Starlink

[ponytug]

For someone who is not knowledgeable about networking, can you explain the radio point to point as it relates to using Starlink?

Sure; our house is in trees, with lots of obstructions, so Starlink is not likely to work well at the house. After lots of trial and error, the nearest place where Starlink is predicted to work well by the Starlink app is a roof on an outbuilding about 250' away. That location would be a real problem to run fiber optic to/from, including running under a large paved area, two retaining walls, and missing buried power, water, and septic lines. Running copper wire would be worse, as that distance is pushing the upper limit of Ethernet (100m).

So, that brings us to using radios, specifically point to point radios from Ubiquiti that can support the Starlink bandwidth. (Ethernet goes in at one antenna comes out at the other, with something like 850Mbit/s full duplex between them for 1.7Gbit/s overall. Ubiquiti Gigabeams LR.) Other than having to put up antenna mounts at both ends, and needing to align the antennas, it is actually pretty straightforward. The Ubiquiti Gigabeam antennas have an app that when the antennas are powered on enables you to see the receiving power of the remote antenna, so you can tweak the one you are at until the far antenna is at a maximum, and then repeat at the other end. I would recommend getting adhesive rubber mastic patches for between the antenna mount and the house to seal the screws/bolts. Much better than caulking. Our set up is such that the house point to point antenna is aimed more or less at the Starlink antenna site due to geometry, so I used the long range version of the Gigabeams which have a narrow RF beam because there was some concern about what frequencies Starlink might be using and I wanted not to light up the Starlink dish with extra local radio frequency noise.

So, I now have a high speed link to the horse stalls. Yeah, not really needed.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ponytug]

I read over on Reddit, that responding to Starlink's request to verify your address will move you to the back of the Starlink queue if you touch the location pin on the map.

The general advice seems to be don't touch the pin on the map. Too late for me.

All the best,

Peter

 

[bdhsfz6]

The projected service date on my Starlink account was just changed from "mid to late 2021" to "early to mid 2022".

My crappy Verizon DSL service has been down for almost a week now. Since my hopes for Starlink service in the near future are fading, I signed up for Verizon Wireless Internet Gateway Service. The cost of the unlimited data plan is $240 for the equipment plus $40/mo added to my existing Verizon Wireless bill. The speeds aren't as good as Starlink but it's less than half the cost. I can then scrap the far slower $70/mo DSL service and save $30/mo in the process.

I'll re-visit the situation when and if I ever get Starlink.

 

[riptides]

Do you have a link to this service offering?

Verizon Wireless Internet Gateway Service

... I signed up for Verizon Wireless Internet Gateway Service. The cost of the unlimited data plan is $240 for the equipment plus $40/mo added to my existing Verizon Wireless bill....

 

[bdhsfz6]

Do you have a link to this service offering?

Verizon Wireless Internet Gateway Service

LTE Home Internet | Plans Start at $35/mo | Verizon

4G LTE Home Internet offers service from Verizon reaching areas never before possible. Internet coverage available in select locations. Plans start at $35/mo.

www.verizon.com

Enter your address to see if the service is available in your area.

 

[metalheart]

Sure; our house is in trees, with lots of obstructions, so Starlink is not likely to work well at the house. After lots of trial and error, the nearest place where Starlink is predicted to work well by the Starlink app is a roof on an outbuilding about 250' away. That location would be a real problem to run fiber optic to/from, including running under a large paved area, two retaining walls, and missing buried power, water, and septic lines. Running copper wire would be worse, as that distance is pushing the upper limit of Ethernet (100m).

