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Anyone running Starlink internet yet?

Wheelerfreak

Wheelerfreak

Chronically stupid
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
537
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904
Loc
Near TA, NM, out in BFE
So Starlink has been rolling out the Beta of it's Starlink satellite internet to people that had signed up. They are reporting 100mbs down and 17mbs up. Costs are $499 for equipment and $99 a month for service with unlimited data. I signed up up but haven't heard anything back yet.

I'd love access like that where I live. My only choices now are Hughesnet and using my phone as a hotspot. The first is expensive and limited in data and the second is almost the same with my 30Gig/month limit on the phone.

So any Irates beta testers or signed up to be?
 
My Boss does. He owns a software company, lives in the boonies. Needs super fast internet. It works for him.
 
Wheelerfreak said:
So Starlink has been rolling out the Beta of it's Starlink satellite internet to people that had signed up. They are reporting 100mbs down and 17mbs up. Costs are $499 for equipment and $99 a month for service with unlimited data. I signed up up but haven't heard anything back yet.

I'd love access like that where I live. My only choices now are Hughesnet and using my phone as a hotspot. The first is expensive and limited in data and the second is almost the same with my 30Gig/month limit on the phone.

So any Irates beta testers or signed up to be?
Click to expand...

fwiw if you get cell signal then you can get fixed wireless internet, i have it through at&t

it uses the cell tower like your phone, my plan is 250gb a month for 59$

100 times better than hughes
 
The beta is only available around Northern US so far coordinates are on the star link site. I signed up but not north enough.
 
i got hughes because they advertised 25mbps and 1-3mbps throttled speed after you run out of data

i got nothing but 135KBPS throttled speed day or night, i was beyond pissed as the only reason i purchased it was because of 1-3mbps throttle speed was plenty for what i do
 
Interested! I have something similar to Hughes net and run out of data 20 days into the month and it becomes unusable
 
I won't get Huge's. Too many horror stories on customer service and data speed and throttling etc from them. Hughes and any other traditional sat is out.

I'm not north enough for Starlink yet, but they're launching sats all the time so hopefully soon. If I could get Starlink then I will cancel my sat TV and just use internet TV. Costs would be a wash that way.
 
rockyota83 said:
fwiw if you get cell signal then you can get fixed wireless internet, i have it through at&t

it uses the cell tower like your phone, my plan is 250gb a month for 59$

100 times better than hughes
Click to expand...

This. I just went through this and did quite a bit of research. There are a few legit ways to get it - t-mobile, verizon and sprint (resellers) all have options for unlimited home LTE internet. There are other work arounds to getting it from other providers and /or cheaper but they require a little work.

I went with a year of calyx (sprint reseller) for $500. Unlimited and no throttling. I paid a company $50 to get a cradlepoint modem provisioned since you're only supposed to use the hotspot they send you. I'm currently getting about 10mbps but that's with the modem sitting on my desk and it's only picking up band 26. I'll be ordering external antennas and an enclosure so I can mount it on the roof of my shop. If I can see and lock to band 42 I should be able to get well over 50mbps.


T-mobile has a decent unlimited plan for around $40/mo. I think they eventually throttle, but you have to abuse it pretty bad to get there.


SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
I had satellite once,

Never again
I hope this company gives a different experience that I get
Click to expand...

I had satellite once,

Never again
I hope this company gives a different experience that I getI had satellite once,

Never again
I hope this company gives a different experience that I get
rockyota83 said:
i got hughes because they advertised 25mbps and 1-3mbps throttled speed after you run out of data

i got nothing but 135KBPS throttled speed day or night, i was beyond pissed as the only reason i purchased it was because of 1-3mbps throttle speed was plenty for what i do
Click to expand...


Starlink is nothing like the "old" satellite internet. It's part of SpaceX, who can obviously design and launch their own satellites. They're floating in ultra low earth orbit - generally under 800 miles over your head. Hughes' satellites, for example, are over 20,000 miles up there. Huge difference in speeds and latency. The early reviews I read of Starlink are speeds well over 100mbps.

The full build-out plan for starlink is something like 10-12k satellites. They have less than 10% of that in orbit right now. They're launching 50 every couple of weeks.


