Starlink

[Cougsfan]

I think you will find the 50 Gigs/month on the hotspot is separate from the 25 Gigs on your phone. Just don't give your daughters access to the hotspot and keep the 50Gig to yourself.

You could be right. I asked the gal at the Verizon store that specific question and she said that they would both count against the 50 gig limit. But by the way she acted I didn't get a strong impression that she was particularly well versed in what she was talking about.

 

[cqaigy2]

Star link dish in the snow.

 

[Citydude]

Follow up on trying to get internet. As I mentioned I have a communication tower with both T-Mobile and Verizon communication on my property but presently get slow internet through a local microwave system. Too slow for streaming. Following the advice from you all I went to the T-Mobile and Verizon stores to ask about getting internet through that tower. Both went to the same websites that I can go to on my own which says it isn't available. That was the total extent of their effort.

Verizon offered a hot spot for streaming, with various cost options. The only one that makes financial sense is the $50/month option which gives around 50mbps, which is plenty fast. It is only good for 50 gigs a month and slows down to near dial up speed after that. We have a Verizon family plan where my wife myself and my two grown daughters share a plan. We currently use 25 gigs a month by just using our phones. (probably my daughters use 90% of that) I am not sure another 25 gigs a month will be enough and I don't want to take a chance on slowing us all down to nothing, or living with the constant fear of that happening.

Starlink says it is not available in my area. However I know a computer geek that lives a few miles up the road who has Starlink and he says if you know the right people you can get it. I am not excited about StarLink anyways (I got this thing against billionaires, just my own little prejudice), and to know they will do business this way turns me off on them even more.

So I am stuck with Dish networks ever shrinking coverage of the things I watch while their price along with my snail speed internet remains outlandish.

Does the geek that lives up the road have proof of his claim that you have to know the right people to get Starlink?

I've had it for 5 months now. I don't know Elon. I'm not a billionaire. Explain that to your geek neighbor.

 

[BigBlue1]

Another thing that worried me is that when I bought a firestick and hooked up my TV to the slow internet we have and tried the free trial from Fubotv, it slowed our internet so far down that you couldn't use the internet while the TV was on. What was worse, if you shut the tv off, it still slowed the internet down to nothing unless you unplugged the firestick. That told me it keeps streaming even though you aren't watching, which would use up the gigs in no time. Plugging and unplugging the firestick every time you use the TV would be a hassle.

With most streaming devices (Fire stick, Roku, etc.) you need to actually stop the playback to stop the streaming. Some may have timeouts but many just keep playing assuming you're still watching. Simply shutting off the TV doesn't tell a Fire stick or Roku to stop streaming. I have Fire sticks in the house and we all have a habit of pressing the 'Home' button before shutting the TV off.

As noted above, normal HD video streaming will burn up 3-4GB per hour of streaming a show. Many devices or apps will allow you to reduce resolution to save your data.

Rob

 

[Cougsfan]

Does the geek that lives up the road have proof of his claim that you have to know the right people to get Starlink?

I've had it for 5 months now. I don't know Elon. I'm not a billionaire. Explain that to your geek neighbor.

I am not particularly interested in confronting him, or explaining anything to him. There are enough jerks in the world without me acting like one too. If he is lying that is his problem.

 

[Fixastuff]

With most streaming devices (Fire stick, Roku, etc.) you need to actually stop the playback to stop the streaming. Some may have timeouts but many just keep playing assuming you're still watching. Simply shutting off the TV doesn't tell a Fire stick or Roku to stop streaming. I have Fire sticks in the house and we all have a habit of pressing the 'Home' button before shutting the TV off.

As noted above, normal HD video streaming will burn up 3-4GB per hour of streaming a show. Many devices or apps will allow you to reduce resolution to save your data.

Rob

I mainly stream Prime using Chromecast and it's smart enough to pause the show when you turn the tv off. Don't have to anything with the phone or tablet to make it stop.

 

[ernemats]

Star link dish in the snow.

View attachment 727278

Didn't Dishy melt the snow?

 

[K5lwq]

Star link dish in the snow.

View attachment 727278

Is that the dish on the ground in the center of your picture? I was concerned about trees but if that is working for you I should be good to go.

 

[LittleBill21]

With most streaming devices (Fire stick, Roku, etc.) you need to actually stop the playback to stop the streaming. Some may have timeouts but many just keep playing assuming you're still watching. Simply shutting off the TV doesn't tell a Fire stick or Roku to stop streaming. I have Fire sticks in the house and we all have a habit of pressing the 'Home' button before shutting the TV off.

As noted above, normal HD video streaming will burn up 3-4GB per hour of streaming a show. Many devices or apps will allow you to reduce resolution to save your data.

Rob

Most tv's support HDMI-CEC, it may just have to be enabled. I have both of the above devices. once the tv goes off. it tells the players to stop. but if it doesn't yes, you need to tell the players to stop.

 

[cqaigy2]

Is that the dish on the ground in the center of your picture? I was concerned about trees but if that is working for you I should be good to go.

Yes, in the Northern Hemisphere, the dish points somewhat to the north and likes to have some clearance east and west. I do lose connection from time to time from the trees though. The picture was taken from a bit east of south.