So, that brings us to using radios, specifically point to point radios from Ubiquiti that can support the Starlink bandwidth. (Ethernet goes in at one antenna comes out at the other, with something like 850Mbit/s full duplex between them for 1.7Gbit/s overall. Ubiquiti Gigabeams LR.) Other than having to put up antenna mounts at both ends, and needing to align the antennas, it is actually pretty straightforward. The Ubiquiti Gigabeam antennas have an app that when the antennas are powered on enables you to see the receiving power of the remote antenna, so you can tweak the one you are at until the far antenna is at a maximum, and then repeat at the other end. I would recommend getting adhesive rubber mastic patches for between the antenna mount and the house to seal the screws/bolts. Much better than caulking. Our set up is such that the house point to point antenna is aimed more or less at the Starlink antenna site due to geometry, so I used the long range version of the Gigabeams which have a narrow RF beam because there was some concern about what frequencies Starlink might be using and I wanted not to light up the Starlink dish with extra local radio frequency noise.

So, I now have a high speed link to the horse stalls. Yeah, not really needed.

All the best,

Peter

Thanks. Your situation seems similar to mine. We have several large oak trees that block our northern view. We are still waiting for our Starlink delivery, but I am anticipating there will be a siting problem because of the trees. I may be able to locate the dish in an area some distance away from the house, but then I was not sure about how to deal with getting the signal from the dish to our mesh router that is located in a closet in the middle of the house. This sounds as if the point to point radio it is at least part of the solution. Thanks for the help.

 

[riptides]

LTE Home Internet | Plans Start at $35/mo | Verizon

4G LTE Home Internet offers service from Verizon reaching areas never before possible. Internet coverage available in select locations. Plans start at $35/mo.

www.verizon.com

Enter your address to see if the service is available in your area.

Ahh...

Yes. Thanks, I did not think it was that.

I can get, and do have LTE Service through Verizon and a MVNO.

Yet, Verizon says this "LTE Home" service is not available in my area.

It's a big rip off to me as a consumer. And Verizon knows it.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Ahh...

Yes. Thanks, I did not think it was that.

I can get, and do have LTE Service through Verizon and a MVNO.

Yet, Verizon says this "LTE Home" service is not available in my area.

It's a big rip off to me as a consumer. And Verizon knows it.

The big rip off for me is Verizon's DSL service. The speeds are no where near advertised and it's down about half the time. The LTE Home Internet may be another rip off but hopefully, it will be an improvement over what I have now.

 

[TheMan419]

So I am going through some issues with my LTE based internet provider. Raised prices and cut service. The american way. I am signed up for Starlink (expected late 2022).

However a few places to check
unlimitedlteadvanced.com
4gltewifi.com
viperbroadband.com

All offer "unlimted" hotspots. Most are over AT&T. You will not get starlink speeds, but you will get some decent internet. I have an externa Yagi antenna that helps out a lot.

Ubifi.net is my current provider and they have taken a bit of a dump. Might be time to change players.

 

[riptides]

Unfortunate, the only decent signal here is Verizon. For me.

Neighbors have tried Sprint, AT&T, and a host of MVNO's. They all suck.

My issue is Verizon cannot seem to offer their HOME plan to me, yet I can get any other plan available or through another service provider. All of course cost four (4) times as much.

So I am going through some issues with my LTE based internet provider. Raised prices and cut service. The american way. I am signed up for Starlink (expected late 2022).

However a few places to check
unlimitedlteadvanced.com
4gltewifi.com
viperbroadband.com

All offer "unlimted" hotspots. Most are over AT&T. You will not get starlink speeds, but you will get some decent internet. I have an externa Yagi antenna that helps out a lot.

Ubifi.net is my current provider and they have taken a bit of a dump. Might be time to change players.

 

[ponytug]

Thanks. Your situation seems similar to mine. We have several large oak trees that block our northern view. We are still waiting for our Starlink delivery, but I am anticipating there will be a siting problem because of the trees. I may be able to locate the dish in an area some distance away from the house, but then I was not sure about how to deal with getting the signal from the dish to our mesh router that is located in a closet in the middle of the house. This sounds as if the point to point radio it is at least part of the solution. Thanks for the help.

Going up on a tower, such as a Rohn type, certainly helps for Starlink, if you have the space for the guy wires, or can get a concrete truck in, as the standalone tower bases take more than a few cubic yards.

