Starlink

[lostcreekranch]

Thanks.... It wont let me goto it. comes up in my account. Guess you have to have the full order available first.

I’m getting the same .. I’ve only paid the deposit thus far.

 

[rekees4300]

Future Dishes will be born in Texas.

SpaceX Factory in Texas Will Churn Out Starlink Satellite Dishes for Consumers

 

[dmccarty]

Future Dishes will be born in Texas.

SpaceX Factory in Texas Will Churn Out Starlink Satellite Dishes for Consumers

I have been wondering if the reason people have not be given access to StarLink is because of the lack capacity to build the dishes instead of the number of satellites. The satellites seem to be up there for many locations, so is the "slow" roll out due to lack of dishes?

Later,
Dan

 

[John_Mc]

I have been wondering if the reason people have not be given access to StarLink is because of the lack capacity to build the dishes instead of the number of satellites. The satellites seem to be up there for many locations, so is the "slow" roll out due to lack of dishes?

Later,
Dan

While the dishes have been the cause of some delays, that has generally been a matter of a week or two backlog. The real issue can be seen if you look at one of the sites showing satellite coverage. For the initial launches, the orbits of multiple satellites tended to converge over lattitudes covering the northern US and southern Canada (and those same latitudes in other parts of the world). Since you need at least one satellite in view to have coverage (and preferrably more than one), they opened things up where they had enough coverage to provide something close to 24x7 coverage. As they launch more satellites, they'll have better coverage in other parts of the globe and will open those areas up. Prior to getting the required satellite density over an area you might get a signal some of the time, but it would be far from what is required to be considered someone's primary connection to the internet.

 

[JethroB]

How do the ground stations fit into the availablity of service expansion?

 

[BigBlue1]

I'm guessing another factor is the throughput capability of their system and the desire to well-control this 'beta' phase and make sure their customers are having a good experience. Adding too many users and saturating the system to the point that users start having negative experiences would be bad for velocity of interest and new sign-ups. Having fewer users allows them more flexibility in dealing with any issues or bottlenecks that they encounter. Reputation is huge and recovering from a bad one is hard.

Rob

 

[jaydee325]

Would the current chip shortage that has the automotive manufactures or or the computer industry in general slowed down be a contributor to the delays?

 

[dstig1]

From what I read, the chip shortage that carmakers are facing is actually of their own making. Early in the pandemic they all assumed orders would be way down so they cut forecasts. But sales did not crater as expected so now they are in a pickle running short on those chips that they under-forecasted. So that is probably not the issue here, I'd guess

 

[Hilbilly]

I was initially reluctant to order one of these, thinking it was a great scam. Give me $129(CAD) and I will put you in line for a system sometime later this year. Ya right. But after reading a bunch of articles and user feedback about the system, I decided it would be a great idea to risk the money, although I highly doubt there is any risk. So paid my $129 deposit and now anxiously await confirmation of shipment and payment of the full sum. I'm told the total initial cost is around $800(CAD) including taxes and shipping. Still worth it to me, if I get the kind of speeds I've only dreamed of, plus unlimited use.

Anyone heard of, or think the usage will be limited after they get our money and have a lot more users on line?

 

[SylvainG]

I too went ahead and put the $129 towards my dish., but Starlink has said last November on Reddit that they have no data caps “at this time”, so this worries me a bit.