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Linus checks out Starlink

Started by Ianab, February 10, 2021, 04:18:23 AM

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Mike W

Oh forgot to mention, my son paid $500.00 for the equipment and we pay $99.00 per month, expensive yes, worth it absolutely.  We broke even in 2 1/2 months and at ten times the service provided.

not sure if there is going to be an equipment cost for the public rollout, but our monthly rate is locked for life as long as we keep the service active (don't cancel and re-up in a year or so type of thing)

firefighter ontheside

Thats great.  We will gladly pay 99 for reliable, fast service.  As you say, definitely a step up for those of us who have been underserved.  I'm only about 35 miles south of St Louis, but my area is a wasteland for things like cable and internet.  They will never upgrade the wired services here.  Ironically there is a major underground fiber line that is only 500 feet from my home, but it will never be tapped for my actual area.  It goes on for a hundred miles without being tapped.  We can cancel our wifi that is not that great and actually be like modern folks.  Luckily for us, our cell signal has improved in the last 5 years.  At one time it was non existent.
Woodmizer LT15
Kubota Grand L4200
Stihl 025, MS261 and MS362
2017 F350 Diesel 4WD
Kawasaki Mule 4010
1998 Dodge 3500 Flatbed

firefighter ontheside

Well, we just signed up and will be waiting for our equipment.
Woodmizer LT15
Kubota Grand L4200
Stihl 025, MS261 and MS362
2017 F350 Diesel 4WD
Kawasaki Mule 4010
1998 Dodge 3500 Flatbed

Mike W

You're gonna love it, let me know once you have it up and running how it meets or falls short of what you think, you already know I think its great.


Funny about the fiber, I have a fiber running through my property, it feeds the border station solely, so 14 miles of dedicated fiber feeding a tiny little border station and it passes right through my dirt.  wonder if I would get any kind of visit from those with more firepower then me if I tapped into their cipper or nipper net fiber????  Sure I wouldnt even get the trench backfilled.... ::)

firefighter ontheside

 @Mike W where did you mount your antenna?  I'm thinking to mount it on my roof where my current wifi radio is.  I was hoping to re-use the cable, but clearly I have to use the cable that comes with the system.  Since that was put up I have finished the basement ceiling and may have to take part of it down to route the wire up to the roof.  I love my log home, but it does not make for easy running of new wires.
My wife took her phone out and did the test they have with the app and it appeared to be fine, just from the yard.  Should be even better from the roof where it will not be impeded by trees.
Woodmizer LT15
Kubota Grand L4200
Stihl 025, MS261 and MS362
2017 F350 Diesel 4WD
Kawasaki Mule 4010
1998 Dodge 3500 Flatbed

SwampDonkey

You won't even need Sat or cable TV if you have decent internet. I can get my CBC news for my area right of there GEM site, plus I get 6 channels over the air out of Presque Isle. Honestly, there isn't much on TV that gets my interest in the last 15 years. I am way more interested in Youtube entertainment and Podcasts on Spotify, of which some have video. So if I never had all the mainstream TV I wouldn't be missing much. :D I also belong on here and other forum platforms, plus all them winter time hobbies, I got no time for TV. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

firefighter ontheside

We cancelled Dish network 2 weeks ago and I was hesitant to do it, but I haven't missed it at all.  We hooked up an air antenna and were surprised to have 43 channels total, if you count all the sub-channels within each network.  We also get TV plus which is a part of our Samsung smart tv's.  We signed up for discovery channel app, hulu, disney plus and cbs app.  I found out I really am not interested in tv much.  I just had it on in the background while I looked at forestry forum and lumberjocks.
Woodmizer LT15
Kubota Grand L4200
Stihl 025, MS261 and MS362
2017 F350 Diesel 4WD
Kawasaki Mule 4010
1998 Dodge 3500 Flatbed

Mike W

At first my son just dropped it on our front deck, anxious youth and all, worked great the first night compared to what we were used to, but had packet drops or loss signal every couple hours.  Well the dish was on the deck right up against the house of course, as the unit was moving from one sat to the next it couldn't because of the house.

Being the time of year and all we got this in, we just temporarily moved it on the railing of the front deck for just a see.  Been there the last few months, works flawless without the house wall and roof overhang of course.  

Anywhere you can drop it down and not under cover seems to work great, it aligns itself and heats itself (no snow removal ever!!)  so a roof top install or anywhere convenient to connect will work for you, not nearly as sensitive to positioning as your typical sat install.

