Starlink

[BigBlue1]

OK. But where did you get that "told to not do online gaming"? That's a pretty significant statement... Are you saying that SL has that in their terms of service or made some public statement like that? Source?

 

[NoTrespassing]

OK. But where did you get that "told to not do online gaming"? That's a pretty significant statement... Are you saying that SL has that in their terms of service or made some public statement like that? Source?

Probably referring to this in an email:

What will the internet experience be like with Best Effort?

During times of peak network congestion, Best Effort users will experience notably slower speeds than Residential users. Best Effort users will be able to engage in typical internet activity like email, online shopping, or streaming a n SD movie, but they won’t be able to engage in activities like online gaming, video calls or streaming 4K and HD movies.

My guess that they're warning potential customers that speed may/will become too slow during peak usage to engage in those activities.

 

[BigBlue1]

Ah. Yes, that is a warning about what may not work well with Best Effort service during peak usage times, because BE customers get lower priority. In my opinion it is NOT telling people they are not allowed to do those things... just that they will have issues trying. And BE service is definitely not standard residential service.

 

[Oaktree]

I still have a landline, but seldom use it. The audio quality of the iPhone is far superior to any other handset I've ever used. Heck of a lot more capable and versatile, too.

While I agree that a smartphone is more versatile than a landline, the audio quality of them is atrocious. Wife has a (fairly new) I-phone and unless she has a really strong signal, calls are garbled, full of minor little dropouts/glitches, all of which makes intelligibility go right down the dumper.

 

[Oaktree]

Probably referring to this in an email:

What will the internet experience be like with Best Effort?

During times of peak network congestion, Best Effort users will experience notably slower speeds than Residential users. Best Effort users will be able to engage in typical internet activity like email, online shopping, or streaming a n SD movie, but they won’t be able to engage in activities like online gaming, video calls or streaming 4K and HD movies.

My guess that they're warning potential customers that speed may/will become too slow during peak usage to engage in those activities.

Is "best effort" a Starlink thing? Never heard of it before. Do you get a break pricewise if you agree to that?

As an aside, I'm mostly retired but still do a little work from time to time (I work on communications equipment). Was at one of my sites today and there was a crew there from a local wireless ISP doing an equipment upgrade. He claims that they offer gigabit service that actually approaches gigabit speeds. I asked him how SL had affected his business, he told me they lost a few customers to them initially, but most of them came back within 6 months because the service was so bad, and tech support was all but non-existent. Now I don't know how much of this was just dissing the competition but it was one of those things you don't generally hear about.

 

[sodamo]

Fedex delivered my ethernet adapter today, not that I’m ready to install it yet.
Driver said only 80 SL systems on his truck today versus 158 yesterday.

I guess there have been many of us waiting.

 

[JasperFrank]

Your zoom meeting is only as good as the slowest participant.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I have “Best Effort”at the house we are building. My experience is just anecdotal, but when doing tests I am usually around 45 mbps. Sometimes it will be down to 4 mbps. I have worked from home, remote consoled into computer systems and on a Teams or Zoom call, while sharing screens. I really have not noticed a difference from the 5 G t-mobile I have at the Rental. Today I did a facetime call to my wife to show her the progress of the drywallers. It worked flawlessly and It was 6 pm. We had the “peak hours” warning and I checked the speed. 4.5 mbps.

 

[BigBlue1]

Is "best effort" a Starlink thing? Never heard of it before. Do you get a break pricewise if you agree to that?

Yes, it is a fairly new SL offering. The perk is that anyone can sign up, versus waiting for full availability in your area. I think the concept is: Sign up immediately and enjoy it in a lower priority than full service and when they have capacity you can change to full residential (high priority) service. Remember, MOST people who are target customers of SL don't have much of any other reliable broadband connectivity at their location, so getting in at 'best effort' is still way better than their other options. Folks with other decent ISP options probably can't relate to the idea.

 

[K5lwq]

Your zoom meeting is only as good as the slowest participant.

In my case the slowest participant has nothing to do with internet speed.