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Iran is likely jamming Starlink

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Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#251

Post by tmaly »

freefaler wrote: post #46
ACCount37 wrote: post #36

Not too surprising, given that Starlink operates in Iran without a permit, "space pirate radio" style, and has something of a habit of making the access free when major protests happen and the government imposes a network blackout. Iranian government and Starlink have no love for each other, clearly. It's a pattern by now: whenever a government wants to do something awful, it shuts down internet access - so that no o…

They "operate" in Iran because of OFAC issues general licenses under the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 560) permitting non-commercial personal communications, including satellite internet for free expression. Starlink activation in 2022 protests and recent events exploited these, as Musk sought formal exemptions for "internet freedom." And no Tesla factories in Iran I suppose helps too :…

It has to be free in case of OFAC sanctions otherwise if you are generating revenue from commercial activity in sanctioned regions, you get huge fines.

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#252

Post by suburban_strike »

malchow wrote: post #73

Satellite signals are just weak RF signals and can be disrupted easily. There is nothing 'hardened' about them. It's funny that people think Starlink or any of its many incipient competitors are any different.

Optical links to ground stations are the future, if they can mitigate atmospheric interference. Laser is harder to jam.

Old article about Starlink (see bottom of page). Competitors have similar solutions in development.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90681156/elon-musk-starlink-sate...

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#253

Post by oldandboring »

danny_codes wrote: post #176
Rover222 wrote: post #161

Why are none of the people I saw posting non-stop about Palestine saying anything about Iranian freedom? Would honestly love to hear a genuine response from anyone who is against the movement in Iran. Or even conflicted about it.

I offer two possibilities: 1. Iran has frequent large protests that consistently get crushed. So while I assume the vast majority of Americans oppose the Iranian government, it’s hard to get worked up for the 5th, 6th time. 2. The US doesn’t support the Iranian government. We already sanction them. What additional support can US citizens lobby for? In the case of Israel, decreased US support would have a tangible eff…

> The US doesn’t support the Iranian government.

The US does support the Saudi government, though, and the collective response from the concerned citizens brigade about their relentless 10+ year pulverization of Yemen has been... nothing.

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#254

Post by oldandboring »

Rover222 wrote: post #172
Rover222 wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the left-leaning activist people in the Americas are so against any position that could align with a Trump position, that they can’t think beyond those lines. If Trump supports the revolution it must be bad.

Or because the Iranian Islamic regime supports Hamas? And they somehow align with that side. I don’t know.

You are more right than you realize. Around the time the US and Israel bombed the Iranian nuclear sites, I personally witnessed our local pro-Hamas protesters add 'stop bombing Iran' signs to their repertoire.

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#255

Post by oldandboring »

feb012025 wrote: post #206
Rover222 wrote: post #161

Why are none of the people I saw posting non-stop about Palestine saying anything about Iranian freedom? Would honestly love to hear a genuine response from anyone who is against the movement in Iran. Or even conflicted about it.

I would say it's really about opposition to death and suffering. The activists want the excessive death and suffering to end in Palestine, and they want to avoid death and suffering in Iran. Many politicians want to use the protests as a pretext for military intervention in Iran, and my blunt opinion is that they don't actually have the interests of Iranians in mind. There are many reasons to believe it will end up w…

> The activists want the excessive death and suffering to end in Palestine, and they want to avoid death and suffering in Iran.

And yet they are silent on the death and suffering in: Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Ethiopia, Congo, Myanmar, Libya. Just to name current active conflicts where people are dying, to say nothing of all the others that have flared up and subsided in my decades on this earth as I've watched "activists" ignore them all so they could hyper-focus on whatever Israel was doing at the time to protect its citizens and the Jewish diaspora. The word "exhausting" doesn't even scratch the surface of how it feels to deal with otherwise smart, educated people who roll around in this hypocrisy-laden dogpile.