I'm on the waiting list, but it's not available here yet. Last I heard was first or second quarter of '21 so hopefully it's soon. Of course, I'm locking in to calyx for another 11 months so I'll probably just wait that out.
 
Mountain-Dweller said:
Currently on FirstNet, waiting for Starlink as they don't cover my are yet...
Click to expand...

What do you mean you're on FirstNet? You mean you're on a tower that now has AT&T? "FirstNet" is just normal cell service by AT&T until there's an emergency, then first responders get priority service off towers with FirstNet frequencies.
 
rockyota83 said:
fwiw if you get cell signal then you can get fixed wireless internet, i have it through at&t

it uses the cell tower like your phone, my plan is 250gb a month for 59$

100 times better than hughes
Click to expand...

This fixed wireless feature is only available in certain areas.
Most of the newer fixed wireless offerings are the 3.6mhz licensed band bought up by carriers for offering fixed wireless. It is way different than the cellular frequencies.
 
bgaidan said:
Starlink is nothing like the "old" satellite internet. It's part of SpaceX, who can obviously design and launch their own satellites. They're floating in ultra low earth orbit - generally under 800 miles over your head. Hughes' satellites, for example, are over 20,000 miles up there. Huge difference in speeds and latency. The early reviews I read of Starlink are speeds well over 100mbps.

The full build-out plan for starlink is something like 10-12k satellites. They have less than 10% of that in orbit right now. They're launching 50 every couple of weeks.


I'm on the waiting list, but it's not available here yet. Last I heard was first or second quarter of '21 so hopefully it's soon. Of course, I'm locking in to calyx for another 11 months so I'll probably just wait that out.
Click to expand...

thanks for the info but im already well aware of everything you just posted :flipoff2:
 
Wheelin66bronco said:
What do you mean you're on FirstNet? You mean you're on a tower that now has AT&T? "FirstNet" is just normal cell service by AT&T until there's an emergency, then first responders get priority service off towers with FirstNet frequencies.
Click to expand...

FirstNet service even without "an emergency" still gets faster data than standard AT&T, tested both at same time.
Also the $40 Tablet data plan on FirstNet is really unlimited (No Data throttling ever)
The tablet plan SIM is in my cellular modem which feed my WiFi Mesh network.

FirstNet is Not just "Normal cell service" it has data priority even when no emergencies are active.

Ran a side by side test, standard AT&T was at 8-10 Mbps down, and 5 Mbps up
and FirstNet was 20-25 Mbps Down and 18-20 Mbps Up
Ran the tests simultaneously many times and the FirstNet was always twice as fast or better.

FirstNet shares the same bands as regular AT&T with the exception of Band 14 which is the only additional band compared to standard cellular.
 
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Wheelin66bronco said:
This fixed wireless feature is only available in certain areas.
Most of the newer fixed wireless offerings are the 3.6mhz licensed band bought up by carriers for offering fixed wireless. It is way different than the cellular frequencies.
Click to expand...

Fixed Wireless by AT&T uses the standard frequencies too, the same one your cellphone uses.
 
Currently on ViaSat (used to be Excede, WildBlue before that) and it blows goats. We're paying almost $200 a month for 50gb and phone service. Last two months we got "Fapped" for going over on our data, but we never get over 7-800 kbps down. Sorry guys, can't have it both ways, there's no way we can use up that much data at the speeds you give us. I've seen upwards of 15Mbps at 2am on Sunday, but I'm never up at those times to do anything. I can't wait to tell those bastards where to shove their sat. dish....

BECAUSE...

B2x is building out in my area! :bounce2::bounce:

They're a local WISP (wireless internet service provider) and they got Federal grant money for infrastructure improvements out here in the boonies where I live. They use 22ghz and 28ghz for the backhaul and 5.8ghz for the link from the poles to the houses. We should be getting 25Mbps down and 5Mbps up "four nines" which means they guarantee that speed 99.99% of the time. As soon as they're up and running I'm gonna :nuke::nuke::nuke: ViaSat !!!1!! :flipoff::flipoff::flipoff:
 
rockyota83 said:
fwiw if you get cell signal then you can get fixed wireless internet, i have it through at&t

it uses the cell tower like your phone, my plan is 250gb a month for 59$

100 times better than hughes
Click to expand...

