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Nobadays
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# Posted: 25 May 2022 03:47pm
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Well we have had Starlink up and running now for about a month. Have to say I'm impressed! It is mounted on a 38" Winegard mast that is lag bolted to the 2x4 purlins under the metal.... lots of silicon! Very sturdy... so far has held up to +70mph gusts!
I used the app to scan for obstructions per their advice... seemed like we might have a little interference but didn't look bad.. we worried about when the aspen leafed out that there might be trouble but with them 95% full leaf, Dishy is still saying "no obstructions!" We have taller trees to the east and west but the satellites travel sw-ne and nw-se diagonally.
The difference between Viasat and Starlink is night and day! We depend on internet for phone usage. With Viasat we were dealing with latency in the 600ms range meaning dropped calls, people not hearing you, visa versa, it was tough to make a phone call. Starlink has been averaging under 40ms of latency and I've not seen it more than 80ms. Phone calls are pretty normal. The speed is phenomenal... just ran a test, 140mbps download and 22mbps upload.
The best part in $110.00/month unlimited, no data caps! With Viasat we were paying $160.00/month unlimited, BUT... 100gig cap the they throttled you down to basically dial-up speeds... no TV after that. We had to really pay attention to how much data we used.... and since we let the neighbors use it too, sometimes out of data in less than 3 weeks.
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jsahara24
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# Posted: 25 May 2022 04:20pm
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Glad to hear it....I share your opinion and have been running it for 15 months or so.....
I see they changed the dish into a square, mine is circular.....
They did just raise the price 11$/month, but with the service and my lack of options its hard to complain...
Enjoy!
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BRADISH
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# Posted: 25 May 2022 05:50pm - Edited by: BRADISH
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That is awesome to hear.
Despite my cabin being completely off grid in terms of utilities, while building it i am wiring it for ethernet cable with the hopes of one day having Starlink or something similar. Glad to see you're having good success with it!
Availability is quoted as coming Q1 of 2023 to my area. Hopefully that is indeed the case!
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NorthRick
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# Posted: 25 May 2022 06:50pm
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With Starlink up here in Alaska, it's always just 8 months away!
A competitor, OneWeb, looks to have service up here sooner. They already have a ground station in Talkeetna.
For now, I'm still relying on a cell phone booster and my cell phone for internet access at the cabin.
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BRADISH
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# Posted: 25 May 2022 06:52pm
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Quoting: NorthRick With Starlink up here in Alaska, it's always just 8 months away
Good to know. This is the first time I've actually looked..
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Nobadays
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# Posted: 25 May 2022 07:22pm
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Jsahara24... yeah, this is by far our best option. We are not big TV watchers with Viasat we had to lower the bit rate to the lowest setting, then streaming g services like Paramount plus don't have an option to lower the bit rate so it just wouldn't stream. Watch 1 live HD football game... spooling often... and a third of our data was gone. Yep gonna enjoy it! Hey I should raise the bit rate 9n the tv!
We put our deposit down better than a year ago. I guess we tied up $99.00 but because we had the deposit down we saved $50.00 on the equipment. We had Viasat through a local company so had to rent the modem/router for nearly 3 years @ $10.00/month... I prefer to buy the equipment outright. It's plugging a surge protector so I can hope it does It's job if we get a nearby strike.
A tip I got from my SIL... they had a deposit down for nearly a year as well, somewhere in that time he moved his location pin just a bit to better line up with his house. That move cost him several months wait time. Why I don't know but his account had said "mid 2021", after the pin move it said "late 2021" and they didgeridoo their dish until last November.
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 25 May 2022 07:24pm
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Didgeridoo.... gotta love auto correct!
They didn't get their dish.....
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gcrank1
Member
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# Posted: 26 May 2022 11:05am
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That IS funny 
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jsahara24
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# Posted: 26 May 2022 12:37pm
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Nobadays.....I got an email from Starlink stating you can now take your dish/modem with you if you travel. Not sure that you'll be looking to take your dish down off the roof ridge, but possibly an option if you travel back and forth to AZ to save some money on your AZ house internet.....
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 26 May 2022 03:32pm
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Jsahara24.... saw that, I think they charge you an additional $25.00/month if you want it mobile.
Unfortunately (fortunately?! ) our place in AZ is surrounded by towering Ponderosa pine trees, I don't think Starlink would work well there. Besides we maintain Suddenlink's lowest plan there as our watering system and thermostat are wifi so we can adjust as needed from here.... turn down the AC before we get there in the summer or heat up in the winter. Our neighbors let us know if our flower/shrubs are needing more water and we can adjust. I think we are also going to put up a camera or two there so we can monitor the place.
