Thread: All things STARLINK

For those that want to run their 2nd version Starlink on 12v Yaosheng have released a 3 in 1 unit that connects to 12v, connects to the router of your choice and connects to the dishy without cutting any cables, it also comes with the shielded RJ45 cable wired correctly for Starlink to connect the router.
YAOSHENG 120W 3-IN-1 Step Up PoE Injector for Residential Starlink V2 (Starlink 12V, 24V conversion)

I'll have to try and confirm that with some overlanders, if I can get in touch with any of them without all the social stuff (what happened to email? :P) because I do wonder about it.

That 12v unit is indeed handy, not sure about keeping the cable at the length it is though. Personally I would not mind cutting it but then again having the option to put the dish further away from the vehicle can be beneficial.

I'll try to get in touch with some people on the webs to see if roaming still works on the cheaper plan.

Cheers,
-P

Originally Posted by W&KO

Pretty sure The global roaming plan is for user wanting to use while driving.

If your jut setting up while stationary at camp than price hasn’t changed.

Global roaming is if your touring the world & want to go from country to country.

I have the Mobile - regional plan , I pause it at home. $174.00 a month when I activate it. It works while driving no problems,

Turns out that two overlanders got back to me with the same answer so I'll take it as gospel:

Nobody's using global roam.

You just need to move your account to country you're going to, and use regional roam there.

ie. what you do is: you cancel the service and transfer the ownership of the starlink gear. You will need a second mail address to be able to do so. You can use the same credit card and phone number in the second account. You then place an order in the new account for the other country/region you go to and select the "I already have my starlink" and enter the KIT number. You will also need to be at the registered address for this to work (ie. you are at a camp ground, hotel, wherever in the region you are "buying" your new account) so that the dish will activate, it checks it's position so it won't activate if you are not there. Since you can click on a map to register your location so this can be virtually anywhere. Activation should take all of a couple of minutes and when that is done you are good to go and travel on!

One thing to keep in mind is that they have also introduced a rule that you can’t transfer ownership for 120 days from purchase or 90 days from first registration but I can’t see that being an issue given the speed most overlanders travel.

I guess not many will travel outside of Australia with their device but this is how it is done and what we will be doing. I am glad there is an option because it will save a heck of a lot of money!

Also, Global Roaming makes use of the "space lasers" between the satellites so it actually offers coverage anywhere in the world, even the parts that do not have official coverage yet. This is probably why this option is so expensive since you make use of a limited infrastructure; the bandwidth between the sats. Area's that have coverage connect to the nearest ground station as to limit the bandwidth used on the interconnects between the satellites.

Anyway, hope this is useful to someone.

Cheers,
-P

Prelude you probably already know this but if you aren't into cutting cables and reterminating them there are quite a few places offering different length cables now including Starlink.

Yes, I am aware that shorter cables exist. It's a package deal I would say. With that I mean: if I want to keep things light on my vehicle I would ditch the stand, cut up the dish, integrate in in/onto the roof, ditch the seriously heavy router and make a custom cable that would be just about right to fit into the fixed setup. I reckon I could save over half the weight of the entire thing.

The only real advantage to having the usual setup (perhaps custom router) is that you can place the dish somewhere in a clear area as opposed to having to park you car in the sun. I was "lucky?" enough to have parked in a clear area on my trip to Germany since the fields were so water logged my FWD T4 transporter camper van would not even maybe get on there. I'll be lucky to get out of level ground that has been seriously chopped up by vehicles as large as 8x8 trucks.

Anyway, I digress. Having placed the dish on the bonnet of my mates jeep with virtually no obstructions around it performs well, as is to be expected. I have not been able (with my broken foot and all) to explore all of the camp area's around but from the main paths where my wheelchair could be pushed I found about a dozen starlink dishes. Were I to extrapolate the total number of them in the area I think at most 50 of them are around and probably not all of them active. I still get decent performance: Speedtest by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test

All in all I am quite happy with how it works, just not so much with the power consumption. It seems to "idle" at around 50-60watts". This includes the losses of the 200VA inverter (true sine so with a toroid transformer) and the power supply in the router etc. Admittedly, I borrowed this old bus and it has only 200Ah of very worn AGM batteries that will hold 130 at most and a 30 year old 100 watt solar panel that will put out 80 in full sun at most so that is not ideal but I do have to turn the thing of when not using it.

To conclude; I will have to see whether I will mount it fixed into the car or leave it as a stand alone unit but it seems like we would be bringing it along since there definitely is a use for it. I have not used much data over starlink whilst we were here but then again there is a campfire and a messe to visit etc. so why bother being on the internet

Looking forward to your experiences!

Cheers,
-P

Not sure if they apply here yet, but they will. Obviously he is talking $US,

Originally Posted by Tins

Not sure if they apply here yet, but they will. Obviously he is talking $US,

I received an email yesterday with new pricing…in now includes in motion