Well laddy fucking da, you get cell service at home? :flipoff2:​​​​​​

We actually have both right now :homer:

The att works really killer and then will just drop out of nowhere. It's way better for streaming. We pay $100/MO for unlimited. The Hughes is much more consistent for web surfing and texting. Both seem to go to shit during storms.

The nice thing about the att set up is that we can easily take it with us when we move. As far as I know it could even be used on the go?

If we weren't leaving this place soon, I'd gladly do the starlink thing if it was really as good as it sounds.
 
Not yet. Land-based will go the way of the dinosaur sooner or later. I've become a fan of Elon Musk. Can't wait for him to enter the social media business . . . .
 
bgaidan said:
This. I just went through this and did quite a bit of research. There are a few legit ways to get it - t-mobile, verizon and sprint (resellers) all have options for unlimited home LTE internet. There are other work arounds to getting it from other providers and /or cheaper but they require a little work.

I went with a year of calyx (sprint reseller) for $500. Unlimited and no throttling. I paid a company $50 to get a cradlepoint modem provisioned since you're only supposed to use the hotspot they send you. I'm currently getting about 10mbps but that's with the modem sitting on my desk and it's only picking up band 26. I'll be ordering external antennas and an enclosure so I can mount it on the roof of my shop. If I can see and lock to band 42 I should be able to get well over 50mbps.


T-mobile has a decent unlimited plan for around $40/mo. I think they eventually throttle, but you have to abuse it pretty bad to get there.




I had satellite once,

Never again
I hope this company gives a different experience that I getI had satellite once,

Never again
I hope this company gives a different experience that I get


Starlink is nothing like the "old" satellite internet. It's part of SpaceX, who can obviously design and launch their own satellites. They're floating in ultra low earth orbit - generally under 800 miles over your head. Hughes' satellites, for example, are over 20,000 miles up there. Huge difference in speeds and latency. The early reviews I read of Starlink are speeds well over 100mbps.

The full build-out plan for starlink is something like 10-12k satellites. They have less than 10% of that in orbit right now. They're launching 50 every couple of weeks.


I'm on the waiting list, but it's not available here yet. Last I heard was first or second quarter of '21 so hopefully it's soon. Of course, I'm locking in to calyx for another 11 months so I'll probably just wait that out.
Click to expand...


I isn't just the shit product that they sold, it was the shit customer service that went along with it

I hope that the starlink is better, but when you are spending days trying to trouble shoot a bad connection, and spend hours on the phone with tech to be told to 'go get a new computer'
Called back to switch techs and they say....'Oh ya, that satellite has been down for a couple of days

This kind of thing didn't happen just once, it was an ongoing thing for years
 
YotaAtieToo said:
Well laddy fucking da, you get cell service at home? :flipoff2:​​​​​​

.
Click to expand...

outside on the fence where the dish is yes :laughing: :flipoff2: i get 1 bar in the house which is good for text but not calls, one of these days i will probably get a signal booster for inside but i dont really talk on the phone much
 
rockyota83 said:
outside on the fence where the dish is yes :laughing: :flipoff2: i get 1 bar in the house which is good for text but not calls, one of these days i will probably get a signal booster for inside but i dont really talk on the phone much
Click to expand...

Wanna buy one? We bought a legit one hoping to just use a hot spot instead of Hughes, it had a 30 day return policy but they never responded to our emails and kinda forgot about it. :homer:

It went from no service, even standing on the roof, to 2-3 bars lte inside, pretty impressive actually. It just didn't go very far, even the porch had almost nothing. It wasn't cheap, and doesn't use wifi.
 
Wheelerfreak said:
So Starlink has been rolling out the Beta of it's Starlink satellite internet to people that had signed up. They are reporting 100mbs down and 17mbs up. Costs are $499 for equipment and $99 a month for service with unlimited data. I signed up up but haven't heard anything back yet.

I'd love access like that where I live. My only choices now are Hughesnet and using my phone as a hotspot. The first is expensive and limited in data and the second is almost the same with my 30Gig/month limit on the phone.

