Starlink

[lman]

Everything is buried here. Only power lines are above ground.

 

[Diggin It]

Cost is $99/mo. plus $499 one time charge for equipment. TBD if that will be the post beta test cost.

That's a No-Go for me.

 

[Diggin It]

We don't put any of our fiber in the air for that very reason.

You should see our 'new' fiber they just ran. Trees and bushes had grown up around the copper trunk lines and poles so heavy you can't even see them from the road 20 feet away. Rather than trim the trees when running the fiber, they weaved it in and around the branches following the path of the old copper.

I'm still connected on copper that was buried in the 70s. For some reason, despite the main lines along the state highways being overhead, they buried all the residential feed trunks down the side roads. I'm on a 19 AWG 12 pair cable and only one of a few landline customers left along this road.

 

[rekees4300]

I want to know more details about the clear view of the sky thing. I can't have a traditional satellite dish because I do t have a clear view South. I live in mountains. So my only clear view is up.
That being said, my stargazing app shows Starlink satellites overhead constantly. I would like to see more setup helpful hints before plunking down $500.
I'm on a lousy cell phone hot-spot now, my only option.

According to this PDF the clear sky view must cover 100 degrees. See page 4

Ridgeline_Mount_Guide.pdf | DocDroid

Browse thru the Reddit forum. They have lots of info.

Starlink - SpaceX Satellite Constellation

 

[ponytug]

According to this PDF the clear sky view must cover 100 degrees. See page 4

Ridgeline_Mount_Guide.pdf | DocDroid

Browse thru the Reddit forum. They have lots of info.

Starlink - SpaceX Satellite Constellation

Thanks! That is great information. I was worried it would be 150 or so.

Given our local cost for alternatives, which are in the hundreds to thousands of dollars per month, and some come with $8,000 installation fees, I would be happy to try a $99/mo and $499 internet service. I'm paying $70/mo for an unreliable 5Mbit down/0.5 up. A reliable new modem for us would be $300.

It all depends on what your local options are. If you have faster/better/cheaper, please go for it. Those of us who don't have faster/better/cheaper will try Starlink to see if it is faster, or perhaps more reliable, or better, or cheaper than our alternatives. Fingers crossed.

All the best,

Peter

 

[shooterdon]

I would pay the cost IF it worked...But not for a beta test.

 

[MAD777]

That roof ridgeline mount is going to create problems with all modern vented ridgeline like mine. Plus, the pile of bricks/blocks up on my roof looks trashy, IMO. We need a cleaner way and it would be a lot safer not to climb onto the roof! Hopefully alternatives will be developed.
Oh, and is this thing heated? Obviously, it will be facing upward most of the time. Who is going to sit on my roof and constantly brush snow off this dish?

 

[Diggin It]

This seems to fir into this thread somehow:

Satellites eligible for FCC's $9 billion 5G Fund for Rural America

SpaceNews | Wed Oct 28, 2020 04:21 UTC

The Federal Communications Commission approved the creation Oct. 27 of a 5G Fund for Rural America to distribute as much as $9 billion over the next decade to extend 5G wireless broadband connectivity to rural communities. SpaceNews

Satellites eligible for FCC's $9 billion 5G Fund for Rural America - SpaceNews

 

[Frankenkubota]

As with tractor shopping and several other topics, I'm concerned with longevity. Will this be around ten years from now? Five? I've seen a few come and go in the last 10 years.

Boy, it's been a long time but didn't Motorola try to deploy a big constellation called Oridian or something, albert 25 years ago? I think it flopped and the military took it over.

A customer who became a close friend was in charge of earth station reconfig etc. for General Dynamics.

I guess if Starlink flops the military can figure out something to do with it.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Boy, it's been a long time but didn't Motorola try to deploy a big constellation called Oridian or something, albert 25 years ago? I think it flopped and the military took it over.

A customer who became a close friend was in charge of earth station reconfig etc. for General Dynamics.

I guess if Starlink flops the military can figure out something to do with it.

Keep in mind Starlink started out as and continues to be a military application.

Clearly the 5G funds will enhance to desire to roll out the consumer version of Starlink for the home consumer market. Microsoft has contracted with Starlink for their Azure cloud base solution that our company moved to several years ago. Federal funds may be how we can get $2000 of Starlink hardware for only $499.