waiting until it smooths out might be a good thing. Musk does CIP cycles non stop (Continuous Improvement Process) so today's Tesla/Starlink/Space X  anything, is different than last year's model and not the same as next year's model.

So if it is the same, but costs more later, we will be sorry we waited.  If it costs the same but is technically superior we get spit eatin' grins on our faces.

Don't sweat it Dan, I liked your tag on there and every one you've ever contributed to any posts here. I KNOW where you are coming from my friend.

I did appreciate your and Linda's good AND topic related posts about groups.

 

[NamMedevac 70]

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Edited April 17, 2021 by NamMedevac 70

[NamMedevac 70]

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[noteven]

So will StarLink mobile version have built in range anxiety?