Starlink

[Torvy]

it's an equipment rental for $5, not free. If you stop the $5 month rental, you have to return it.

Not exactly. It's no-charge hardware with a $5/month fee for standby service.

If it was simply a rental fee, there would be an additional charge for the service.

The Mini runs $200-$500 for the hardware without the deal.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Not exactly. It's no-charge hardware with a $5/month fee for standby service.

If it was simply a rental fee, there would be an additional charge for the service.

The Mini runs $200-$500 for the hardware without the deal.

Potatoe potato.

 

[Torvy]

Potatoe potato.

Not at all. The cost per month for service is the same whether you get a free device or pay hundreds for it.

The $5 fee does get you a service.

 

[BigBlue1]

Potatoe potato.

[Never mind...]

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Not exactly. The way it sounds you would be given the hardware. That means you would not have to return it if you choose to cancel the subscription.

It explicitly says you must return it.....

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Not exactly. The way it sounds you would be given the hardware. That means you would not have to return it if you choose to cancel the subscription.

"If you cancel your Residential service plan or the service plan on your Mini, the Mini must be returned or its cost will be charged to your payment method."

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Not at all. The cost per month for service is the same whether you get a free device or pay hundreds for it.

The $5 fee does get you a service.

Again, in the Memo it's called a Rental


"Free Mini: You'll receive a Starlink Mini for $0, provided as a rental bundled with your active Residential plan."

There is an additional charge for the service:

"50% Off Roam: When you are ready to travel, you can switch anytime to high-speed Roam plans at half the price."

 

[Torvy]

Again, in the Memo it's called a Rental


"Free Mini: You'll receive a Starlink Mini for $0, provided as a rental bundled with your active Residential plan."

There is an additional charge for the service:

"50% Off Roam: When you are ready to travel, you can switch anytime to high-speed Roam plans at half the price."

So just delete this part from your reply?

"Always Ready: Upon arrival, your Mini will be on Standby Mode for $5/mo, which includes unlimited low-speed data for backup and emergency messaging."

It is called a rental so they don't have people selling 'free' equipment for cash. A rental for zero dollars.

 

[ning]

I guess I'm slow, I don't understand. I'm not a target customer because I can get cell coverage? I figured since I was ONLY able to get cell service and not fiber or any other internet at home, I would be a perfect candidate for Starlink as are our neighbors.

I'm in the same boat, but I got cellular internet from my phone provider (vzw) just before starlink said I could get a dish a few years ago.
I get a reliable 200Mbps (occasionally lower; I don't care since my work does just fine with 10Mbps; often up to 350Mbps, which doesn't make any difference to me), good latency, no equipment cost, $35/mo.
I dislike that all my comms are through one provider; I can't split with another cell provider because I only get one signal decently (2/5 bars), but the price is really tough to beat.
I'd get SL if I didn't have enough cell signal but otherwise the already-too-high and ever-increasing costs say no.

 

[BigBlue1]

It explicitly says you must return it.....

Missed that. Thanks.

 

[LouNY]

Interesting update, per the starlink website and emails I have a mini coming to me.
I don't believe I ordered it, this may be interesting.

 

[JRH02]

For those who hve jumper on the offer for the MINI, will it handle a WiFi call on standby? Certainly an SMS?

 

[JethroB]

My 2022 Gen2 unit recently failed. I contacted StarLink via the app Chatbot and they sent me a new Gen3 system free of charge. When I complained about no option for expedited shipping they offered me a $120 credit if I would like. Uh yeah . It arrived in two days. Downside is the cable connectors have changed as has the mounting method. The cable is also slightly shorter.

 

[ponytug]

My 2022 Gen2 unit recently failed. I contacted StarLink via the app Chatbot and they sent me a new Gen3 system free of charge. When I complained about no option for expedited shipping they offered me a $120 credit if I would like. Uh yeah . It arrived in two days. Downside is the cable connectors have changed as has the mounting method. The cable is also slightly shorter.

Lucky you! The delay on getting our original gen2 was so long, I just bought a replacement at HD.

Yes, the cable is a little shorter, but it just fit here.

Has your speed picked up? Our basically tripled.

All the best, Peter

 

[JRH02]

Recent: I believe AI is strongly involved with SL customer service. If your service is down you need to make sure that is known without emotion. If they want to call you and SL is your only voice communication you need to state that.

I went 'round and round with SL until I realized this and then a human got involved. They treated me well.

Don't be a bleeding heart with AI. It doesn't work, at least with SL tech support.

 

[ponytug]

@JRH02 I think that is good advice.

My general impression is that Musk believes that customer service and customer support is a drain on the bottom line. It seems pretty consistently subpar across the various companies that he runs; cars, solar/batteries, and Starlink, but I'd admit my sample sizes are small. Then again, he is on the record with that belief.

All the best, Peter

 

[JRH02]

Peter, you are both correct and wrong.

 

[BigBlue1]

My 2022 Gen2 unit recently failed. I contacted StarLink via the app Chatbot and they sent me a new Gen3 system free of charge. When I complained about no option for expedited shipping they offered me a $120 credit if I would like. Uh yeah . It arrived in two days. Downside is the cable connectors have changed as has the mounting method. The cable is also slightly shorter.

I did something similar and ended up with a new Gen3 for my residential system too. I knew the cable was shorter than the one on my original round dish system and mentioned that when conversing and they threw in a free 150' cable. Good news is the cables aren't too expensive from Starlink and there are decent 3rd party options too now if you need one. But you might try contacting them back and asking for a longer cable gratis.

 

[BigBlue1]

Lucky you! The delay on getting our original gen2 was so long, I just bought a replacement at HD.

Yes, the cable is a little shorter, but it just fit here.

Has your speed picked up? Our basically tripled.

All the best, Peter

Our system speeds went from an average of around 80 Mb/s with the Gen1 round dish to routinely 250-400 Mb/s with the Gen3 system. Remarkable the difference. That said, the old system's throughput was never a bottleneck for us anyway, even with two people full-time WFH and lots of streaming. So faster is great but not really meaningful.

ETA: I just ran a test now and got 432Mb/s!

 

[BigBlue1]

Lucky you! The delay on getting our original gen2 was so long, I just bought a replacement at HD.

Yes, the cable is a little shorter, but it just fit here.

Has your speed picked up? Our basically tripled.

All the best, Peter

I'm confident you're correct about AI involvement, but don't discount wording and emotion. AI's strong suit is performing accurate assessments of data based on tons of data training. So an 'upset' user interaction may well be treated differently than a cold, logical interaction.