STARLINK (Satellite Internet and WIFI) -- How I Done It --

[Dellmassive]

New standby mode....


Updated Terms of Service

We’re reaching out to let you know the Pause feature on your plan has been updated. Pause now includes Standby Mode, which comes with unlimited low-speed data for GBP 4.50 per month, perfect for backup connectivity and emergency use. These updates will take effect in 30 days. All of your other plan features remain the same. You are able to cancel your service at any time for no charge.


If you have questions, please see our FAQs or Terms of Service.


*****

So has the £0 pause changed to £4.5 standby?

 

[Howzat]

Interesting. In one sense you can now get a low bandwidth satelite connection for £54 per year but no idea what low bandwidth entails? Is it 10mbps, 5mbps, 1mbs?
That would be fantastic value if it's anything above 5mbps.
Then they say if you stay on standby for "too long" then you may get a problem with your plan. So maybe take off standy at least every 6 months to counter this?

Hmm. Maybe not so good after all....

 

[JOG]

On the van in Boston, Lincolnshire

 

[Sasquatch]

Interesting. In one sense you can now get a low bandwidth satelite connection for £54 per year but no idea what low bandwidth entails? Is it 10mbps, 5mbps, 1mbs?
That would be fantastic value if it's anything above 5mbps.
Then they say if you stay on standby for "too long" then you may get a problem with your plan. So maybe take off standy at least every 6 months to counter this?

Hmm. Maybe not so good after all....

View attachment 299344

About 0.5mbps.

 

[Howzat]

About 0.5mbps.

Yeah, pretty poor in this day and age but would still be OK for browsing the T6 forum.
Maybe in a few months we'll have enough competion to make prices more comparable, or even cheaper, than regular broadband in a similar fashion to mobile telephony compared to fixed lines over the last few years.

 

[Dellmassive]

New standby mode....


Updated Terms of Service

We’re reaching out to let you know the Pause feature on your plan has been updated. Pause now includes Standby Mode, which comes with unlimited low-speed data for GBP 4.50 per month, perfect for backup connectivity and emergency use. These updates will take effect in 30 days. All of your other plan features remain the same. You are able to cancel your service at any time for no charge.


If you have questions, please see our FAQs or Terms of Service.


*****

So has the £0 pause changed to £4.5 standby?

Looks like it's everyone.....

Starlink Replaces Free Pause Mode With $5 Monthly Charge

With standby mode, Starlink Roam and Priority subscribers get unlimited low-speed data that's capped at 500kbps. Customers note that it's 'another rate hike, without calling it a rate hike.'

uk.pcmag.com

"The change also begs the question: What’s to stop a customer from simply letting their subscription lapse and re-subscribing later as a workaround for the lost free pause? As a result, some users are speculating SpaceX will start charging reactivation fees, which it already alluded to in a Starlink support page that discusses a "Roam activation charge."



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.

 

[Dellmassive]

Looks like it's everyone.....

Starlink Replaces Free Pause Mode With $5 Monthly Charge

With standby mode, Starlink Roam and Priority subscribers get unlimited low-speed data that's capped at 500kbps. Customers note that it's 'another rate hike, without calling it a rate hike.'

uk.pcmag.com

"The change also begs the question: What’s to stop a customer from simply letting their subscription lapse and re-subscribing later as a workaround for the lost free pause? As a result, some users are speculating SpaceX will start charging reactivation fees, which it already alluded to in a Starlink support page that discusses a "Roam activation charge."



.




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I was chatting with @Jollyvan about this yesterday.

And discussed the possibility of swapping in the permanent WiFi in the bus over to the starlink.

I pay £8 a month for a Smarty SIM card with unlimited data, that's in a small USB Huawei 4G router.... It works perfectly.

Small, discrete, low power, unlimited..... And most importantly not capped to 500kbps (0.5mbps or 2G speeds) data speeds...... I run all the data for the Ring cameras, tracker, victron cerbo, dash cam blah blah blah over it.

And I'm not so sure that the 0.5mbs starlink standby option will be enough speed to run my kit.

Then there is the power point..... Starlink is a 23w constant power draw. Which over days and weeks adds up.

So I'm not sure how I feel about all this.

I done my research before and decided the pause model worked well for me.

Yet now the pause will cost £4.50 a month.

I'm assuming that the cancel contact is the new pause.?.... But will SL charger you to reactivate your account?. Ontop of the months charge?..... No one knows yet as this all kicks in, in next month.

Well have to see, well need someone to go from ROAM to STANDBY, then to CANCEL...... Then back to ROAM and see what happens.


.

 

[Bluesman]

Just when I was thinking of buying it as well!

 

[monkeybusiness]

Just when I was thinking of buying it as well!