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mj1angier
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# Posted: 27 May 2022 06:25pm
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Got my dishy on the way! Going try it her at home (DSL now) and up at cabin on the next trip. Lots of trees at cabin so might need some chainsaw work, lol
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redwolfguild
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# Posted: 31 May 2022 04:49pm
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Starlink is the way to go. Went from zero internet to faster than I get at home paying a premium. Remember as more installs happen, the slower it will get.
Warning, Starlink hates trees so you may need to put it away from your house. I am using all 75ft of the included cord. No way to extend so you have to buy an aftermarket 150ft cord.
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 31 May 2022 07:25pm
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Quoting: redwolfguild Warning, Starlink hates trees so you may need to put it away from your house.
We seem to be high enough on the roof, on a 38" mast to avoid tree interference. We wondered when the trees leafed out if we would have trouble but the aspens are in full leaf and Dishy stills says no recent interference every time I look. Sweet!
The neighbors are splitting the cost for the 6 months they are there... they may stream a little but have Direct TV so not much. Another neighbor who comes up for 2-4 days a couple time a month gave me $300.00 for access while they are there so his wife can use her phone... aging parents that she needs to check in with daily. So for us going g from $169/mnthfor 100gb of very slow somewhat unreliable internet to super fast, unlimited for $110/mth... and neighbors paying our bill for 6 months of the year, we scored!
In case anyone wonders... the lower neighbor has a TP-Link 750 at his garage about 60-75 yards from our cabin and that boosts the signal for them. The other neighbor is about equal distance the opposite direction and they are able to grab a signal off the extender I have outside my shop. Same TP Link 750.
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FishHog
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# Posted: 1 Jun 2022 08:01am
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what is the power usage like? Not that you really need to worry about it with your new batteries, but I'm curious if you know.
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 1 Jun 2022 09:33am
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FishHog.... I personally have not put my Kil-O-Watt meter on it but did some searching for those who have. One Reddit user who monitors it reports...
First I have the new style grey/rectangular dish and this model is supposed to have incorporated better power management.
175w for a minute or two after first plugging in.
65w for the next hour +/-
40w under just general usage and overnight with no usage.
He did say the power consumption went up to 75w during a heavy rain storm. My guess is during snow storms it will use 100w as it has a snow melting system built in. It is actually a flat "dish" so snow can slide off it.
The power consumption is pretty similar to Viasat but no snow melting on Viasat so it hovered around 40w +/- , jumping up do to weater or just didn't work.
Since the neighbors who split the cost with us are on a different sleep schedule than our 9pm - 5:30/6am, we leave it on all night. I haven't noticed any jump in power usage overnight.
I do think winter/snow may hurt. We will see.
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FishHog
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# Posted: 1 Jun 2022 02:09pm
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Thanks for the info
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redwolfguild
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# Posted: 2 Jun 2022 01:25pm - Edited by: redwolfguild
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Quoting: FishHog what is the power usage like
Mine is pulling 45 watts on average at 120 volts. When it powers up it draws close to 100 watts then settles in at about 45 watts. I have also turned off the heating element in the dish so I am not drawing there when it gets cold.
I went to LIPO batteries so I could run it 24/7 without issue. I run it off 12 volt Victron Phoenix 800 watt inverter and when only Starlink is on, the inverter draws 3-4 amps from the battery.
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redwolfguild
Member
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# Posted: 2 Jun 2022 01:33pm
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Quoting: Nobadays nd neighbors paying our bill for 6 months of the year, we scored!
That is a pretty sweet deal.
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zorro
Member
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# Posted: 17 Oct 2022 04:59pm - Edited by: zorro
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Hey
I am looking at Starlink as hope to spend a bit more time at the cabin under my "remote working" deal with my boss!!
I run 3 x 340w panels, 1500amp inverter and 8 x golf cart bats...........minimal usage on anything in the cabin - so hopefully I am good to go
Can you let me know where you got the mast you have the antenna on?
Do you think i could simply bolt the antenna to the top of the eaves on the cabin, rather than using a large mast?
Wont be back to the cabin till Thanksgiving and will run the Starlink app to check for line of site and blockages - that may be my biggest issue with trees
Thanks
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 17 Oct 2022 08:50pm
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THIS is the mast I used. I ordered an adapter off etsy but wasn't that happy with it. I would buy the adapter from Starlink.
Quoting: zorro Do you think i could simply bolt the antenna to the top of the eaves on the cabin, rather than using a large mast?
Depends on your skyview .
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jsahara24
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# Posted: 18 Oct 2022 08:44am
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I repurposed an old direct tv mast to mount my starlink. Had to fab up an adapter but it was simple...Something to consider if you have any old dishes laying around.
And yes, completely depends on your skyview. In PA we need a northern sky view.
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zorro
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# Posted: 19 Oct 2022 03:14pm
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Perfect - thanks guys, appreciate the info
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