Starlink

[riptides]

Realistically though, unless you're a business using a lot of bandwidth you'd likely never notice the difference between that and, say 40 or 50 mbs. I realize that many here don't come close to those speeds either (and I was one not too long ago), but there is a point of diminishing returns.

Yeah.

But.... I do a lot of work on multiple computers. Very I/O intensive stuff. Plus the whole compound is set up for streaming services. So I need....instant gratification. And Ping times below 20ms, Jitter <8. LOL.

Call of Duty weighs heavily when trying to do work. More LOL.

 

[kcflhrc]

Well my excitement got tempered today. I initially got an email telling me the kit was going to ship on Dec 24 but after processing a credit card payment for the full payment, my account states the status is pending and will likely not ship until Jan 10 to 16, 2022. But I am still ecstatic because it is getting closer, for REAL!!!!

Well, at least they got your money

 

[Hilbilly]

Well, at least they got your money

They certainly did and that happened a LOT faster than getting the dish (which I still don't have). But I am still happy because I was told it will ship soon and they have actually responded to 2 of my questions, within an hour. I have made contact!

 

[ponytug]

If I tie four routers together, I still cannot come close to that. LOL.

Must be.....nice. Sigh...

Four? It would be 41 for me...

Still waiting...

 

[bdhsfz6]

There is now some hope for broadband expansion in my home state of PA:

Wolf signs broadband bill co-sponsored by Snyder

HARRISBURG, Dec. 22 — After it passed the House and Senate without a single negative vote, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday afternoon signed into law H.B. 2071, a bill co-sponsored by Rep. Pam Snyder to expand broadband internet in the state.“The people of Pennsylvania have...

www.pahouse.com

The new bill, just signed by Gov. Wolf, doesn't do much more than create an authority to oversee broadband expansion in rural areas. Relief is likely years away for us country folk but at least it's a step in the right direction.

Meanwhile, I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope Starlink gets here sooner!

 

[John_Mc]

Starlink's speeds are declining in the US as it adds customers. Starlink’s median download speed decreased from 97.23 Mbps during Q2 2021 to 87.25 Mbps in Q3 2021. But the addition of more satellites should reverse that trend?

Starlink's Speeds Are Declining in US, Ookla Finds

Ran a few tests this morning, before the kids got up and started loading up our bandwidth. Downloads ranged from 180 mbps to 270 mbps. Uploads ran from 14 to 30 mbps.

This evening with others on, I was getting 94 - 180 down and 13 -19 up.

We still have our old DSL line, which I'll get around to cancelling one of these days. I just ran a test on that: 6.1 mbps down, 0.4 mbps up. The surprise is that it's actually working. I haven;t used it in a while, but we had gotten to the point where the service tech was not surprised to be on our neighborhood several times a month. (Aging copper lines are known to be the problem, but the phone company will not replace them. Instead, they just keeping send the poor tech out to poke around and hope he can find somethign to clean up enough to get us working again.)

 

[bdhsfz6]

Ran a few tests this morning, before the kids got up and started loading up our bandwidth. Downloads ranged from 180 mbps to 270 mbps. Uploads ran from 14 to 30 mbps.

This evening with others on, I was getting 94 - 180 down and 13 -19 up.

We still have our old DSL line, which I'll get around to cancelling one of these days. I just ran a test on that: 6.1 mbps down, 0.4 mbps up. The surprise is that it's actually working. I haven;t used it in a while, but we had gotten to the point where the service tech was not surprised to be on our neighborhood several times a month. (Aging copper lines are known to be the problem, but the phone company will not replace them. Instead, they just keeping send the poor tech out to poke around and hope he can find somethign to clean up enough to get us working again.)

As a retired Verizon engineer, I can say that you are absolutely correct in your description of the problems with DSL service these days. You are lucky to get the speeds you measured. Mine were similar to that 15 years ago but now I'm lucky to get 2 down & .4 up. The service is down between 1 and 3 hours a day and sometimes out completely for a week or more. The service has degraded to the point it is no longer considered to be "high speed" internet.

Fortunately for us, Verizon now offers their wireless 4G LTE home internet in our area. We're getting 42 down & 7 up on average. It's also $40/mo cheaper than DSL. It lessens the pain somewhat while waiting for Starlink.

 

[rekees4300]

As a retired Verizon engineer, I can say that you are absolutely correct in your description of the problems with DSL service these days. You are lucky to get the speeds you measured. Mine were similar to that 15 years ago but now I'm lucky to get 2 down & .4 up. The service is down between 1 and 3 hours a day and sometimes out completely for a week or more. The service has degraded to the point it is no longer considered to be "high speed" internet.

Fortunately for us, Verizon now offers their wireless 4G LTE home internet in our area. We're getting 42 down & 7 up on average. It's also $40/mo cheaper than DSL. It lessens the pain somewhat while waiting for Starlink.

