OT: Starlink internet

[USN_Panther]

Do any of you use Starlink internet? I am considering it as I am rural and currently have slow cell-tower based internet. Not a gamer, so the latency issues shouldn't affect me. Mainly need good speed for streaming sports.

Any thoughts on the pros/cons of this?

 

[RINGGOLD94]

You live in New Zealand? If so, probably yes. Here in the states they are doing a complete overhaul of the old phone line (copper infrastructure) with a fiber based govt funded program which has already started in most areas.

I think it's a $400 upfront investment to buy the equipment then a monthly fee but still reliable for basic needs

 

[joeydavid]

Do any of you use Starlink internet? I am considering it as I am rural and currently have slow cell-tower based internet. Not a gamer, so the latency issues shouldn't affect me. Mainly need good speed for streaming sports.

Any thoughts on the pros/cons of this?

It's fine if it's your only option. I have colleague who lives in the Middle of Nowhere, PA. He gets 120 Mbps on his downloads. Starlink isn't much help with the installation.

 

[pafootballguy]

Do any of you use Starlink internet? I am considering it as I am rural and currently have slow cell-tower based internet. Not a gamer, so the latency issues shouldn't affect me. Mainly need good speed for streaming sports.

Any thoughts on the pros/cons of this?

I love it, we have a camp in PA with minimal cell coverage, and Star Link allows my brother-in-law and me to work from camp. We get around 120 Mbps so as long as you don't have too many people streaming it is fine.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

I love it, we have a camp in PA with minimal cell coverage, and Star Link allows my brother-in-law and me to work from camp. We get around 120 Mbps so as long as you don't have too many people streaming it is fine.

Anything over 100Mbps is fine for 99% of people, and anything over 50Mbps is fine for 95% of people. An HD video stream is ~5Mbps, so unless you plan on having a bunch of 4k UHD streams going, you'll never get over 100Mbps.

The cable and fiber providers have done a great job convincing society that they need to buy massive amounts of bandwidth that they'll never use, and would likely never be available even if you could use it.

On Starlink, I have a buddy who has one for a remote house and loves it.

 

[pittdan77]

Have a friend using it. The 120 Mbps is pretty accurate for performance. They do some streaming with it. Not ideal but it works if you don't have another good option.

 

[USN_Panther]

I love it, we have a camp in PA with minimal cell coverage, and Star Link allows my brother-in-law and me to work from camp. We get around 120 Mbps so as long as you don't have too many people streaming it is fine.

Thanks. My current service is cell tower based and service is variable. It handles streaming series and movies pretty well, but struggles with live TV. Definitely need to upgrade before football season.

 

[USN_Panther]

Have a friend using it. The 120 Mbps is pretty accurate for performance. They do some streaming with it. Not ideal but it works if you don't have another good option.

I don't have a fibre option. When you say not ideal,what features are you referring to?

 

[USN_Panther]

It's fine if it's your only option. I have colleague who lives in the Middle of Nowhere, PA. He gets 120 Mbps on his downloads. Starlink isn't much help with the installation.

One of my ice hockey teammates recently started up an IT and tech services business. He does mainly business and point of sale IT stuff, but does some residential installs too. He said he hasn't done Starlink yet but said it looks straightforward. We need to do VoIP phone with it and keep our number, so if we do this I'll have him install and sort out the housewide coverage.

 

[joeydavid]

One of my ice hockey teammates recently started up an IT and tech services business. He does mainly business and point of sale IT stuff, but does some residential installs too. He said he hasn't done Starlink yet but said it looks straightforward. We need to do VoIP phone with it and keep our number, so if we do this I'll have him install and sort out the housewide coverage.

The installation isn't much but it should be up high if you have trees/mountains. His issue was his house is huge (4 stories up). Needed a damn lift for installation.

 

[USN_Panther]

The installation isn't much but it should be up high if you have trees/mountains. His issue was his house is huge (4 stories up). Needed a damn lift for installation.

Mattie tells me that aiming doesn't need to be precise as the unit is motorised and will self-correct to the satellites. We do have thick tree cover so going to have to be on the house.

 

[rtrainer]

The newer generation dish is not motorized

 

[USN_Panther]

The newer generation dish is not motorized

Not sure if being in NZ affects this. We may not have the same satellite cover as the northern hemisphere. I'm about as far south as you can get without being in Antarctica (near Invercargill).