Starlink workaround

[Smitty192]

We are in a rural area with only 1 option for internet with no option for fiber optic anytime soon. Our current provider sucks balls. Service interuptions throughout the day are a giant pain in my ass.

I've been exploring Starlink but they don't have coverage in my area. Last trip out to my FFL he started telling me about his new Starlink service. His address isn't in a service area so he ordered it using an address in a service and took back and mounted it at his shop. Seems like an easy solution. Has anyone else tried this and made it work?

 

[NoDopes]

I've heard of other people doing this... I think you potentially run the risk if them deciding it's not a "temporary location" and turning off the service...

 

[Rod79]

While I don’t know specifically about the address switcharoo, I do know you can download the starlink app for free and check for satellite coverage at any potential location (which should get you a step closer to your answer). its the only solid option in my area as a well and has been great! Best of luck

 

[UNRL Ghandi]

My area has coverage so not much help but I have used the mobility feature to take my Starlink from Maryland to Maine since something came up last minute and I had to work during my vacation and the place we rented said it had spotty internet. Worked fine but cost an extra $25/month to use my service outside my primary service area. The difference here though is Maine had satellite coverage where you are saying your area doesn't. The mobility feature also said that services are deprioritized to those who have the area as their primary service area which could've made my service slower or not work at all. That was over a year ago so maybe that has changed. I mention this simply because you'll have a service being used outside normal coverage area (potentially) and you might have a deprioritized service.

Not sure how your FFL got it to work. My brain thinks that a satellite dish outside a satellite coverage area is as good as having a sink that can't connect to a water supply. But if they got it to work and you live close by, might be worth a try. I know I was pretty desperate for a better solution than Hughes Net costing me $275/mo and being half or less the speed of my Starlink. If it was possible I'd have tried it.

 

[Missalot]

I have had starlink for about 20 months. It's not perfect. It goes down whenever the rain is moderate and it is not at all uncommon for it to drop out for a few minutes every second or third day. The speed isn't exactly incredible either. There have been 2 price increases in 20 months and it's getting pricey for what I get.

Check with the big cell service providers in your area and see if they offer fixed cell service. We ran ATT fixed service for 3 months concurrently with starlink. There is an ATT tower about 2 miles away and a Verizon tower 1 milie. Verizon didn't offer fixed service on this tower but ATT did and for $70 a month it did a good job, just a bit slower than starlink. It too, will go down in a heavy rain. The installer told me as long as you had a line of sight view of the tower, you were good. I apparently don't have any hills between my place and the tower, but there is plenty of flora. If you can hotspot off your phone, it's a good indication it will work for you provided the service offers a fixed plan. I went with the starlink but now after the 2 price increases, I'm looking back a fixed cell service.

I think starlink as a RV travel plan you could use for areas outside starliink's service area. It costs more but may give you a valid account. Good luck. Being in an area without decent cell service stinks.

 

[GUNNER75]

I don't have first hand experience with the "RV" plan, but I've heard some great things about it through a few friends that were around it. I've got the standard Starlink and love it. (I have two mesh units, one on each end of my house on the first floor).

 

[918v]

How do they know where you are receiving from?

 

[Kadams1563]

A lot of RV’ers are using the T-Mobile 5G hotspot. It’s technically not meant to be mobile but they haven’t messed with anyone using it that way.

 

[Short-bus]

How do they know where you are receiving from?

It uses GPS to establish where it is, so that it can get the right angle on the satellites.

Branden

 

[WaltHer]

^^This, When I open the app, the unit's location is displayed on a Google Maps-like display. Because my address was not in their database, I ultimately had to use my neighbor's address, but the map in the app ( )showed the dish's actual location. I think the RV/"roaming" option could be your best choice. That being said, our alternative was $7k+ to have fiber dropped in for a charge-per-gigHz plan, so I am thrilled with Starlink's performance, notwithstanding the weather-related challenges mentioned above. Wife and I can wi-fi call, surf Sniper's Hide while streaming video, and checking the solar power system's power status over wi-fi. We usually have seven-ish devices connected at any given time.

 

[WaltHer]

Also... to add on to @Missalot's point, for my side job, I often work in remote locations where no hard-line connection is available. To send and receive data we use a Cradlepoint cellular booster/router like this: https://westwardsales.com/cradlepoint/cradlepoint-e100-soho-router. It works really well, but I'm not sure about the data speeds for streaming video/calls or multiple devices, or the data plan expense. However, ours is configured to work on multiple cellular networks.

 

[mosin46]

whatever you do,if you aren't forced to use AT&T,don't try it. i am forced tom use them as only 1/2 way viable option. the wind hits 10mph and it rains,i lose phone or web or both for 2-10 days. for a landline and DSL they charge me $160/mo. i have developed a big hate for all "big" corporations but those fucks way top my hate list. local power co is supposed to start fiberoptic early next year. can't wait.

