Please Help - No Starlink connection on my rolling 31ft Sailboat

[kapitaenohlsen]

Hey there.


I know, there is a lot of information about Starlink on sailboats out there, but i cant find something for my specific problem.


I have the gen2 dish, worldwide roaming plan + i activate the mobile priority before i go out at sea. I disconected the motor, so the dish is always flat.
So far so good. Works perfect at anchor, even if the boat swings and rolls a bit.


BUT! as soon as i go sailing, the trouble begins. Downwind (rolling) it is close to impossible to get a connection. Only if it is super calm, but even then, one bad wave which kicks my boat and it starts rolling, i am offline.


Beamreach relativ the same. Sometimes after an hour i get a connection but super unstable. 10sec. online, then offline, few sec. online, offline and so on...



I think the main problem is my boat. 31ft is small. 3m / 9ft wide. It also is a fullkeel with only 1,5m / 5ft depth. That means my boat "moves" a lot while sailing.


Is one of you having a simliar setup? Because i think, most people who say it works fine, also out at the ocean, are having 45ft+ boats or catamarans. But a boat like mine is a complete different story while sailing.
For me it would be intresting if i can improve it. I was thinking about buying the high performance kit, but it would be a pita if i spend 2500$ and still have the same problems.
Also a gimble could be a solution but i couldnt find something and building it by myself in Panama is a challenging project
Or maybe my starlink is simply a "lemon"?


And no, buying a catamaran is not an option
For short passages i wouldn´t mind having no internet. But i work on remote and for the long ocean passages i definitly need a lets say 70-80% reliable internet connection.

[bergius]

Originally Posted by kapitaenohlsen

I think the main problem is my boat. 31ft is small. 3m / 9ft wide. It also is a fullkeel with only 1,5m / 5ft depth. That means my boat "moves" a lot while sailing.

Our boat is very similarly sized to yours. We installed Starlink this spring, mounted on the pushpit. Didn't disable the motors. So far it has worked fine, though admittedly the worst conditions we've used it was some 1.5m waves on the beam at Kattegat.

Fingers crossed that it'll continue working. We don't have the power budget to keep it running all the time, so we only turn it on for an hour or two each day when under way. At sea it certainly takes a while to get online, but that may also be because of the worse satellite coverage above 54°N.

Here's our setup:

[shimari]

There are many reports on FB about the residential dish (gen2) having this problem. You are not alone. Presumably, it's a limitation of the dish or Starlink modified the software to force people to the HP dish. I sort of think the latter since the HP dish is the only one approved for 'in motion', and the gen2 dish worked pretty well in the beginning.

I've not seen any reports of the gen3 dish in motion or on a sailboat yet. It may perform better at the cost of buying a new dish AND requiring greater power. Ultimately, the HP dish at a much greater cost and power may be the only solution unfortunately.

[kapitaenohlsen]

Ok, thanks for that information.
I am going to give it a try the next days while motoring to the san blas. The sea should be relativ calm these days. If the result is the same i go for the big HP Dish. Powerconsumption is a lot more but maybe i can switch between HP Dish on passage and the gen2 at anchor

I am going to be the first low budget sailboat with two Starlink dishes

[shimari]

Originally Posted by kapitaenohlsen

Ok, thanks for that information.
I am going to give it a try the next days while motoring to the san blas. The sea should be relativ calm these days. If the result is the same i go for the big HP Dish. Powerconsumption is a lot more but maybe i can switch between HP Dish on passage and the gen2 at anchor

I am going to be the first low budget sailboat with two Starlink dishes

You'll need two accounts. I don't believe you can swap dishes on the same account.

You could try the 30 day trial with a gen3 dish before buying the HP. I have no idea if it will be better, but it would save you a bit if it worked.

[mojoman2]

I have the same problem on my 43' catamaran. It works great in the anchorage but almost never when offshore. I have been pinging customer support about this, and got an interesting reply. They said that you should not be on a VPN when using mobile priority data (even when first enabling it). I regularly use a VPN, so his might be the cause of my problems. I don' plan to go offshore again for about a month. I am looking forward to trying this solution. Do you use a VPN?