Starlink Internet

[bstreep]

Originally Posted by chrisr

i suspect that those of us who are actually using starlink (as opposed to those just rabbitting on about it) are like us...just shaking heads at most of these posts

Yup. Exactly.
Interesting observation last night. We are in Grand Cayman. Yesterday evening, things ground to a crawl. This morning I noted that Royal Caribbean had a ship here yesterday until around 8 pm. And RC has Starlink. Since we are on RV, we are deprioritized. Hmm….

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by chrisr

i suspect that those of us who are actually using starlink (as opposed to those just rabbitting on about it) are like us...just shaking heads at most of these posts

not even going the trouble

[Eagle ITA]

Originally Posted by Wpg3ut

Could anyone comment on the use of Starlink for internet service while at sea and how well it does or doesn't work?
I have seen online where the fee for mariners is $1000/month, is that accurate? There is also a roaming category where the fee is $200/month. Why is there such an upcharge for mariners?

Take a look at this video, just a cable issue, but it seems to happen often, and he's not very happy with the customer care...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taTX9cp1Fic

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by Eagle ITA

Take a look at this video, just a cable issue, but it seems to happen often, and he's not very happy with the customer care...

Seems to happen often? Not sure about that.

The connector on the end of the cable is not very robust, and the connection itself doesn’t feel very secure. For someone who is connecting and disconnecting the dish daily I can imagine that it would fail.

But if you connect it once, secure it with amalgamating tape, and leave it be, there’s very little that can go wrong.

Agree that SL customer service is an oxymoron.

[sailorboy1]

Have not had any problems with my connector in 6 months. I plugged them in and have left them alone.

[chrisr]

our connector came out once. then tapped it thoroughly...never coming out again

agree the design could be improved

so far no experience with starlink customer service, but would not expect them to be any different to any bank, airline, insurance co, telco etc etc... ie they ALL suck

cheers,

[ixnax]

Originally Posted by Statistical

On SpaceX website.



More details if you start the order process (you can fake it yourself just use any US address)

There are three plans:
50GB Priority Data - $250/mo
1TB Priority Data - $1,000/mo
5TB Priority Data - $5,000/mo

Additional priority data is $2/GB.

When you run out of priority data what happens depends on where you are


Despite SpaceX saying "inland waters" multiple users have confirmed that it includes costal waters where SpaceX offers service per their service map.

For example here is service map for Florida. So if on Maritime plan and out of priority data if you were in the colored cells you would continue to get Roam like service.



However if you sailed beyond that you would be prompted to pay per GB or would have no service at all.


Given that I really doubt based on that SpaceX is going to allow Roam to work in the middle of oceans with unlimited data when Maritime is capped. It would remove the single advantage of Maritime plan. Roam w/ In Motion Dish would be the plan to pick not Maritime even for people with large budgets. Why deal with a cap for a higher price when you can have unlimited data even in the middle of the ocean?

As for people crossing hundreds of miles offshore on Roam. When was that? Since SpaceX terms changed this month? Non-mobile dish on Roam use to work at 60 mph before SpaceX blocked that too. RV service use to work globally for $135 too.

Statistical, thank you.

Starlink crossing oceans at $250 a month is a screaming deal. That includes buying the $2500 dish. If you can’t afford it, so it goes, but that doesn’t mean it’s overpriced or that some societal injustice has been done. Like cell phones that cost $900 to put your SIM card in it’s a game changing miracle. That said, too many still think AIS is overpriced so there we are.

[flightlead404]

Can the RV “dish” be placed below a fiberglass (cored) deck or does it need to be placed above deck?

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by flightlead404

Can the RV “dish” be placed below a fiberglass (cored) deck or does it need to be placed above deck?

it is my understanding that it needs to 'see' the sky, so underdeck isn't going to work

cheers,

[shimari]

Originally Posted by chrisr

we recently got our starlink (standard RV antenna) and been testing it just stuck in a fishing rod holder at about waist height on the port stern

getting occasional obstruction problems but fully expected due to this site

all looking good so now moving to the next step which will be to erect a 1.5\2.0m high post to put dishy on

my question is "does anyone know the correct ID for the tube" ? i could \ will measure the mounting rod myself but also interested in other's fitting ideas

thanks \ cheers,

Seaview sells a number of different mounts as do a few other places.
https://www.seaviewglobal.com/collec...nk-accessories

You can also go flat mount via kit or DIY via 3D printing.

https://agileoffroad.com/product/sta...-for-starlink/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRSnTMrUPrQ

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by flightlead404

Can the RV “dish” be placed below a fiberglass (cored) deck or does it need to be placed above deck?

On the Star Link on Boats FB page some have reported it worked for them. Seems more common for people to put it under a hatch. Guess if you aren't going to mount outside (to me it seems to just be wrong direction) when you get it you can just try it

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by shimari

Seaview sells a number of different mounts as do a few other places.
https://www.seaviewglobal.com/collec...nk-accessories

You can also go flat mount via kit or DIY via 3D printing.

https://agileoffroad.com/product/sta...-for-starlink/

thanks...interesting...

cheers,

[Jon Hacking]

Originally Posted by flightlead404

Can the RV “dish” be placed below a fiberglass (cored) deck or does it need to be placed above deck?

It may work to some extent, but it will be significantly degraded, so more dropouts & probably slower, if it works at all.

We'll be mounting ours between rails of channel- (or possibly angle-) aluminum that is bolted to the underside of our solar panel frames. So it will be level with the panels, out to the side. I won't disable the motors, but they won't do anything, since I won't be using the center mounting pole.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by Jon Hacking

It may work to some extent, but it will be significantly degraded, so more dropouts & probably slower, if it works at all.



We'll be mounting ours between rails of channel- (or possibly angle-) aluminum that is bolted to the underside of our solar panel frames. So it will be level with the panels, out to the side. I won't disable the motors, but they won't do anything, since I won't be using the center mounting pole.

I’m not sure if the service will work like that, as I was holding the dishy by its edges as I moved it from one side of the boat to the other and it dropped signal with a message that the dish wasn’t able to orient itself. Let us know if it works!

Since then we’ve mounted it on a pole using the SL pole adapter. We made it high enough to be above the boom. Yes, it does occasionally shade the rear solar panels. That’s a price we’re willing to pay.

Now it’s a wait to see if we get the no longer working while in motion message - didn’t see it yesterday off the coast of Perth with boat speeds up to 10 knots.

[Jon Hacking]

Originally Posted by fxykty

I’m not sure if the service will work like that, as I was holding the dishy by its edges as I moved it from one side of the boat to the other and it dropped signal with a message that the dish wasn’t able to orient itself. Let us know if it works!
...
Now it’s a wait to see if we get the no longer working while in motion message - didn’t see it yesterday off the coast of Perth with boat speeds up to 10 knots.

Foxy, I'm not speaking hypothetically. It was proven long ago that Dishy works just fine without the motors. One guy even did a side-by-side comparison & found that he had fewer drop-outs with the motors disabled & the antenna pointing straight up. And there's a logical rational for that if you're interested.

With the motors still connected but not being used, the system (OK, used to) work this out & report that the motors were "stuck" but it continued to work, & after a week or so it stopped bothering to tell you they're stuck.

Reports I've seen from the field seem to be saying that the speed limit for the basic Dishy is about 15kts, so it should be no problem for most cruisers. Well, unless you've got a really fast boat, like an Outremer...