Yeah man, I tried to lessen my pain by ordering the 4G LTE Home plan. Verizon's availability check said that plan is available at my address. Placed the order in August, got confirmation email from Verizon, then crickets. Nothing was ever delivered and order status hasn't changed from "processing"! I assume they killed the order so my monthly bill wouldn't decrease... follow the money?

 

[bdhsfz6]

Yeah man, I tried to lessen my pain by ordering the 4G LTE Home plan. Verizon's availability check said that plan is available at my address. Placed the order in August, got confirmation email from Verizon, then crickets. Nothing was ever delivered and order status hasn't changed from "processing"! I assume they killed the order so my monthly bill wouldn't decrease... follow the money?

I got the equipment promptly after ordering but I'm still being billed for the DSL, 2 months after cancelling it. It's definitely all about the $$!

 

[riptides]

I have a Verizon LTE plan through a Virtual Network Operator. Big $$$$ to get. Every month they disconnect his customers due to some billing issue on the 26th in the wee hours of the morning.

If the technology doesn't suck, the support and backend services are icing on the cake.

 

[IXLR8]

Yeah man, I tried to lessen my pain by ordering the 4G LTE Home plan. Verizon's availability check said that plan is available at my address. Placed the order in August, got confirmation email from Verizon, then crickets. Nothing was ever delivered and order status hasn't changed from "processing"! I assume they killed the order so my monthly bill wouldn't decrease... follow the money?

I tried to order the Verizon LTE Home online and it told me it was not available in my area. I went to my local Verizon store, they said sure no problem, signed me up and handed me the hot spot unit. I'm getting 30-35 down and 3-6 up, works for me. I would prefer to have 5G speeds, but there isn't a 5G tower within 50 miles of me, suspect there never will be.

 

[rekees4300]

I tried to order the Verizon LTE Home online and it told me it was not available in my area. I went to my local Verizon store, they said sure no problem, signed me up and handed me the hot spot unit. I'm getting 30-35 down and 3-6 up, works for me. I would prefer to have 5G speeds, but there isn't a 5G tower within 50 miles of me, suspect there never will be.

The local Verizon stores are mysteries. I also went to a store and the guy didn't even know what LTE Home Internet is.

 

[Alan W.]

The local Verizon stores are mysteries. I also went to a store and the guy didn't even know what LTE Home Internet is.

Not all Verizon stores are company stores. Some are private owned. You cant tell by looking but the private owned ones cant sell the internet plans.
At least thats what they told me.

 

[IXLR8]

Not all Verizon stores are company stores. Some are private owned. You cant tell by looking but the private owned ones cant sell the internet plans.
At least thats what they told me.

Hmm, the local Verizon store I went to was a local owned store, it was not a Verizon owned store. It is part of a chain, but it is not a company store.

 

[LouNY]

Well good evening all;
I got my Starlink a few days ago,
got it mounted and the cable run yesterday.
Today got it up and running and integrated into my home network.

The speed test varies considerably, this was going through my wireless router to my laptop.
The test using the Starlink app for my phone were quite a bit higher 180 Mbps down and 20-50 up,
with 40-60 ping times.

I'm happy

 

[ponytug]

One comment that I would make generally is that many home routers aren't really up to serving 100+Mb/s, generally and especially over WiFi with more than a few clients despite what their specifications may lead one to believe.

Adding Starlink may be a good time to upgrade to a more powerful router and wired access points.

Just a thought.

Personally, I can't wait to get an email allowing me to place the full order. AT&T DSL was is still having trouble and went down during a video conference today, and took the phone with it. The technician who came out confirmed that the issue was upstream of the DSL, a point that I have been making to AT&T since November...

All the best,

Peter

 

[LouNY]

Yes it would be and one of my Son in Laws is wanting me to take his mesh system so he can get a bigger mesh system, more then 40 devices.
I'm contemplating it but even with my router throttling the speed down a bit it is still so fast that I'll never see the difference.
Today while checking it over we had two laptops, two phones, three kindles, the TV on and everything was streaming in HD with no glitches and then my dog activated a couple of the Arlo motion cameras and the notification was extremely fast.

 

[ponytug]

@LouNY It is wonderful to see that you are enjoying the Starlink upgrade!

All the best,

Peter

 

[LittleBill21]

doesn't the startlink come with its own router/wifi? some stuff generally needs to be adjusted if using 2 routers/wifi's.

 

[BigBlue1]

Starlink does come with a router. Initially a separate router supporting wifi and a single ethernet connection. The most recent one (last month or two) is built into the dish controller and is wifi only (you can buy a wired ethernet adapter).

Most folks operate just fine by either swapping the stock Starlink router out for another or adding another to the Starlink router. Myself, I have a mesh system connected to the Starlink router and it works great.

Rob