So any Irates beta testers or signed up to be?
Click to expand...

that's pretty dope, not exactly cheap, but beats satalite.
 
Mountain-Dweller said:
FirstNet service even without "an emergency" still gets faster data than standard AT&T, tested both at same time.
Also the $40 Tablet data plan on FirstNet is really unlimited (No Data throttling ever)
The tablet plan SIM is in my cellular modem which feed my WiFi Mesh network.

FirstNet is Not just "Normal cell service" it has data priority even when no emergencies are active.

Ran a side by side test, standard AT&T was at 8-10 Mbps down, and 5 Mbps up
and FirstNet was 20-25 Mbps Down and 18-20 Mbps Up
Ran the tests simultaneously many times and the FirstNet was always twice as fast or better.

FirstNet shares the same bands as regular AT&T with the exception of Band 14 which is the only additional band compared to standard cellular.
Click to expand...

Yes, and no.
If your home tower has AT&T already, they only had license for x number of frequencies. Through the firstnet deal they were awarded more from the fcc, frequencies which are better for data speed (700mhz). Att owned very little 700 nationwide compared to other carriers previous to this.
So I do not doubt you that the new carriers are faster than the original att.
How do you know so much about firstnet, I thought it was kind of a hush deal besides companies like the one I work for installing it?
 
rockyota83 said:
outside on the fence where the dish is yes :laughing: :flipoff2: i get 1 bar in the house which is good for text but not calls, one of these days i will probably get a signal booster for inside but i dont really talk on the phone much
Click to expand...

There are far better ways to go about it. Boosters/repeaters don't do much other then take a shitty signal and bring it a little closer.

A small pole or tower with a couple of mimo antennas and a modem locked to the right band will get you 10x better results.
 
bgaidan said:
This. I just went through this and did quite a bit of research. There are a few legit ways to get it - t-mobile, verizon and sprint (resellers) all have options for unlimited home LTE internet. There are other work arounds to getting it from other providers and /or cheaper but they require a little work.

I went with a year of calyx (sprint reseller) for $500. Unlimited and no throttling. I paid a company $50 to get a cradlepoint modem provisioned since you're only supposed to use the hotspot they send you. I'm currently getting about 10mbps but that's with the modem sitting on my desk and it's only picking up band 26. I'll be ordering external antennas and an enclosure so I can mount it on the roof of my shop. If I can see and lock to band 42 I should be able to get well over 50mbps.


T-mobile has a decent unlimited plan for around $40/mo. I think they eventually throttle, but you have to abuse it pretty bad to get there.




I had satellite once,

Never again
I hope this company gives a different experience that I getI had satellite once,

Never again
I hope this company gives a different experience that I get


Starlink is nothing like the "old" satellite internet. It's part of SpaceX, who can obviously design and launch their own satellites. They're floating in ultra low earth orbit - generally under 800 miles over your head. Hughes' satellites, for example, are over 20,000 miles up there. Huge difference in speeds and latency. The early reviews I read of Starlink are speeds well over 100mbps.

The full build-out plan for starlink is something like 10-12k satellites. They have less than 10% of that in orbit right now. They're launching 50 every couple of weeks.


I'm on the waiting list, but it's not available here yet. Last I heard was first or second quarter of '21 so hopefully it's soon. Of course, I'm locking in to calyx for another 11 months so I'll probably just wait that out.
Click to expand...

This.

I have a friend in the Air Force that works direct with SpaceX as part of his role. He did a Starlink trial and loved it. He reported as high as 140mbps down and 40mbps up.
 
Know 2 people on the starlink. One has been up and running for a couple weeks and seeing highs up around 175mbps with sub 40ms pings. The other one just got his running and hasn't got any speed test results yet other than it's way better than what he's been using (verizon wireless internet)
 
I used to install hughesnet before it was hughesnet and aside from the throttling problems mentioned above, the upload speeds were pretty bad and latency was a problem for people. I'm not sure how any satellite based internet could solve the latency issue inherent in sending data that far.

Ahh, I read into it and it's interesting and I see how latency is not an issue like it is with hughesnet. I'm using an LTE base local wideband internet service that's only $35/month now so I've got no interest in the $99 starlink idea but it is interesting.
 
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