Starlink Broadband

[Geekman]

I just signed up for this for our new house in the country, supposedly it'll be ready by the end of this year. The only internet options we have currently are a 4G modem with a 200GB monthly limit and 10mb dl / 3mb ul, or some sort of antenna system that offers similar speeds to Starlink but cost around 2k to install plus 130ish per month. Hoping this should be a decent solution, and I'd be interested to hear people's experiences so far.

[eharding]

Geekman said:

I just signed up for this for our new house in the country, supposedly it'll be ready by the end of this year. The only internet options we have currently are a 4G modem with a 200GB monthly limit and 10mb dl / 3mb ul, or some sort of antenna system that offers similar speeds to Starlink but cost around 2k to install plus 130ish per month. Hoping this should be a decent solution, and I'd be interested to hear people's experiences so far.

Had it since early January - a lot more stable now, still the occasional beta outage but can't remember when I had to revert back to the BT wire link due to Starlink issues. Speeds vary - 150mpbs - 210mbps generally. Get the app to plan out a location for the dish free from obstructions, and plan your cable routing (needs quite a large diameter hole for the cable, they will sell you a masonry fitting kit with the appropriate drill bits if you don't have them.

[Geekman]

eharding said:

Geekman said:

I just signed up for this for our new house in the country, supposedly it'll be ready by the end of this year. The only internet options we have currently are a 4G modem with a 200GB monthly limit and 10mb dl / 3mb ul, or some sort of antenna system that offers similar speeds to Starlink but cost around 2k to install plus 130ish per month. Hoping this should be a decent solution, and I'd be interested to hear people's experiences so far.

Had it since early January - a lot more stable now, still the occasional beta outage but can't remember when I had to revert back to the BT wire link due to Starlink issues. Speeds vary - 150mpbs - 210mbps generally. Get the app to plan out a location for the dish free from obstructions, and plan your cable routing (needs quite a large diameter hole for the cable, they will sell you a masonry fitting kit with the appropriate drill bits if you don't have them.

Thanks, much appreciated. 150-210 is more than enough for us, tbh I’d be happy with 50 if it was stable. We have a lot of options for the dish location, and looking at the reviews on YouTube the app seems to help a lot.

[eein]

I read that Starlink is currently only available to those living between 43 and 53 degrees lattitude, which means the southern half of England.

Is this true?

And has anyone tried using it farther north? eg Scotland.

[geeks]

eein said:

I read that Starlink is currently only available to those living between 43 and 53 degrees lattitude, which means the southern half of England.

Is this true?

And has anyone tried using it farther north? eg Scotland.

Pretty sure most of Scotland is covered now, have a look at https://satellitemap.space/ it gives an idea of the level of coverage

[eein]

geeks said:

eein said:

I read that Starlink is currently only available to those living between 43 and 53 degrees lattitude, which means the southern half of England.

Is this true?

And has anyone tried using it farther north? eg Scotland.

Pretty sure most of Scotland is covered now, have a look at https://satellitemap.space/ it gives an idea of the level of coverage

That map looks like there are zero above scotland. Unless my browser is not refreshing, there are none north of england. Both north and south poles appear to be bare.

[Leithen]

eein said:

That map looks like there are zero above scotland. Unless my browser is not refreshing, there are none north of england. Both north and south poles appear to be bare.

You need to go into the settings (cog wheels) and make sure "Rings" is selected to show the estimated coverage of each satellite.

Pre-orders are being accepted for Scotland, with delivery expected in the second half of this year. An estimate of the "cells" are here - https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1AyH8eXm3...

[eein]

Leithen said:

eein said:

That map looks like there are zero above scotland. Unless my browser is not refreshing, there are none north of england. Both north and south poles appear to be bare.

You need to go into the settings (cog wheels) and make sure "Rings" is selected to show the estimated coverage of each satellite.

Pre-orders are being accepted for Scotland, with delivery expected in the second half of this year. An estimate of the "cells" are here - https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1AyH8eXm3...

Excellent, thanks...