I think there is a few of us toying with the idea.

Not to de-rail this Starlink thread, but whats the current router of choice that won't break the bank (ie. Night Hawk). The Huawei mentioned above always pop up on forum threads.

 

[Dellmassive]

I think there is a few of us toying with the idea.

Not to de-rail this Starlink thread, but whats the current router of choice that won't break the bank (ie. Night Hawk). The Huawei mentioned above always pop up on forum threads.

Thread 'Van WIFI & Mobile Data -- How I Done It --'

15 May 2021

Van WIFI & Mobile Data -- How I Done It --

I keep on meaning to get this thread started . . . . Today is the Day.


this all started from having to share my data with the kids on long drives so they could you there Tablets whilst on the move, or remote from our Home WIFI.

We also used this setup when holidaying or camping - again to keep the kids amused with Pepper Pig videos on YouTube.

The Kids are now much old and have their own phones with data and are no so interested in Pepper Pig anymore, its more SnapChat and Insta . . . . apparently Facebook is for "old people" ie the mums &...

• Dellmassive
• dellmassive how to guide wi-fi
• Replies: 90
• Forum: Electrics, Lighting, ICE, Security

• 

 

[Kind of Blue]

Is it not viable to have a Starlink home unit and just connect it up in the van when going away and reconnect when back at home?

 

[soldas]

Yes although something like the mini doesn't give out the largest WiFi range. So you would need to possibly look into some kind of repeater.

 

[Kind of Blue]

Yes although something like the mini doesn't give out the largest WiFi range. So you would need to possibly look into some kind of repeater.

OK sorry I was not specifically referring to any particular model I was suggesting someone may like to use just the one version for home use and then just transplant it when the need arose and not to use any other system. I was just looking at over all costs. I do not have one, maybe in the future possibly if the Fibre gets cut again or its down again for any length of time but rarther just making a suggestion.

 

[soldas]

OK sorry I was not specifically referring to any particular model I was suggesting someone may like to use just the one version for home use and then just transplant it when the need arose and not to use any other system. I was just looking at over all costs. I do not have one, maybe in the future possibly if the Fibre gets cut again or its down again for any length of time but rarther just making a suggestion.

Yeah I hear you. Now they have the mini and the standard as an all in one option (no need for the extra modem) its a lot more usable for moving around. I work from the mini at home when Sky is being shite for the day.

 

[Dellmassive]

The power setup at summer camp for the StarLink worked very well.

but im thinking about this little Gem.

the benefit being you can use the longer OEM supplied power cable, and place the unit farther away to get the best reception.

plus it boosts the voltage to 36v, over the 19v USB-C voltage. - which is a good thing.

+++

Amazon.co.uk

*****
.

 

[Dellmassive]

I was chatting with @Jollyvan about this yesterday.

And discussed the possibility of swapping in the permanent WiFi in the bus over to the starlink.

I pay £8 a month for a Smarty SIM card with unlimited data, that's in a small USB Huawei 4G router.... It works perfectly.

Small, discrete, low power, unlimited..... And most importantly not capped to 500kbps (0.5mbps or 2G speeds) data speeds...... I run all the data for the Ring cameras, tracker, victron cerbo, dash cam blah blah blah over it.

And I'm not so sure that the 0.5mbs starlink standby option will be enough speed to run my kit.

Then there is the power point..... Starlink is a 23w constant power draw. Which over days and weeks adds up.

So I'm not sure how I feel about all this.

I done my research before and decided the pause model worked well for me.

Yet now the pause will cost £4.50 a month.

I'm assuming that the cancel contact is the new pause.?.... But will SL charger you to reactivate your account?. Ontop of the months charge?..... No one knows yet as this all kicks in, in next month.

Well have to see, well need someone to go from ROAM to STANDBY, then to CANCEL...... Then back to ROAM and see what happens.


.

The update so far.

I've opted for the STANDBY mode for next month's cycle, my package runs out later this month.

We'll see what happens.

 

[soldas]

I've just brought 12V/24V to 30V Power Supply Adapter with DC Plug for Starlink Mini and for StarLink MiniD C Female Connector to D C Female Connector Waterproof C GTR7 | eBay UK looking to go from my fuse panel without the need plugin to the inverted. Have found starlink to usb cables a bit meh.

