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Starlink internet is going from rural savior to unreliable luxury

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Re: Starlink internet is going from rural savior to unreliable luxury

#241
post #109
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well 3 degrees wide means at best ~28 square degrees on the sky (pi * 3 * 3). But the problem is the other way. It looks like Starlink has 7 GHz total downlink bandwidth from satellite to customers. A cell may be ~300 sq km, but no way you can pipe all that bandwidth in adjacent cells due to interference (or... if you did, you'd probably lose in spectral efficiency). If we assume something like 10 Gbps/cell total dow…

> well 3 degrees wide means at best ~28 square degrees on the sky (pi * 3 * 3). If you use a diameter for a circle area, you need to divide by 4, to get like ~7. I was just going to do 3*3 = 9. > It looks like Starlink has 7 GHz total downlink bandwidth from satellite to customers. A cell may be ~300 sq km, but no way you can pipe all that bandwidth in adjacent cells due to interference Both the downlink and the upli…

5bps/Hz is way overestimating their spectral efficiency.

Re: Starlink internet is going from rural savior to unreliable luxury

#243
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

bandwidth matters a lot. it's why SpaceX pays so much on legal fees for fcc filings

> bandwidth matters a lot. Sure, how much data you can exchange per satellite is roughly proportional to the bandwidth. Increasing bandwidth or increasing satellites increases data rate. > it's why SpaceX pays so much on legal fees for fcc filings Note that a whole lot of the paper that goes to the FCC relates to the FCC's statutory authority over space debris and constellation licensing.

they have spent an immense amount of money and time on fcc filings for spectrum. this is a mixture of asking for spectrum, proving they're not interfering, and trying to beat kuiper and others to market.

Re: Starlink internet is going from rural savior to unreliable luxury

#244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn't have to meet any performance targets until 2024 at the earliest so that was a bogus justification. They were fairly close but were cutting performance a bit to reach more customers pending the launch of more satellites. And just because Rosenworcel was appointed by Obama instead of Biden doesn’t mean she’s not a loyal part of the Biden administration.

>They didn't have to meet any performance targets until 2024 at the earliest why not? seems like they should have had to

Because that’s how the RDOF program was designed. You have a number of years to meet your targets in exchange for the subsidies to help you do it.

Re: Starlink internet is going from rural savior to unreliable luxury

#245

> I would love to ask the Starlink support team for more information since I own the equipment, but I can't because there's no email address, phone number, chat, or other way to message support That seals it. Better to buy HughesNet or similar. It may be slower but at least you can get support.

https://support.starlink.com/tickets

https://support.starlink.com/create-support-ticket

But don't take my word for it. Or do, because you've clearly settled on a decision without researching the problem.

Re: Starlink internet is going from rural savior to unreliable luxury

#246
post #50

So Starlink has been so effective and so popular that — utterly unsurprisingly — it is becoming more congested and they're raising rates. This is good news and not bad. It's a strong sign that the model fundamentally works and they will be able to fund continuous improvements to meet strong demand.

Satellite internet essentially means that you have to share one cellphone tower with your entire district. I don't see how this can be sustainable for anything but the most rural areas.

I'm not sure what you've misunderstood, but that's not at all how this works.

There is room in space for near infinite number of Starlink satellites.

Re: Starlink internet is going from rural savior to unreliable luxury

#247
> I've talked to others in my area who use Starlink, and since January, we've experienced frequent downtime

This is depressing. I thought Starlink would be at least consistently available in the areas that they are providing service. We don't need another unreliable internet option. Especially if it's also overpriced.

Re: Starlink internet is going from rural savior to unreliable luxury

#248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

your history is a bit off. the fcc commissioner and fcc has generally loved SpaceX, and they were not appointed by Biden. what happened was SpaceX continually got worse in the fcc samknows testing, so much so that their original application for $900M was far from the service they actually offered. for that reason they paused the funding until SpaceX improved things to the point they promised. they still have not impr…

They didn't have to meet any performance targets until 2024 at the earliest so that was a bogus justification. They were fairly close but were cutting performance a bit to reach more customers pending the launch of more satellites. And just because Rosenworcel was appointed by Obama instead of Biden doesn’t mean she’s not a loyal part of the Biden administration.

the fcc is allowed to take their money back if your service is going in a downward trend. I'm not even sure what you're saying for. they showed that Starlink speeds were degrading significantly over a year. this data is also exactly what ookla and others showed. the only possible way it's going to increase before that, given the demand, is starship. that will not likely happen before 2024, so they were completely correct to take the money back.

ajit pai is the one you should be blaming for giving it to them in the first place when it was obvious to anyone with satellite knowledge that they could not offer that service to the amount of people they said in the time they claimed.

Re: Starlink internet is going from rural savior to unreliable luxury

#249
They should gear it towards rural only.. If it's profitable at the moment?

That's what is frustrating me about T-Mobile 5g home internet. I'm rural, work from home, and maintain 3 ISPs (with the proper load balancing network gear to support all of this) to deal with it. People in town are installing directional antennas, pointing towards my rural tower, and using 5G home internet, affecting my speeds, when they have cable/fiber options in town to choose from.

Also, I mean, sure, I'd love fiber ran out this way. Would you like to run fiber about 12 miles to service less than 50 people, with about 20 offshoots to homes off the main road.. increasing the overall distance and trenching by who-knows-how-far?! It's not exactly a thrilling business plan.

Re: Starlink internet is going from rural savior to unreliable luxury

#250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

no, it's not a strong sign of that. it's a strong sign that with VC money and government money you can offer unrealistic service at unrealistic prices. but when you need to start showing that you are profitable and launching satellites to maintain the current network is also expensive, both your service and prices start to get more in line with what everybody else already had. The honeymoon phase of starlink is over.…

You imagine that SpaceX and Elon Musk get by on borrowing VC money?

yes. this is easily verified. they have done many rounds of funding.
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