You can not use the other cable, this is a fiber combo cable from the box to the dish that provides 56 volts to move and heat the dish, typical cat6 from the box to the router.

Update talking with my son tonight:

Appears there were over 770,000 requests to get in on the beta testing, 10,000 were issued, my son received 3 approvals for our properties,  GO boonies!!!!

Sons update:

Looks like the original post on the video was possible as my son told me the Non disclosure (NDA) agreement we signed expired just the other day, hence the video release....

Looks like they are taking the $99.00 deposit, equipment will be the $499.00 

$99.00 basic service (which is at least 10 times better then any satellite I have ever had)

Looks like the roll out with the added satellites will be offering gigabyte speeds for a higher monthly fee.

Looks like our gigabyte speed service will remain at the beta testing rate of $99.00  (Go son)

Looks like the rollout will be later 2021 for some areas with the majority in 2022, on a first come first sigh up basis

With the added low altitude satellites using laser tech for transmission in lieu of traditional signal limited to the altitude which has also been traditional in a sense, with the added receiver bases (tech term here) Gigabyte speeds are well within the wheelhouse here.

Sedgehammer

@Ianab Thanks for posting this! We signed  up. 
Necessity is the engine of drive

firefighter ontheside

Quote from: Sedgehammer on February 13, 2021, 07:35:19 AM
@Ianab Thanks for posting this! We signed  up.


Same here.  We had already looked into it, but this thread is what made us take the leap.  Some friends signed up too.  Someone I work with lives about 20 miles away.  The starlink site told him it wasn't available in his area.  I'm assuming that is because he has other options for fast internet.
Woodmizer LT15
Kubota Grand L4200
Stihl 025, MS261 and MS362
2017 F350 Diesel 4WD
Kawasaki Mule 4010
1998 Dodge 3500 Flatbed

btulloh

I signed for beta testing a long time ago but haven't been contacted. Probably because I'm in an area that's well served by fiber and cable an 5g. I still want to try it because I'm going to be buying/building a new place that probably will not have high speed service. It would be tough to go from gb fiber to dsl or hughes. Looks like starlink should be ready when I need it though. Still like to give it a test drive now even if I run both systems for a while.  Ditching verizon would be a good thing! 

Really helpful to see all these reports coming in from you guys. Keep reporting!
HM126

firefighter ontheside

I guess at some point they would be able to give it to anyone that wants it.  
Woodmizer LT15
Kubota Grand L4200
Stihl 025, MS261 and MS362
2017 F350 Diesel 4WD
Kawasaki Mule 4010
1998 Dodge 3500 Flatbed

Mike W

The beta testing was restricted to those who have little or no internet option, being Satellite service was the best of the best for folks like us, we were the prime candidate for the beta testing program,

Get those hooked that haven't had a choice for years was an easy task with this approach

As mentioned only 10,000 beta units were issued out of 770,000 applications, Elon has got to be making a lot of other service providers very nervous with the performance of his system during this beta testing


Ianab

Quote from: firefighter ontheside on February 13, 2021, 11:35:57 AM
I guess at some point they would be able to give it to anyone that wants it.  
They aren't targeting urban areas because each satellite only has X bandwidth to share around the users its covering, and they aren't large high powered things. It would be like too many users sharing the same wifi access.  While they could launch more into the track to cover denser areas, that would be at the expense of filling more shells, and expanding coverage around the world. 
If they are only serving US areas, each Sat is only in use about 10% of the time, but expanding to global coverage means the same Sats can now cover part of Brazil, South Africa, Australia,Sth Pacific Islands, then pass over the US again. 
Plenty of folks in those areas that would pay for decent internet too.
They figure that maybe 10% of the US cant get good internet, so that's ~30 million potential customers. Then apply that across other countries. Theres a significant number just here in NZ that would jump at the service once its expanded to here. But they aren't going to be able to beat fibre, or even good VDSL on cost. 
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

SwampDonkey

Yeah, I just watched an interview with Elon, and he said it's not for urban. It's low density population areas. He explained a little bit about how it works. And remember a signal across a few miles is different than across 100's, the latency. For most of us a few nanos is no big deal, but on the stock market, it's who gets there first that wins. I just remember watching a report of stock trades, and speed is everything. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

thechknhwk

Thx for the info fellas.  Was thinking of ordering a couple days ago, but ya'll pushed me over the edge.