 

[Kind of Blue]

The more that you guys write about Star-link the more interest it generates in me. I can see some advantages for my situation with services not being brilliant at times of severe weather outages and time taken to bring homes either back on line or reconnection to electricity supply. I believe that electricity supply and internet supply these days is operated on a just in time limited service and that yes if their is a breakage or outage and that provided that your the only one needing help or that it is only a local problem then it will be sorted not as quickly as it might have been in the past because of cuts but if your only one address out of many thousands then your priority rating puts you very low down the order and as time goes on during a large ownage then if your a single or a small group then the position of priority repeatedly gets shifted down the ratings so then it can be a considerable time for any repair or reconnection. Here if electricity goes down then it may affect other services like telephone downage and even telephone exchange downage and that also eventually extends to a generally poor Mobile phone coverage also by have no mobile hone service and no communication of any sort at all. Not to mention water supply if one has their own water as opposed to piped water. So having an internet service that could be run on batteries for long periods or even permanently and then phone if one has solar recharging opens up a new world of possibilities for me. So providing the connection and service provided by Star link is competitive in pricing compared to normal internet services then it could be a winner for our situation here and for others living in similar situations.

I see that one must select a service that is either home or one that has roaming charges and is more mobile. Can I ask if one selects a home service then one could not travel with it without paying roaming charges or perhaps could? I do not quite have a grip on the differences would a mini work very well at home and the just pick it up, stuff it in the Transporter drive off to Scotland or where ever and that is not a problem, what do they mean by roaming charges how would they know your not at home? I must explain that I hardly even use my mobile at all though others in the household do especially the daughter. I had no reason to keep up to date with technology. However now I am trying to catch up a little. I remember a few years ago that for one of my vehicles i took it somewhere for a problem to be fixed and was very put out when they wanted to connect up a fault reader, me in my isolated ignorance thinking, even I now what is wrong with it just fix it but was years ago at the onset of these thing and previously a mechanic would work out a problem by experience and just get on with it. So back to Star link really sorry for asking such very basic imbecilic questions.

 

[Dellmassive]

First time powering up after moving to the LOW SPEED / Standby mode.




i connected up right away. . .





and showed us that we was on that mode. . .




speed testing . . . . . .

phone to Wifi AP. . . was around 50Mbps ( 5m away)





and link to the Internet shows 0.9Mbps down and 0.2Mbps up.





clicking the UPGRADE MY PACKAGE gives me this. . .


switch to ROAM 50, (£50pm) - but pro-ratered for the rest of the billing cycle for £30.02

my role over date is 28th of the month.


so im assuming the take the £50 and divide it by 30odd days? (50/30 = 1.666per day?)

and with 22days left id expect 22x1.66= £36.65






++++++++++++++


just to verify the link speeds i checked with OKLA. . . . . three times.

that gave me a steady 0.5Mbps UP & DOWN.





thats what we get. . .





testing the link speed.

its ok for surfing the web, but a bit slow,

ok for email, without big attachments.

YouTube? - some buffering at first, but usable on the phone.

netflix? - some buffering at first, but usable on the phone.

Spotify? - fine, no issues.

Audio streaming, ie online radio.- no issues.


still testing, so will update soon.


So surprisingly it is still fairly usable, even at the 0.5/0.5Mbps speeds.

Worth the £4.50 a month?

Well you can get a 30Gb MOBILE sim for £7.50, but that needs a connection to a cell tower....

So if you are romote and can't get a cell signal, then yes the £4.50 option is worth it.


I remember my first ADSL broadband was 0.25Mbps,...
It took a while, a year to get to 0.5Mbps.

But everything is more data heavy these days...... But I still think it's worth it.

Pausing for £0 sounds better.

But if we have to pay £4.50, then may as well use it. !!

I'll keep it rolling, then boost up to the 50Gb for Busfest next week..... Hopefully the price will be much cheaper as the remaining month will be much less.









*

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

First time powering up after moving to the LOW SPEED / Standby mode.


View attachment 302401View attachment 302402

i connected up right away. . .


View attachment 302403


and showed us that we was on that mode. . .

View attachment 302404


speed testing . . . . . .

phone to Wifi AP. . . was around 50Mbps ( 5m away)

View attachment 302405



and link to the Internet shows 0.9Mbps down and 0.2Mbps up.

View attachment 302406



clicking the UPGRADE MY PACKAGE gives me this. . .


switch to ROAM 50, (£50pm) - but pro-ratered for the rest of the billing cycle for £30.02

my role over date is 28th of the month.


so im assuming the take the £50 and divide it by 30odd days? (50/30 = 1.666per day?)

and with 22days left id expect 22x1.66= £36.65



View attachment 302407


++++++++++++++


just to verify the link speeds i checked with OKLA. . . . . three times.

that gave me a steady 0.5Mbps UP & DOWN.

View attachment 302412View attachment 302413View attachment 302414



thats what we get. . .

View attachment 302415



testing the link speed.

its ok for surfing the web, but a bit slow,

ok for email, without big attachments.

YouTube?

netflix?

Spotify?


still testing, so will update soon.













*

Great post as usual Lee.
I can see me going down this route next year once you have totally sussed everything out for us