Starlink

[Eagle1]

Nope, there bringing fiber to entire area for free. Free install, free modem, free install fiber direct to home. Part of government funded rural internet system.

They have dozens of crews working the area. They have hooked thousands of homes up in past year or 2. They did our underground thru development this summer, but frozen ground halted service to house. They said they could lay above ground temp if requested, but can’t for me as it goes over driveway.

Will have 500x500 service for $65/month. My friend had his installed a few months back….amazing speed.

We don't have clusters of thousands..... County seat is ~2500 because that zip covers a large area.
Fiber is next door, but so far no effort to run it another 3/4 mile to my place, been staked and flagged twice by the phone co but the first stakes rotted and had to be replace over a few years.
One day but then I'll have to see if they fixed their DNS issues, that very important protocol is dropped on their network all the bloody time (logged and testing verified)

 

[grsthegreat]

The growth here in N. Idaho has been so ridiculous over past 30 years that investment in infrastructure has been able to occur. New power lines, fiber, natural gas projects. New water lines.

Some benefits to offset large influx of obnoxious humans…….

 

[Eagle1]

The growth here in N. Idaho has been so ridiculous over past 30 years that investment in infrastructure has been able to occur. New power lines, fiber, natural gas projects. New water lines.

Some benefits to offset large influx of obnoxious humans…….

But this holds true for me

https://twitter.com/x/status/2006412701048697258

 

[grsthegreat]

But this holds true for me

https://twitter.com/x/status/2006412701048697258

I can relate to this….i really can

 

[ultrarunner]

The growth here in N. Idaho has been so ridiculous over past 30 years that investment in infrastructure has been able to occur. New power lines, fiber, natural gas projects. New water lines.

Some benefits to offset large influx of obnoxious humans…….

I think half the retired California LEOs relocate to Nevada or Idaho… must be very safe with all these retired officers.

Those younger seem to be tech where remote work is possible… I have a EPIC program manager employed my my California hospital who moved to Idaho during pandemic and still doing what he loves but now also doing it where he wants to be…

 

[grsthegreat]

I think half the retired California LEOs relocate to Nevada or Idaho… must be very safe with all these retired officers.

Those younger seem to be tech where remote work is possible… I have a EPIC program manager employed my my California hospital who moved to Idaho during pandemic and still doing what he loves but now also doing it where he wants to be…

You would not believe the number of ex cops and fire clients I have. My state is a magnet.

 

[ultrarunner]

From California or from all over the country?

One factor for my tech workers there is excellent high speed Internet is not hard to find and makes remote work possible… most also have Starlink for backup but some are considering getting rid of it as fiber has been so reliable…

Marriages of several friends end post move to Idaho… he loves Idaho and wife hates being there… especially winter.

One didn’t end in divorce but she lives in California and he lives in Idaho… she will not do Idaho winters but it works for them…

 

[grsthegreat]

Me…I love the winter. Especially very hard, harsh, snowy and ice stormy winters.

Come spring I see California owned houses up for sale.

 

[BigBlue1]

You would not believe the number of ex cops and fire clients I have. My state is a magnet.

The big question is: Did they bring CA with them or did they escape CA to be around others like them?

 

[BigBlue1]

The starlink annual report:

Starlink | Progress Report

Expanding Boundaries for Humans on Earth

www.starlink.com

It irks me. But it's another Elon thing. Starlink was proposed to benefit for the folks past the last mile with no other option. It was and IS that. But it has gotten big quickly and crazily so with people paying premiums in 'high usage' areas, motorhomes on the move, small systems for free and on and on. We wont talk of the arguments over dish stuff.

We also won't talk about customer service with Grok. Or is it Crock? But when they did engage they did me well. Better than well as support goes. Just don't want help immediately because there are only three guys behind Grok (teasing). But it scares me that it is getting too big and too fast. But who does that better than Musk?

We live off grid in the middle of nowhere with zero cell signal. Starlink is our safety and primary communication. It is better than anything previous (satellite) and I've have them all. May they die [fill in your word]. But I fear the rules may be changing.

So what is your 'irk' with the situation? As Starlink has grown and become more popular things have only improved. I joined in early beta and paid over $500 for my original round dish setup. Stayed with that system until this fall. It would routinely get 80-150 Mb/s speeds (zero obstructions). After buying a gen 3 receiver and roam plan for RV use earlier in 2025 and seeing how fast that was, even with obstructions and sub-optimal aiming I ended up replacing the round dish with gen 3 (was going to pay $175 but Starlink ended up just swapping the hardware for $0 for me). Now I get 250-350 Mb/s reliably at home with zero obstructions.

The increase of people in 'high usage' areas only affects them _in those cells_. Shouldn't affect you out in timbuktu. Certainly hasn't affected me since I now get WAY better speeds. Speeds are faster, more sats mean less aiming issues and easier setup, hardware is much cheaper. The only thing 'worse' is that monthly unlimited residential service is $120 now, up from $100 originally. I know a LOT of other things that increased more than $20/mo since 2021 when I first got on SL beta, so even though I'd rather be paying $75 I'm happy to pay $120 for ISP service I couldn't otherwise get out here in rural MN.

The more Starlink grows the more stable it will be, the more $$ they will have to upgrade the system, the cheaper the hardware will become, etc. If you don't live in congested areas there doesn't seem to be a downside.