Sedgehammer

Quote from: thechknhwk on February 15, 2021, 11:29:24 AM
Thx for the info fellas.  Was thinking of ordering a couple days ago, but ya'll pushed me over the edge.
Don't worry. The ground will always catch you

, eventually.
Necessity is the engine of drive

SwampDonkey

I see they just sent up a bunch more satellites from the Cape on Monday. 60 in fact. Booster failed to land safely.

Starlink Mission - YouTube
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

firefighter ontheside

My Starlink equipment is due to arrive here on Monday.  Anyone else get theirs yet or notified of shipping?  When I logged into our account to check tracking there was a message that said our area is experiencing intermittent service and they are checking into it.  Better not be intermittent on Monday or I will be vexed.
Woodmizer LT15
Kubota Grand L4200
Stihl 025, MS261 and MS362
2017 F350 Diesel 4WD
Kawasaki Mule 4010
1998 Dodge 3500 Flatbed

Old Greenhorn

It's better to be vexed off than vexed on. ;D
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

John Mc

I've had my Starlink running since Feb 4th.

We kept our DSL line for the time being. It's rated 7 Mbps down / 1 Mbps up, but typical is 5/0.7 Mbps - when it's working - the DSL slows or stops when it's raining or windy. We are on a first name basis with the service tech in our area.

We've had good luck with the Starlink from the time it was set up: typically 100-150 Mbps down, and 20-27 up. Latencies were typically in the 30-40 ms range, but have been improving lately. Recent tests have tended to be in the 20-30 ms range. Multiple people in our house streaming YouTube or watching TV online are no problem. The only issue we had was occasional brief stutters in Zoom conferences lasting just a couple seconds (we never see them when streaming, because the streaming services buffer ahead to fill in the gaps when there is a brief gap). The frequency and duration of these have been decreasing since we first connected.

In the past week or so, we've been getting alerts that there are problems in our area, and that they are working on it.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

firefighter ontheside

Interesting.  Did you actually have problems in your area.  @John Mc 
Woodmizer LT15
Kubota Grand L4200
Stihl 025, MS261 and MS362
2017 F350 Diesel 4WD
Kawasaki Mule 4010
1998 Dodge 3500 Flatbed

John Mc

Quote from: firefighter ontheside on March 19, 2021, 01:48:43 PM
Interesting.  Did you actually have problems in your area.  @John Mc
Yes. we had some. Those 2 seconds stutters I mentioned turned into 20 seconds or even disconnects from my Zoom conferences. Sometimes, when it reconnected, we would have no audio. Disconnecting and then reconnecting from my Starlink WiFi seemed to get the audio going again. I only tried that disconnect twice. I have no idea if the disconnect actually fixed it, or if the problem resolved itself in the time it took me to do that.
I see the problem alert is gone from my Starlink portal page. I don't know if all of the issues have been resolved or not. I have not had a long Zoom conference since, which is the real test of how reliably the system is "up".
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

firefighter ontheside

Yes, I noticed the warning is gone too.  Still better than the internet I have now and I have full faith that they will get the kinks ironed out.  Its been delayed by a day and due to arrive on Tuesday now.
Woodmizer LT15
Kubota Grand L4200
Stihl 025, MS261 and MS362
2017 F350 Diesel 4WD
Kawasaki Mule 4010
1998 Dodge 3500 Flatbed

Ianab

The beta testing started as soon as they had barely enough in the constellation to provide coverage over the initial areas. Means there wasn't always a satellite in the perfect spot for you, and sometimes a glitch while it picked up the next one coming into range. If you have to connect to a Sat on the edge of your coverage it's a weaker signal & more latency than if you have one direct overhead. It think around 20 ms is as low as the latency can get due to the distances involved, but that's still pretty good. I think they had to be under 50 or 60 to qualify for the US Govt Broadband funding?

As they get more Sats launched the gaps become less, you are more likely to have a sat in optimal position, and they have more bandwidth to service more customers. 

Pre-orders are being taken in NZ now, so I guess the orbits of at least one of the shells  must pass overhead. I think they are waiting on the base stations to be built here. Currently they don't have the Sat to Sat relay that is planned to allow coverage to the middle of oceans etc.  So the current Sats need to be in range of both the customer and a fixed ground station at the same time, hence the coverage slowly expanding as base stations come online. So the Sats are orbiting over NZ now, but can't "phone home".  Setting up ground stations in other countries will let Starlink signup thousands of new customers, without launching more Sats, just using the existing ones for a larger % of their orbit. 
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

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