... unfortunately I'm looking at exactly one cell north of the top! But I probably wont be living there for a year or two, so hopefully they catch up by then. Indeed I wont be able to live there until I can get decent internet and there's no other option!

[eharding]

eein said:

Leithen said:

eein said:

That map looks like there are zero above scotland. Unless my browser is not refreshing, there are none north of england. Both north and south poles appear to be bare.

You need to go into the settings (cog wheels) and make sure "Rings" is selected to show the estimated coverage of each satellite.

Pre-orders are being accepted for Scotland, with delivery expected in the second half of this year. An estimate of the "cells" are here - https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1AyH8eXm3...

Excellent, thanks...

... unfortunately I'm looking at exactly one cell north of the top! But I probably wont be living there for a year or two, so hopefully they catch up by then. Indeed I wont be able to live there until I can get decent internet and there's no other option!

Keep and eye on launches of polar orbit Starlink satellites - building out this constellation will provide much more coverage in high latitudes - in a couple of years you should be fine in the north of Scotland.

[chippy348]

Because of this thread i am now a Starkink user, just plonked it on a out building roof and ran a cable though a window to test the location, all good so far, so will make it more permanent.

However due to the size of the house and the amount of celotex the Wi-Fi signal is poor, i have wired cat5/6 in most places to a central network switch so looking at adding some access points.

I already have 3 of these dotted around, 2 in out buildings and just 1 in the house, these are quite older ones.

So looking at getting 4 new ones, can anyone recommend anything ?

I came across these > https://eu.store.ui.com/products/unifi-6-long-rang...

I have zero knowledge in these though

[xeny]

If you're looking at dotting APs all over the place, a bunch of Lites may well be more cost effective than fewer LRs.

[Captain_Morgan]

Also look at tp link Omada ap’s

[chippy348]

Captain_Morgan said:

Also look at tp link Omada ap’s

These any good ? https://www.tp-link.com/uk/business-networking/wal...

[Captain_Morgan]

chippy348 said:

Captain_Morgan said:

Also look at tp link Omada ap’s

These any good ? https://www.tp-link.com/uk/business-networking/wal...

Sorry haven’t used them, my loft mounted eap225 covers our three bed and garden quite well.
If you already have cabling for ceiling mounted ap’s is it not easier to continue to use that form factor?

[chippy348]

Captain_Morgan said:

Sorry haven’t used them, my loft mounted eap225 covers our three bed and garden quite well.
If you already have cabling for ceiling mounted ap’s is it not easier to continue to use that form factor?

All the Cat5 are in wall plates around the bottom of the rooms, hence going for a wall mount one

[Murph7355]

xeny said:

If you're looking at dotting APs all over the place, a bunch of Lites may well be more cost effective than fewer LRs.

Generally good advice, though I plumped for LRs again, this time because they had 4x radios and I wanted to future proof as much as I could.

Good quality kit.

(Ordering from the EU store is precisely zero aggro. I got a £13 customs charge (DHL handling I think as zero tariff rated), but they were still cheaper than the UK suppliers are advertising (unfortunately - the UK suppliers are good guys IME).

[Captain_Morgan]

chippy348 said:

All the Cat5 are in wall plates around the bottom of the rooms, hence going for a wall mount one

There’s some data to suggest that the in wall units from all manufacturers don’t gave the same level of coverage as the ceiling mounted equivalent, so you might need more ap’s using them.

[xeny]

Captain_Morgan said:

There’s some data to suggest that the in wall units from all manufacturers don’t gave the same level of coverage as the ceiling mounted equivalent, so you might need more ap’s using them.

Certainly that's my experience. The in wall units tend to be compromised to fit in the space, and have the added problem that there are more likely to be objects between the AP and a client than the ceiling mounted ones do.

[theboss]

Just paid for my order to be fulfilled... how are people getting on with this?

[Northernboy]

theboss said:

Just paid for my order to be fulfilled... how are people getting on with this?

Still very well. The down time is now only a few seconds per day, and not noticeable. It seems to be over 100mb/s all the time.