Setting up Starlink
jeffgeerling.com
Setting up Starlink
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Re: Setting up Starlink
#2Wow, I'm impressed! I thought it would take more than a decade to implement when it was announced, but it's here and it works. Just amazing.
100/16 Mbps is pretty decent I guess, hopefully it doesn't go down as the number of users goes up. The latency is great imo, 40ms using satellites? I don't think anyone has achieved that before.
Would a bigger dish work better or not?
Re: Setting up Starlink
#3Aside: The router design is as impractical as it is futuristic. The thing would fall over if you looked at it sideways, and the solitary LED on the front was hard to see unless in a dark room or looking closely, straight at it. Hopefully a 2nd iteration will be better!
Wow, he's right about the shape of the router. It also looks like it forces the ethernet cable in front if you want to be able to see the LED, and the cable itself is pointed downward: https://preview.redd.it/42rc9fkqwnw51.jpg?width=960&crop=sma...
I suppose that's a minor nit, given what Starlink delivers, though. I'm curious how practical it might be for on-board aircraft wi-fi. That's a space that could use a leap in bandwidth/tech, as FAA certification makes it difficult to keep equipment current. I'm curious if tracking is hard since the satellites and the "ground station" are both moving around...the aircraft on all axis points.
Re: Setting up Starlink
#4Wow, I'm impressed! I thought it would take more than a decade to implement when it was announced, but it's here and it works. Just amazing. 100/16 Mbps is pretty decent I guess, hopefully it doesn't go down as the number of users goes up. The latency is great imo, 40ms using satellites? I don't think anyone has achieved that before. Would a bigger dish work better or not?
Aiming for 20 ms later this year. (Elon time)
A bigger dish would not lower latency but may increase signal strength leading to better throughput. But it's not a simple parabolic antenna. It is the first consumer oriented phased array antenna tracking the satellites as they move across the sky, so that would increase the antenna cost even more.
Re: Setting up Starlink
#5The prices aren’t competitive for metros.. what am I missing?
Re: Setting up Starlink
#6The prices aren’t competitive for metros.. what am I missing?
That it's not trying to compete in the metros, and that lots of humans live outside the metros?
Re: Setting up Starlink
#7The prices aren’t competitive for metros.. what am I missing?
Metro areas aren’t the target. There is a large, underserved market that doesn’t have access to broadband internet, and for those customers this is a breakthrough.
Re: Setting up Starlink
#8The prices aren’t competitive for metros.. what am I missing?
That this works on most of the planet. If you can get fibre or good DSL for a reasonable price, take that. But even in the US large parts don't have fibre available, especially in rural locations. Many countries don't have any networking infrastructure. It will be a total game changer once mobile versions (airplanes, ships, yachts) become available.
Re: Setting up Starlink
#9The prices aren’t competitive for metros.. what am I missing?
Isn't starlink a service aimed at areas that can't easily get the sort of internet service that's cheap to provide to metro areas (i.e. rural areas)?
Re: Setting up Starlink
#10The cell grouping is interesting. A colleague likes the outdoors, so he's preordered one for his Suzuki Jimny, to mount on it. I wonder if Starlink are considering this use case.
I haven't been able to preorder mine, because we're planning on moving out from the city to a small village next year, but the Starlink website requires a street address.
Our villages are quite primitive, no street names (I think it's cos nobody's thought of it). So, the nearest town where there's street names, is quite far.
I was feeling uneasy about using it as an address, this article sort of cements that concern.
I have 50/50Mbps fiber, but reckon we could still be served by 20 down if needed. Exciting!