Starlink

[plowhog]

If I check availability, it says late 2023. ... this is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

I got impatient with waiting, and ordered Starlink RV using a different address. That let me stay on the "wait list" for my CA address.

You might consider the same-- you could be up and running on Starlink in about 2 weeks.

But: I will have an extra Starlink once my "residential" set ships. Until then, I'll have lower monthly fees for internet + TV. So after 6 months, I will have made up much of the Starlink equipment cost. Not all though.

I guess I'll figure out what to do with the "extra" equipment if and when I get there.

 

[BigBlue1]

I looked at these “Unlimited“ plans. The gotcha is most plans will throttle down your speed at some point and at 720p video quality or less. Important if you do a lot of video streaming.

"may" throttle, not "will". With AT&T they have that same restriction but I've never known it to be used in any of the semi-rural areas I reside in because none of the towers are ever near capacity. Prior to Starlink I used my AT&T 'mobley' hotspot as primary ISP for 4 years, often burning through 300-400 GB/month and never had any service degradation. Since Starlink arrived it is now my backup ISP and nets about 0 GB/month. They're getting back what I used earlier.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I ordered the RV unit, it comes Tuesday. Still got my original order active, at same address, but it got moved till 2023. Already received extra long cable and Ethernet adapter.

 

[newbury]

Has anyone tried the

Starlink for RVs provides the ability to pause and un-pause service at any time and is billed in one-month increments,

feature?
I'm mainly wondering about how you notify them and how long it takes to the Starlink people to turn on/off the system.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I believe you do it in the app.

 

[plowhog]

I now have two Starlink systems running in separate locations. One for an authorized ground-based address, and one "RV" system.

I can report that the Starlink phone App seems horribly confused that it used to be talking to one Starlink system in bypass mode, but is now talking to my RV system not in bypass mode. Lots of things not working.

And ... drum roll ... I saw a message just now regarding "peak usage." It was advertised that the system speed might slow down on "RV" systems during peak usage. But the phone app message says it could also become "unavailable." Hmmm.

 

[BigBlue1]

And ... drum roll ... I saw a message just now regarding "peak usage." It was advertised that the system speed might slow down on "RV" systems during peak usage. But the phone app message says it could also become "unavailable." Hmmm.

Their description of the RV service offering explained that it might happen. The price for moving around into any cell regardless of availability is that the RV service takes a back seat.

 

[plowhog]

Their description of the RV service offering explained that it might happen.

I read the full description of the RV system at Starlink.com. There was no wording that an RV system can become "unavailable" during high demand. I just looked again, and still don't see any.

The "unavailable" language (shutting service off) was only was presented to me after purchase once I was up and running. Here is the language at Starlink.com:

"Users can expect high speed, low latency internet in areas marked "Available", and notably slower speeds during hours of peak usage in areas marked as "Waitlist" or during events with many collocated users."

Because it is the only game in town for many customers, Starlink probably gets more leeway on some of their shaky business practices that other companies might not. Such as the earlier issues of deposits and installation time schedules. But if they start shutting services down without having told customers that it could even be possible, I could see that ending up on the wrong side of some regulatory agencies.

Actually, I hope you can prove me wrong. Can you refer to any text, or description, from Starlink whereby they inform that a service could be shut entirely down during periods of high traffic?

EDIT: There *is* some language in the Terms and Conditions and other legal / system descriptions .... and some of that language seems to apply to all their systems, not just RV ....

Starlink | Roam

Work and play at remote locations. Starting at $50/mo with a hardware cost of $499.

www.starlink.com

 

[plowhog]

There are probably very few people who set up multiple Starlink systems. My advice, if you are one of those, is to use a separate phone for each Starlink system you configure. (If you can.)

I'm believing that some setup configurations are hard-set into the phone app once you configure a Starlink system using a particular phone. Instead of the app interrogating the Starlink system or device as you perform various functions, I believe it relies on this hard-set data from the past, which in some cases does not match to the new/current system you are setting up.

At first I used my same phone to try to set up a 2nd Starlink system. Inexplicable things and behaviors occurred. After about 3 hours of frustration, I grabbed a different phone to configure the second Starlink system. Then everything went as expected.

 

[ponytug]

In reading users reports on several other websites about Elon companies, software issues, glitches, and abrupt changes seem par for the course.

Tesla energy tried to unilaterally change prices on signed contracts a couple of years ago for their solar roofs, and initially refused to back down. After six months or so, Tesla only backed down after a class action lawsuit was certified and moving through the system and several states Attorney Generals getting involved. So, yes, not adhering to contracts would seem to not be out of the ordinary for Elon companies.

Then again I get updated contract terms from other companies all the time, often making significant changes to the contract. They at least have the patience to plan ahead a year...

All the best,

Peter