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Ask HN: How does Starlink work for IP address/ASN internationally?

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Re: Ask HN: How does Starlink work for IP address/ASN internationally?

#41

Post by Hikikomori »

midasuni wrote: post #28
ccakes wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They'd need multiple ASNs for each of these network islands then, though No they wouldn’t. They could connect to local transit/IXs in each region and just advertise the regional networks.

If I have AS22, advertising 2.2.2.0/24 out of NY, then I can reach 1.1.1.1, great I then have 2.2.3.0/24 advertised out of Frankfurt with the same AS. Again I have transit. I can reach 1.1.1.1. How does a packet from 2.2.2.1 reach 2.2.3.1 -— 2.2.3.0 won’t be advertised by the transit to me in NY as it thinks I’ve already got the route, after all it originated from my AS.

They could have something to connect their sites, or even tunnel between them over their transit. But if they only have customers on their network, likely behind nat, they don't need to reach each other.

Re: Ask HN: How does Starlink work for IP address/ASN internationally?

#42

Post by Hikikomori »

lxgr wrote: post #27
ccakes wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They'd need multiple ASNs for each of these network islands then, though No they wouldn’t. They could connect to local transit/IXs in each region and just advertise the regional networks.

Oh, I thought it wasn't possible to announce multiple isolated networks on the same ASN without interconnecting them, since ASNs are the routing granularity of BGP?

For something remote it just looks like two different prefixes with a different path to reach them. It's even a commonly used technique for multi homing so you can control which peer ingress traffic comes in on for a specific prefix.

Re: Ask HN: How does Starlink work for IP address/ASN internationally?

#43

Post by nixgeek »

inemesitaffia wrote: post #21
dotnet00 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Google IPs might be because SpaceX and Google have agreements where Starlink downlinks can use the network connectivity at Google data centers (and vice versa)?

Google paid for Starlink. It's their loon replacement

Are you able to substantiate that claim somehow? I know SpaceX has a commercial arrangement to pay Google for services used to deliver Starlink, I'm not aware of anything close to "Google shut down Loon; Starlink is the replacement; Google is subsidizing/funding Starlink".

Re: Ask HN: How does Starlink work for IP address/ASN internationally?

#44

Post by londons_explore »

kentlyons wrote: post #34
londons_explore wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many of Musks companies have access to internal google API's that aren't available to the public. For example, the in-tesla car map uses various google data sources in ways the regular API doesn't support.

Sure just like any (big) company paying for a contract.

Usually not with Google... If you went to Google and said "I will pay you $1M to make a custom version of Google maps for my company with a pink background but no other changes", they wouldn't do it.

Most teams keep the sales guys a long way from engineering, and one customers request rarely makes it in.

Re: Ask HN: How does Starlink work for IP address/ASN internationally?

#45

Post by bizzyb »

bart__ wrote: post #39
bizzyb wrote: post #20

Using starlink at mcmurdo station in Antarctica. The IP shows as Sydney, Australia.

Probably the coolest answer in this thread! Did Antarctica have any other option for internet, next to the previous gen satellites?

Here at McMurdo we've had 24/7 satellite internet for at least as long as I've been coming down (~10 years). Think roughly a ~30mbps connection shared with ~1000 people with business and science bandwidth prioritized over personal browsing. So starlink has been a game changer for sure.

At South Pole, I believe they don't yet have access to starlink. They also don't have 24 hour coverage for the few internet satellites they do get.

I don't work in IT so don't have direct access to more specific information, and obviously I can't speak for the many other stations scattered throughout the continent.

Re: Ask HN: How does Starlink work for IP address/ASN internationally?

#46

Post by wmf »

nixgeek wrote: post #43
inemesitaffia wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google paid for Starlink. It's their loon replacement

Are you able to substantiate that claim somehow? I know SpaceX has a commercial arrangement to pay Google for services used to deliver Starlink, I'm not aware of anything close to "Google shut down Loon; Starlink is the replacement; Google is subsidizing/funding Starlink".

I'm not the OP but I also heard rumors that Starlink bought Loon IP specifically the LTE stack. Given that we know Starlink was using the Google network in the early days and Loon was officially shut down months after Starlink beta started, it's not hard to imagine that there's some partnership.

Re: Ask HN: How does Starlink work for IP address/ASN internationally?

#47

Post by kentlyons »

londons_explore wrote: post #44
kentlyons wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure just like any (big) company paying for a contract.

Usually not with Google... If you went to Google and said "I will pay you $1M to make a custom version of Google maps for my company with a pink background but no other changes", they wouldn't do it. Most teams keep the sales guys a long way from engineering, and one customers request rarely makes it in.

$1m is what - one person-year, two? Sure that's not enough. However it doesn't mean the api is custom. Just not the same as the public one. For your specific example, Tesla renders thier own map tiles.

Re: Ask HN: How does Starlink work for IP address/ASN internationally?

#48

Post by bizzyb »

rootsudo wrote: post #38
bizzyb wrote: post #20

Using starlink at mcmurdo station in Antarctica. The IP shows as Sydney, Australia.

I would love to learn more about your day to day in Antarctica! Did Starlink really change everything for connectivity there? Do most people stay inside?

Starlink was certainly a game changer for life around here. McMurdo is essentially a small town so many different jobs and routines to make everything go. Some stay inside all the time, some have to work outside a lot.

https://brr.fyi/ is a really good blog from a person nearing the end of a year long deployment who writes much more eloquently than I ever could if you want to read more.

Antarctica: A Year on Ice is an enjoyable film documentary from ~10 years ago.

A Big Dead Place by Nicholas Johnson is also worth a read from the early 2000s.

Re: Ask HN: How does Starlink work for IP address/ASN internationally?

#49

Post by dilyevsky »

nixgeek wrote: post #43
inemesitaffia wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google paid for Starlink. It's their loon replacement

Are you able to substantiate that claim somehow? I know SpaceX has a commercial arrangement to pay Google for services used to deliver Starlink, I'm not aware of anything close to "Google shut down Loon; Starlink is the replacement; Google is subsidizing/funding Starlink".

Maybe they meant that google invested to the tune of $1B back in 2016 making it one of the largest spacex investors.

Re: Ask HN: How does Starlink work for IP address/ASN internationally?

#50

Post by tonyhart7 »

tiernano wrote: post #7
tinus_hn wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Geolocation is a fiction, it’s just lists that claim addresses are in some country. Nobody is under any obligation to make sure those claims are true.

Also true, but as someone who ran my own asn and space for 5 years, it can be a pain when it doesn’t work. Spent a good chunk of time making sure my space showed as Ireland, not us or Germany. Netflix, Disney+ and others all didn’t like me to start… but there are ways of fixing it.

how can you run ur own asn ??
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