Starlink

[Oaktree]

Update from Elon Musk "SpaceX expects to service more than 500,000 customers within a year".

Elon Musk says Starlink will be available worldwide in August

If the company stays in business.

Elon Musk says Starlink will need up to $30 billion to survive. 'If we succeed in not going bankrupt, then that'll be great.'

Elon Musk also said Starlink has signed partnerships with two "major country telcos," but did not disclose their names.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[cqaigy2]

Starlink is still taking orders for my area and stating service will be mid to late 21. Thats the same they told me when I preordered earlier this year.
Where did you get the at capacity information.

www.starlink.com Put your location information in.

 

[ponytug]

www.starlink.com Put your location information in.

Unless you got that off your account page, that message is probably for new orders.

To get yours, go to Starlink.com, login, and go to your account page, and you will see some message like;

"Starlink is targeting coverage in your area in late 2021. "

Still...I can't wait.

Currently, we are having one of our intermittent DSL meltdowns. Something sets off their electronics, our ping times go 20-40 times worse than normal, our router locks up, and has to be power cycled repeatedly. So, we are caught in a finger pointing storm with AT&T, where the cable techs are pointing at the DSL techs, who are pointing at the Digital Electronics Group, who are pointing at Network Operations, and back at them and me, (alleging a bad modem; I have three modems, two models, to swap in as needed to stop finger pointing). They had us on one fiber path yesterday with 5,000ms pings. "Seems good to us."(!) I had to get in the car and drive to the remote terminal to have a chat with some of the techs. I have been trying to point out that if changing the fiber path has radically different ping times that perhaps the issue is upstream of me, their copper, and their dsl cards. Personally, I think that they have a bad backplane or power supply in their remote terminal, but nobody at AT&T seems to want to contemplate that one. (It has been an intermittent problem for, say, fifteen years, despite lots of cards and boards being replaced... I think that everyone is hoping for a fiber rewire, which they did a mile east of us after a fire, but not here.)

I am sure Starlink will have its own issues, but I would welcome the chance to have a backup. Nothing about Tesla cars, Tesla solar, or Tesla batteries suggests that Starlink will have any customer service to speak of. Eyes wide open.

All the best,

Peter

 

[plowhog]

"Starlink is targeting coverage in your area in late 2021. "

That is the same message I get.

 

[plowhog]

Nothing about Tesla cars, Tesla solar, or Tesla batteries suggests that Starlink will have any customer service to speak of.

With full credit to George Carlin, I am sure they will "service the customer."

 

[oosik]

I visited a couple of starlink "web sites". Ah - the info they give out is misleading and contradictory. One site says - "expect it to be operational mid- 2022". This same site says the customer hardware will cost $500/customer plus monthly subscription fees.

Another site has three plans - low, medium & high - that you can sign up for today. If this miracle of modern technology won't be operational until mid-2022 - - what in the H*LL are they going to give you right now.

I smell a skunk. If I sign up today - do I get bent over the log tomorrow.

 

[BigBlue1]

I visited a couple of starlink "web sites". Ah - the info they give out is misleading and contradictory. One site says - "expect it to be operational mid- 2022". This same site says the customer hardware will cost $500/customer plus monthly subscription fees.

Another site has three plans - low, medium & high - that you can sign up for today. If this miracle of modern technology won't be operational until mid-2022 - - what in the H*LL are they going to give you right now.

I smell a skunk. If I sign up today - do I get bent over the log tomorrow.

What web sites are you referring to? They don't sound like starlink.com. The date references are wrong. The cost reference is accurate.

Rob

 

[newbury]

I was on the fence about getting starlink. I've absolutely terrible DSL, ~7 down, .7 up with frequent outages. I've also got the Mobley which usually get's about 10 down and 2 or 3 up, but I reserve that for taking with me, to my workshops, to town, wherever.

BUT

Within a year the Electric Company is supposed to put in Fiber with 100Mbps both ways for $55 with a modem. Or 1Gbps for $85.

And the phone company is coming along behind them for about the same price.

