51–60 of 136 posts
As someone who lives in the mountains of Puerto Rico and has to rely on "unlimited" cell phone coverage that data caps me and satellite internet that also has data caps.... I can't wait until starlink is up and running and we may have an option for high speed, low latency, internet for us who hate cities and love nature :)
Especially useful for web pages that have 6MB rocket takeoff GIFs ;)
I'm so excited for Starlink! As a solo founder I do all of my support, but I like to frequently go off-roading and camping outside of cell service. I have a satellite messenger for critical things, but it still leaves me feeling quite anxious to go on extended trips. If I can toss a starlink dish in a briefcase and get fast affordable internet in the Sierra's, life will be good.
Combined with covid / unrest / remote work, starlink could dramatically enable population decentralization.
How much will light pollution increase when the next competitor launches 1500+ satellites?
How much will light pollution increase when a Chinese competitor launches yet another 1500+ satellites?
I'm kinda bummed Starlink is not going to lead to cheaper consumer internet and replace cable internet. Sounds like it is mainly for rural areas which is great but I hoped it was going to bunny hop fiber.
I thought there was discussion of base stations. Couldn't they do 1 per apartment building or block without the density issues?
Low earth orbit satellites with global coverage seem like such a better approach than balloons that you have to handle in the air assuming the following is true:
- Latency difference between the two is negligible
- Satellites are not uniquely affected by weather
- Balloons are not better in some other unknown way?
I wonder if they're seeing this as the existential threat that it is.
What am I missing?
[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiEZfRh-h-s https://loon.com/
As someone who lives in the mountains of Puerto Rico and has to rely on "unlimited" cell phone coverage that data caps me and satellite internet that also has data caps.... I can't wait until starlink is up and running and we may have an option for high speed, low latency, internet for us who hate cities and love nature :)
I bought one of those huge Wifi antenna to connect to an open Wifi of a rural school a couple of kilometers away. It was empty after 2pm so we had 4Mbps just for ourselves all afternoon and night (if we had a sunny day and our batteries were full). That lasted about 8 months until someone built a barn or something and installed some electricity poles. We weren't able to connect anymore.
After that we drove almost daily to the village and spent a couple of hours in a café with a flaky 2Mbps connection but it became unpractical. We went back to civilization 2 months later or so.
If Starlink would have been available back then maybe we'd still be living in the mountains!
Are these still missing laser comms?
Yes. They couldn't make them entirely burn up on re-entry so the FAA blocked them using them until they solve that. It is the risk of them falling on someone.
> git commit -m "lasers"
> Test failed: broken satellites > No debris found on earth on re-entry
I don't know how Loon [0] (graduated Google X project) can look at this and justify their continued existence. Low earth orbit satellites with global coverage seem like such a better approach than balloons that you have to handle in the air assuming the following is true: - Latency difference between the two is negligible - Satellites are not uniquely affected by weather - Balloons are not better in some other unknow…
https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/31/18200879/alphabet-project...