 

[Redmanss]

I’m on month three so far with Starlink, so far so good. The only rain it drops out for me is if there’s hail in it. Speaking of hail, the dish itself help up perfect to half dollar sized that dinged the wife’s car pretty good as well as some good dings in the aluminum body F250.

You don’t have to order directly from them, you can get them from Home Depot, got mine that way with $100 off sale for Memorial Day with no address/service verification. From there you can try to establish an account, but as said above it knows where it’s activated at through GPS. Can give it a shot and return it if it doesn’t pan out the way you want it to.

 

[Smitty192]

I’m on month three so far with Starlink, so far so good. The only rain it drops out for me is if there’s hail in it. Speaking of hail, the dish itself help up perfect to half dollar sized that dinged the wife’s car pretty good as well as some good dings in the aluminum body F250.

You don’t have to order directly from them, you can get them from Home Depot, got mine that way with $100 off sale for Memorial Day with no address/service verification. From there you can try to establish an account, but as said above it knows where it’s activated at through GPS. Can give it a shot and return it if it doesn’t pan out the way you want it to.

That's interesting. Might be worth the gamble. They do offer business coverage in my area - $250 / month with a $2500 equipment cost.

 

[dttheliman]

Two ways to get it :
1. Get on the list for when it’s available in your area,
2. Buy the RV mobile package , pay the extra , when Starlink is 100% in your area convert account to regular

Either way works , I was on their beta program in very rural Texas , have had it for over a year , an pleasantly surprised as to how well it functions, and have streamed 4k movies at the same time as teams calls and having cell phones being used , equally a buddy of mine has the RV package on a boat , which is in the Caribbean right now , only loses signal above 20 knots .

Sensible option for rural connectivity .

It is the shit

 

[Redmanss]

That's interesting. Might be worth the gamble. They do offer business coverage in my area - $250 / month with a $2500 equipment cost.

The business setup is a completely different dish and runs near gigabit speeds, hence the vastly different pricing, but it's all talking to the same satellites.

The biggest issue is the satellite density is highest in the further north portion of the hemisphere, orbital patterns being what they are, so that's why you're not yet seeing it in TX as of yet. They may have enough density to cover the limited commercial dishes, but not the much more popular and less expensive private usage dishes.

Two ways to get it :
1. Get on the list for when it’s available in your area,
2. Buy the RV mobile package , pay the extra , when Starlink is 100% in your area convert account to regular

Either way works , I was on their beta program in very rural Texas , have had it for over a year , an pleasantly surprised as to how well it functions, and have streamed 4k movies at the same time as teams calls and having cell phones being used , equally a buddy of mine has the RV package on a boat , which is in the Caribbean right now , only loses signal above 20 knots .

Sensible option for rural connectivity .

It is the shit

Definitely good advice here, with a secondary going for the commercial if you have the need for that much bandwidth and a business to expense it to. In my house right now with the standard v2 "Dishy" and zero obstructions, I have HD video news streaming on the TV while my wife is in the middle of a business video call and I'm on the computer fucking off in the Bear Pit, none of which is lagging in the least. Not the most intensive usage, sure, we do zero gaming and it's only the two of us with no doorbell cameras or five dozen IoT items so I can see what's in my fridge while adjusting my thermostat from the couch, but short of hail directly above it's been flawless thus far. Winter will be the real test.

 

[dttheliman]

The business setup is a completely different dish and runs near gigabit speeds, hence the vastly different pricing, but it's all talking to the same satellites.

The biggest issue is the satellite density is highest in the further north portion of the hemisphere, orbital patterns being what they are, so that's why you're not yet seeing it in TX as of yet. They may have enough density to cover the limited commercial dishes, but not the much more popular and less expensive private usage dishes.


Definitely good advice here, with a secondary going for the commercial if you have the need for that much bandwidth and a business to expense it to. In my house right now with the standard v2 "Dishy" and zero obstructions, I have HD video news streaming on the TV while my wife is in the middle of a business video call and I'm on the computer fucking off in the Bear Pit, none of which is lagging in the least. Not the most intensive usage, sure, we do zero gaming and it's only the two of us with no doorbell cameras or five dozen IoT items so I can see what's in my fridge while adjusting my thermostat from the couch, but short of hail directly above it's been flawless thus far. Winter will be the real test.

I was up at my property during the heavy ice storms (it’s Texas we got to -4 ) last year it was up basically the whole time , maybe an 1 hour outage at the peak , but it powered through it.

 

[Redmanss]

I was up at my property during the heavy ice storms (it’s Texas we got to -4 ) last year it was up basically the whole time , maybe an 1 hour outage at the peak , but it powered through it.
View attachment 8216442

Texas ice and Wyoming blizzards are two different animals. I'm optimistic about the prospects, but a realist that heavy snow + 60mph winds + sub zero temps are pushing it.