Does this mean they can track the location of specific IMEIs from orbit?
HawkEye 360 has been doing this for a few years.
Starlink Direct to Cell
31–40 of 831 posts
Re: Starlink Direct to Cell
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s not going to work inside buildings, and they would need to charge you a fairly astronomical fee per minute. However, a Starlink mini dish can let you cheaply make calls from basically anywhere with some minor setup.
> astronomical fee
Compared to what?
Traditional satellite phone corporations used to charge something like 8 USD/min.
Re: Starlink Direct to Cell
#33What I wonder about the Starlink constellation is, how secure it is physically? There are people burning down 5G towers. How plausible would be for a conspiracy nut to create a rocket to take out the satellites? Maybe starting a cascading effect?
If you can make a rocket that reaches a Starlink Satellite then there are many other targets the same rocket can hit that would be more damaging.
Rockets are a military technology, and are treated as such.
Re: Starlink Direct to Cell
#34I switched to T-Mobile at the last upgrade interval because of this. My family looks forward to no longer relying on Garmin InReach devices when out hiking.
Initially I thought the same re: hiking, skiing etc. The only issue I see is that cellphone battery life is terrible compared to inReach like devices. Not sure I'd want to depend on it for longer than a few hours.
> The only issue I see is that cellphone battery life is terrible compared to inReach like devices. Not sure I'd want to depend on it for longer than a few hours.
I think it depends on the application you're using it for.
If you're constantly using the gps - yeah, I'd definitely agree with you.
But if you're using it purely for emergency communication, you can just turn off the cell phone, and it should be fine.
It's also possible to pursue a hybrid approach by bringing a battery to change the phone.
Re: Starlink Direct to Cell
#35[flagged]
Misanthropes [1] look at human civilization as a disease.
Look instead at what we've accomplished.
Think about the hard steps to life and intelligent life. About how silent the universe appears. Consider then how we're taking leaps towards making the cold and bleak universe self-aware. We are a part of evolution.
What would be tragic would be for this earth to simply boil away. Its life giving gasses and materials to vanish, unused, and life to be forgotten. Return to an unthinking rock.
[1] Maybe it's uncharitable to label you as a misanthrope, but looking broadly at this behavior in general.
Re: Starlink Direct to Cell
#36What I wonder about the Starlink constellation is, how secure it is physically? There are people burning down 5G towers. How plausible would be for a conspiracy nut to create a rocket to take out the satellites? Maybe starting a cascading effect?
I doubt there is enough overlap between people able to build a rocket capable of taking out satellites and people who are afraid of 5G.
Re: Starlink Direct to Cell
#37I feel so, so mixed about this.
It’s going to be unambiguously good for wilderness rescue and disaster response.
But I like camping and hiking in remote areas in order to remove myself from the world. And I think the lack of connectivity discourages unprepared people from taking on more than they can handle in the wilderness. If the wilderness becomes fully connected, will it spoil that feeling? Will it lead to the last few truly remote places in the US suddenly being overrun with TikTok crowds? I honestly have no idea, and it’s a little scary.
But it feels like an anachronism that we don’t already have worldwide connectivity, and I guess this was just bound to happen.
Re: Starlink Direct to Cell
#38> ENGINEERED BY SPACEX
It would be very interesting to see some kind of diagram depicting all of the corporate entities Musk is involved in and how each entity does business with one another.
xAI just raised billions to help Tesla build out FSD (or at least that was part of the pitch).
His empire is divided into so many corporate entities, but they all cross-pollinate and are clearly under his direct control for the most part.
The closest comparison I can think of is Berkshire Hathaway (one person/group controlling multiple wide ranging private and public companies).
Re: Starlink Direct to Cell
#39So they now offer direct cellular coverage whereas before only offered internet? This is great for regions that need to be connected and the power elites, but for the rest of us it wouldn't change much. I disagree with almost all of Elon's "politics" but Starlink still has huge potential. Hopefully, he doesn’t abuse the power too much and focuses on making the world more connected, in the hands of the us government a…
> This is great for regions that need to be connected
That's at least a billion people. I don't know what the intersection of that with the affordability is, though.
I'm writing this from an Ayahuasca center in rural Peru connected with Starlink. Before, internet was a ten minute drive into town away. We're now connected when at one side of the center. It would be nice to have it all the way into the jungle. And when you want to be disconnected, just turn your phone off or leave it behind.
Re: Starlink Direct to Cell
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
> astronomical fee
Compared to what? Traditional satellite phone corporations used to charge something like 8 USD/min.
Compared to leveraging the existing cellular networks and using satellites for rare edge cases. ~8$/minute or say 1$/minute averages out to a more reasonable number when less than 5% of calls use it.