One week of Starlink

[The Heretic]

SpaceX's Starlink Doubles the Price for Its Global Roaming Plan

The plan can act as a loophole for subscribers to access Starlink in regions where the satellite internet service is not officially available.

www.pcmag.com

 

[Nosferatu]

SpaceX's Starlink Doubles the Price for Its Global Roaming Plan

The plan can act as a loophole for subscribers to access Starlink in regions where the satellite internet service is not officially available.

www.pcmag.com

I didn't even know PC Mag was still around! I subscribed to that back in the 80's and 90's. John C. Dvoraks' article on the back page was always food for thought...or a laugh. Somehow over the years I completely forgot they existed.

Anywhoo...back to SpaceX/Starlink.

 

[The Heretic]

SpaceX Gets FCC License to Use New Starlink Dishes on Planes, Ships, Cars

The FCC clears the V4 dish and the upcoming Starlink mini dish to operate on moving vehicles.

www.pcmag.com

 

[The Heretic]

First Tests: How Fast Are Starlink's New Dish V4 and Router V3?

SpaceX has a new standard satellite dish and router. Here's how it beats the old standard equipment on design and performance.

www.pcmag.com

 

[25-06]

SpaceX Hikes Up Price for Certain US Starlink Users, Citing Capacity

SpaceX tells US Starlink users that their monthly fees are going up from $90 to $120.

www.pcmag.com

Summary: if you are paying $90 because of "limited capacity", SL is probably going to up your monthly payment to $120 because you now have "increased capacity".

In actuality, SL needs/wants the income and/or they feel they have number of users they need in that area.

Some time ago SL was offering their service in certain areas for $90/mo because there were not many users in those areas - so the $90 was incentive to get more users. They now have those users and they need the $ more than they need more users - in those areas. It is all about balancing user bandwidth and revenue.

$90? You're getting off easy. My SL runs about five times that.

 

[The Heretic]

$90? You're getting off easy. My SL runs about five times that.

Mine was $120

What SL did was offer $90 to underutilized areas in order to bump up subscription rates in those areas.

Now that the rates are up, they returned the cost to "normal".

I am not using my SL system at present as TMobile started offering 5G (Home Internet) service in my area. TM is both cheaper and the router consumes a lot less power (5-10 Watts) so when the power goes out in the winter, I can run the system at least ten times as long - usually long enough for the power outage to be fixed - I could theoretically run it on solar, but I am too lazy to try that out in the middle of a snow storm.

The downside of TMobile is that I can only use it at home (or wherever it is offered - if I go thru the process of changing the address), whereas SL can be used anywhere in the world.

 

[Bolt_308]

Mine was $120

What SL did was offer $90 to underutilized areas in order to bump up subscription rates in those areas.

Now that the rates are up, they returned the cost to "normal".

I am not using my SL system at present as TMobile started offering 5G (Home Internet) service in my area. TM is both cheaper and the router consumes a lot less power (5-10 Watts) so when the power goes out in the winter, I can run the system at least ten times as long - usually long enough for the power outage to be fixed - I could theoretically run it on solar, but I am too lazy to try that out in the middle of a snow storm.

The downside of TMobile is that I can only use it at home (or wherever it is offered - if I go thru the process of changing the address), whereas SL can be used anywhere in the world.

Hey Heretic- I know it is going to depend upon service area, but what speeds are you seeing with T-Mobile home internet? I currently average around 180mg down/ 15 up on Starlink . . .

 

[25-06]

Mine was $120

What SL did was offer $90 to underutilized areas in order to bump up subscription rates in those areas.

Now that the rates are up, they returned the cost to "normal".

I am not using my SL system at present as TMobile started offering 5G (Home Internet) service in my area. TM is both cheaper and the router consumes a lot less power (5-10 Watts) so when the power goes out in the winter, I can run the system at least ten times as long - usually long enough for the power outage to be fixed - I could theoretically run it on solar, but I am too lazy to try that out in the middle of a snow storm.

The downside of TMobile is that I can only use it at home (or wherever it is offered - if I go thru the process of changing the address), whereas SL can be used anywhere in the world.

Yeah, there's no cable/fiber infrastructure near my house. Comcast never got over 10Mbps; Viasat/ATT overpromised and under delivered—never got above 40Mbps. We need 100 minimum for work, and SL is the only provider that can do it. So, Elmo gets a fat payment every month. Where SL gets you is data usage.

 

[The Heretic]

Where SL gets you is data usage.

You must have a business plan or one of the other non-standard plans that have a guarantee?

The standard plan has no limits on data.

 

[The Heretic]

Hey Heretic- I know it is going to depend upon service area, but what speeds are you seeing with T-Mobile home internet? I currently average around 180mg down/ 15 up on Starlink . . .

I see 100-250. It varies a lot. Sometimes I see as much as 400.

Lately I get 150-250, but after using it for a few days it drops down to 50-100, then I reboot my laptop and it goes back to normal. I can't figure out what is causing that, but rebooting the laptop seems to fix it almost all the time. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason. I am thinking Facebook interacting with my ad blocker because FB often slows to a crawl.

 

[Flopsweat]

I see 100-250. It varies a lot. Sometimes I see as much as 400.

Lately I get 150-250, but after using it for a few days it drops down to 50-100, then I reboot my laptop and it goes back to normal. I can't figure out what is causing that, but rebooting the laptop seems to fix it almost all the time. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason. I am thinking Facebook interacting with my ad blocker because FB often slows to a crawl.

I had cell service that was like that for about a year. I originally called the company about only getting 3 bars in my home. They fiddled with a bunch of stuff (or said they did) and eventually had me restart the phone. On reboot, I have 5 bars. It stayed that way for a day or two and went back to 3. I restarted it and so on and so forth. My best guess was that it was locking onto a slower or more distant cell tower.

 

[The Heretic]

I had cell service that was like that for about a year. I originally called the company about only getting 3 bars in my home. They fiddled with a bunch of stuff (or said they did) and eventually had me restart the phone. On reboot, I have 5 bars. It stayed that way for a day or two and went back to 3. I restarted it and so on and so forth. My best guess was that it was locking onto a slower or more distant cell tower.

I always have 4-5 bars on the router. I don't see how rebooting the laptop itself would have anything to do with router reception issues?

The only problems I have had with the router has been when my TV, laptop & phone cannot see the internet thru the router, so I have to reboot the router and that usually fixes it. A few times there has been a complete outage.

But at $50/mo I am still fine with the service. SL had issues too from time to time. But both are better than the long distance WiFi I had - which towards the end, just plain stopped working altogether due to trees between out neighborhood and the connection at the base of the mountain - nobody on our road could use it anymore.

 

[Flopsweat]

I always have 4-5 bars on the router. I don't see how rebooting the laptop itself would have anything to do with router reception issues?

The only problems I have had with the router has been when my TV, laptop & phone cannot see the internet thru the router, so I have to reboot the router and that usually fixes it. A few times there has been a complete outage.

But at $50/mo I am still fine with the service. SL had issues too from time to time. But both are better than the long distance WiFi I had - which towards the end, just plain stopped working altogether due to trees between out neighborhood and the connection at the base of the mountain - nobody on our road could use it anymore.

I should have been more clear, or maybe less specific. In complex systems, as a device tries to improve local performance, it can get a little off-mission after a while and find itself stuck in a less-than-optimal configuration. Rebooting can sometimes address this situation.