Can't figure out WHY they are both doing it in the same areas, govt grants probably.

And now Musk wants $500 upfront for hardware and

Starlink will need up to $30 billion to survive

I can see myself sitting with $500 of hardware and no connection while fiber goes by.

 

[oosik]

I typed in - Starlink - it took me to many, many supposed Starlink web sites.

Well - BigBlue - just scan the posts back thru a couple pages. Everybody has the "latest" info on Starlink.

I hope the 500K who are on the waiting list didn't have to pay "waiting list fees" also.

So what I see - anywhere from $69/ month to $149/month. Plus $500 for the hardware. Plus $12.50 for rental fees - ???

NO THANK YOU - HughesNet is just fine. That's not the least bit comparable to HughesNet - that's highway robbery.

 

[TractorGuy]

Within a year the Electric Company is supposed to put in Fiber with 100Mbps both ways for $55 with a modem. Or 1Gbps for $85.

And the phone company is coming along behind them for about the same price.

Can't figure out WHY they are both doing it in the same areas, govt grants probably.

Man if somebody offered me 100 Mbps both ways unlimited for a flat $55 plus sales tax I would be all over it.

My guess is they will tack on all sorts of different taxes and fees and probably have data caps with extra usage fees.

 

[Oaktree]

Within a year the Electric Company is supposed to put in Fiber with 100Mbps both ways for $55 with a modem. Or 1Gbps for $85.

Wow, if I could get 100m for $55 I'd jump on it. I'm paying that now for 25 down/maybe 4 up from Spectrum. I'm not aware of any plans by the electric company to be an ISP, the phone company ran fiber down our road maybe 10 years ago, but it's only to their huts...just DSL to customers over existing copper lines. Not sure why. Spectrum (Time-Warner at the time) did the same thing.

 

[Fixastuff]

I typed in - Starlink - it took me to many, many supposed Starlink web sites.

Well - BigBlue - just scan the posts back thru a couple pages. Everybody has the "latest" info on Starlink.

I hope the 500K who are on the waiting list didn't have to pay "waiting list fees" also.

So what I see - anywhere from $69/ month to $149/month. Plus $500 for the hardware. Plus $12.50 for rental fees - ???

NO THANK YOU - HughesNet is just fine. That's not the least bit comparable to HughesNet - that's highway robbery.

I've had HugesNet and it's crap compared to starlink. Can you really be mad at them if you can't figure out how to get to the correct website? I had no problem and I'm willing to help you out. Starlink

 

[oosik]

OK So the link is the "official" web site. It's not available in my area yet. The monthly cost is 3X what I'm currently paying for HughesNet. Plus the $500 for their magic box.

NO - I'm not mad at anybody because I didn't find the correct web site.

Thank you for providing the correct link so that I could get accurate information.

 

[Menagerie-Manor]

Checked out Starlink and signed up for notification last year then received a notification that it was available in my area that included a disclaimer about trees that killed it.

As I am typing our local Electric Coop is outside now installing fiber drops from the house to the street so where getting close. Our local Coop just received a federal grant to fiber their electric network and were looking at $85 a month for fiber direct hopefully before the end of the year.

 

[ponytug]

I visited a couple of starlink "web sites". Ah - the info they give out is misleading and contradictory. One site says - "expect it to be operational mid- 2022". This same site says the customer hardware will cost $500/customer plus monthly subscription fees.

Another site has three plans - low, medium & high - that you can sign up for today. If this miracle of modern technology won't be operational until mid-2022 - - what in the H*LL are they going to give you right now.

I smell a skunk. If I sign up today - do I get bent over the log tomorrow.

Your smell is right on. There are lots of scammers out there.

https://www.Starlink.com is the right site. One price for the user equipment: $499.+ optional mounting kits, $99/mo, at least so far. There is one speed option, no data limits at the moment. The speed appears to be 100Mbit/sec down and 20 [Edit] up. Latency is said to be in the 20-40ms range.