Ubiquiti and others have a variety of PtP models. The 5GHz versions will tolerant some amount of levels and branches. The 60GHz won't and can even have trouble with heavy rain over long distances. (1"+/hr, or so I have been told)

FWIW: Chris Sherwood at Crosstalk solutions on YouTube has a variety of reviews that I have found helpful.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ponytug]

Unfortunate, the only decent signal here is Verizon. For me.

Neighbors have tried Sprint, AT&T, and a host of MVNO's. They all suck.

My issue is Verizon cannot seem to offer their HOME plan to me, yet I can get any other plan available or through another service provider. All of course cost four (4) times as much.

I can't get it here either. I suspect that Verizon only sells it where they have excess capacity on a tower. Verizon is almost one bar in our lower pasture, if you hold the phone just right.

If you can deal with the fly-by-night nature of resellers, you can often get month to month unlimited Verizon SIMs via resellers or eBay, but it is definitely buyer beware as they come and go, and so does your account. I get the feeling it is a cat and mouse game with Verizon and the other major carriers.

All the best,

Peter

 

[bdhsfz6]

Unfortunate, the only decent signal here is Verizon. For me.

Neighbors have tried Sprint, AT&T, and a host of MVNO's. They all suck.

The question for me is, will the Verizon LTE Home Internet suck as much as their worthless DSL service.

 

[rekees4300]

The question for me is, will the Verizon LTE Home Internet suck as much as their worthless DSL service.

August 15th I ordered Verizon LTE Home Internet. I'm still waiting delivery. Order status is never ending "processing". That service is suppose to have no data cap and speed is suppose to be 50 Mbps. If true it would be an acceptable, temporary alternative to Starlink. I preordered Starlink in February. Since then nothing but crickets from them also!

 

[bdhsfz6]

August 15th I ordered Verizon LTE Home Internet. I'm still waiting delivery. Order status is never ending "processing". That service is suppose to have no data cap and speed is suppose to be 50 Mbps. If true it would be an acceptable, temporary alternative to Starlink. I preordered Starlink in February. Since then nothing but crickets from them also!

I placed my Verizon LTE Home Internet order yesterday (11/1) and received a shipping notice with tracking number this morning. The equipment supposed to arrive Thurs. 11/4. A good sign but no guarantee. We'll see what happens.

 

[forgeblast]

Our other issue is no cell service at home, if we were going to try to get a cell signal, we would have to set something up on the hill behind our house and run fiber to us, about 1/8th of a mile or so away. starlink I keep hoping will come through for us.

 

[ponytug]

Our other issue is no cell service at home, if we were going to try to get a cell signal, we would have to set something up on the hill behind our house and run fiber to us, about 1/8th of a mile or so away. starlink I keep hoping will come through for us.

If you are serious, it is much easier to run the signal as internet (Ethernet (fiber or radio)) rather than trying to move a cell signal that distance. (Easier meaning many fewer dollars. Many fewer. I couldn't find a solution for under $4,000) With the internet at the house, you can use WiFi calling.

All the best,

Peter

 

[forgeblast]

If you are serious, it is much easier to run the signal as internet (Ethernet (fiber or radio)) rather than trying to move a cell signal that distance. (Easier meaning many fewer dollars. Many fewer. I couldn't find a solution for under $4,000) With the internet at the house, you can use WiFi calling.

All the best,

Peter

That would have to be the way we go then. I am going to give it another month, but then really have to look at setting up that system.

 

[rekees4300]

I placed my Verizon LTE Home Internet order yesterday (11/1) and received a shipping notice with tracking number this morning. The equipment supposed to arrive Thurs. 11/4. A good sign but no guarantee. We'll see what happens.

Good luck. Hope your order arrives on time and it works properly. If you have problems and Verizon Support can't help there is a Reddit Verizon Forum available. r/verizon

 

[ernemats]

I have a question on using the app to check for obstructions. What do the % numbers that show on the screen mean?