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#256

Post by feb012025 »

oldandboring wrote: post #255
feb012025 wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say it's really about opposition to death and suffering. The activists want the excessive death and suffering to end in Palestine, and they want to avoid death and suffering in Iran. Many politicians want to use the protests as a pretext for military intervention in Iran, and my blunt opinion is that they don't actually have the interests of Iranians in mind. There are many reasons to believe it will end up w…

> The activists want the excessive death and suffering to end in Palestine, and they want to avoid death and suffering in Iran. And yet they are silent on the death and suffering in: Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Ethiopia, Congo, Myanmar, Libya. Just to name current active conflicts where people are dying, to say nothing of all the others that have flared up and subsided in my decades on this earth as I've watched "a…

In none of those conflicts you mentioned does the US act as the main benefactor to the side causing excessive suffering. And in none of those conflicts do they lobby aggressively for the support of US politicians.

Considering that reality, does it not make sense that Americans would be more vocal when it comes to this conflict, because we actually have agency to affect it?

I genuinely want to know what your response is to that argument, because it's not a new one, and seems very obvious to me.

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#257

Post by pbasista »

olao99 wrote: post #207

Hypothecally speaking. If I were to live in an authoritarian country that would shut off all means of communication like that. What off grid technology would be viable? Lora? Shortwave radio? Or nothing at all?

I would imagine that communicating within urban areas might be possible via some kind of a mesh network where e.g. every phone would act as a node that can forward the packets further. Something like that should be possible over WiFi I assume although I am unfamiliar with the existing protocols that would allow that.

There are two main issues with such an application that I can think of:

1. Addressing. How would the nodes know where to send the packet? But I assume there are ways to deal with that which come from the P2P networks like Tor.

2. Edge connectivity. Even if it would be possible to communicate between the regular nodes of the network, those packets would not be able to reach the outside world. So, from abroad or even from the out of town, they would still appear offline. Some kind of edge bridges would probably be necessary to reach connectivity with the outside world.

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#258

Post by falaki »

embedding-shape wrote: post #67

Funny considering the top comment from the two-day old "Iran Goes Into IPv6 Blackout" ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46542683 ): > Fortunately, the government cannot enforce complete blackout because thousands of startlink terminals are active inside the country. They have been complaining about it to no avail. Seems they finally figured out a way. Seems like yet again, you shouldn't shout hello until you've…

I left the comment on starlink on that thread. I should note some personal observations as I am in touch with a few folks inside Iran through Starlink.

1. The jamming/disruption is local to large cities most notably the capital, Tehran

2. Even in Tehran it is not complete and my friends are able to send and receive messages. Uploading videos is harder.

3. The regime is now raiding homes that they suspect have Starlink terminals. I don't know how they identify them but I do wonder if they are using technology to locate them.

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#259

Post by falaki »

Some personal observations as I am in touch with a few folks inside Iran through Starlink.

1. The jamming/disruption is local to large cities most notably the capital, Tehran.

2. Even in Tehran it is not complete and my friends are able to send and receive messages. Uploading videos is harder.

3. The regime is now raiding homes that they suspect have Starlink terminals. I don't know how they identify them but I do wonder if they are using technology to locate them.

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#260

Post by scottyah »

greensh wrote: post #249
ushtaritk421 wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, as an American I think that all forms of government that are not liberal democracy basically are illegitimate. We can have relationships of convenience with other governments, but it should be known by such governments somewhere in the back of their minds that we would prefer to see them replaced by a liberal democracy. The Iranian state has not shown itself to be one that is very convenient for us to temporaril…

But USA can't even be on the side of their own people. I can see the recent ICE shooting, health care issues, clearly corrupt government officials. Why should anybody trust them with another country? Also the US has massive protests aswell, would it be okay for china to liberate the USA, since china itself is lead by a "democratic party"? They could argue the USA isn't a real liberal democracy. > why not let them vot…

USA has many different people and most try hard allow everyone to speak their mind. That is what is being preserved for others- the ability to escape oppression (that seems to just be a built-in human thing), no matter where you are.
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