Due to the details of the Starlink satellite orbits, the coverage is better in the northern areas of the US and southern Canada at the moment. As they get the launched satellites up to their working altitude the coverage expected to fill in towards the equator. If you want the details, have a look at the listed of confirmed users over on the Reddit Starlink sub thread.

The satellite dishes are said to cost the company upwards of $1,000/ea, and the company is supposedly poised to deploy a new model that has a cost on the order of $500, which would help the profitability. Given the widespread chip shortages at the moment, who knows when they will deliver.

Many expect user shipments to pick up in the fall, coinciding with filled satellite orbits, but I wouldn't be surprised if the shipments to new subscribers end up being limited by the chip supply.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ponytug]

Wow, if I could get 100m for $55 I'd jump on it. I'm paying that now for 25 down/maybe 4 up from Spectrum. I'm not aware of any plans by the electric company to be an ISP, the phone company ran fiber down our road maybe 10 years ago, but it's only to their huts...just DSL to customers over existing copper lines. Not sure why. Spectrum (Time-Warner at the time) did the same thing.

I would jump on any fiber.

We are at $150+/mo for 5Mbit/s down and .3 up, AT&T dsl.

Video calls are the killer, because of the upload limitations.

All the best,

Peter

 

[John_Mc]

The speed appears to be 100Mbit/sec down and up. Latency is said to be in the 20-40ms range.

I'm not seeing anyone reporting 100 Mbps upload speeds. My speeds are generally in the 150 -200 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up. On the high end, I sometimes see 270-290 down and 30-35 up. My latency does generally fall in the 20-40 ms range

 

[ponytug]

I'm not seeing anyone reporting 100 Mbps upload speeds. My speeds are generally in the 150 -200 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up. On the high end, I sometimes see 270-290 down and 30-35 up. My latency does generally fall in the 20-40 ms range

Thanks for catching that! My bad I meant to say 100 down and 20 up.

All the best, Peter

 

[BigBlue1]

I typed in - Starlink - it took me to many, many supposed Starlink web sites.

Well - BigBlue - just scan the posts back thru a couple pages. Everybody has the "latest" info on Starlink.

I hope the 500K who are on the waiting list didn't have to pay "waiting list fees" also.

So what I see - anywhere from $69/ month to $149/month. Plus $500 for the hardware. Plus $12.50 for rental fees - ???

NO THANK YOU - HughesNet is just fine. That's not the least bit comparable to HughesNet - that's highway robbery.

Only starlink.com or spacex.com matter. The rest are all just reporting what they think they know. I am an actual customer and have been through things so you can take my info or leave it, but what I'm telling you are facts.

The money stuff is wrong. The actual charges are well know. $499 plus tax and shipping for the hardware (which is currently less than half the actual cost to manufacture) and $99/mo for the service. No contract. No 'rental'.

The folks who have paid $99 for a pre-order have held a spot in line. The $99 goes towards the $499 eventual purchase. They can get a refund at any time if they want to remove their held spot.

If you like Hughesnet that's great. Your choice which ISP to choose. Hughesnet doesn't work for a lot of people due to the large latency because their satellites are much higher and the technology is older. If it works for you and you like and setup/cost then no reason to change. The people who are the target customer base for Starlink are rural folks with a need for better performance than Hughesnet/Viasat and who have limited other choices. And for them (us) it is FANTASTIC. To have an unlimited data connection at 50-220Mb/s and latency comparable to other ISPs is a game changer for rural folks. And $99 is basically what I've paid the last 5 years for 5Mb/s (barely) DSL.

You don't have to like Starlink but get good info before evaluating it.

Rob

 

[BigBlue1]

OK So the link is the "official" web site. It's not available in my area yet. The monthly cost is 3X what I'm currently paying for HughesNet. Plus the $500 for their magic box.

NO - I'm not mad at anybody because I didn't find the correct web site.

Thank you for providing the correct link so that I could get accurate information.

You're getting Internet service for $33/mo? I didn't think Hughesnet had plans that low. If the service meets your needs I totally understand why you wouldn't want the Starlink plan. Many other people have much higher needs though and that's where the value comes in.

Rob