Starlink

[rekees4300]

Apparently SpaceX is preparing to impose high-speed data caps for US users. It has always been assumed by their customers that Starlink data caps would never exist! :-(

SpaceX's Starlink Quietly Mentions High-Speed Data Caps Are Coming for US Users

The company adds new language to Starlink's terms of service about users receiving a monthly allocation of 'Priority Access.'

www.pcmag.com

 

[ponytug]

Apparently SpaceX is preparing to impose high-speed data caps for US users. It has always been assumed by their customers that Starlink data caps would never exist! :-(

SpaceX's Starlink Quietly Mentions High-Speed Data Caps Are Coming for US Users

The company adds new language to Starlink's terms of service about users receiving a monthly allocation of 'Priority Access.'

www.pcmag.com

Well, I can't speak for others, but as satellite bandwidth is finite, I expected it. Elon also needs cash to pay for Twitter as well.

Personally, as we aren't data hogs, it might even be a good thing for us, as we are in a "low capacity" cell, and typical speeds have gotten pretty slow.

Still, Starlink is way better than the AT&T DSL that we used to have. When I called AT&T recently to cancel service, and got sent over to the "customer retention division", I found it interesting that they didn't even try to retain me as a customer after thirty odd years of being one. Well, the feeling is mutual. I saw a study recently that AT&T had been redlining certain areas to low bandwidth/low quality service, and we happen to be in such an area. Not nice.

All the best,

Peter

 

[JasperFrank]

All the carriers are attempting to get rid of DSL. My theory on this, is that they don't want to maintain so many modems and lines. And that the carriers certainly don't want you, OWNING, the at home DSL modem, or using an unlocked, secondhand modem that isn't leased. The carriers want both, a rental on the modem, AND, a subscription to the carrier.
I'm very happy with even the low Mbps, we get. It does the job, on streaming content and Zoom meetings and everything we do. It is only a two person household. Yet, Centurylink seems to want to keep increasing the monthly, which started out at $65 a month - local phone included, and is now $108 a month. When ever I call, and say cancel,.... that I'm going to another service, they will knock off $15 a month, and then slowly increase again, just a little bit, month to month, till its back up to over a hundred a month. I know technically, that the DSL can't improve the speeds- or can they? We don't care about the speeds, as they are good enough. It is this slow and weasel like, little increases, that are bothersome. Going to any other type of system, has up front costs, that seem insane to me. And who knows if they will do the same sort of "Just a little increase, over time," behavior.

 

[ponytug]

DSL uses higher than audio frequencies on the phone lines that are rapidly attenuated by distance. So the maximum speed has always been close to the central office, or fiber to copper repeater. It has never been a great technology for rural areas. It is also twenty plus years old and pretty much everyone has stopped making the modems, chips, and transceivers for DSL. One AT&T representative mentioned that they are sending boards to Canada to be refurbished, and have had six month backlogs due to a lack of parts.

Our local AT&T has larger issues with respect to maintenance, and an unwillingness to service our area.

All the best,

Peter

 

[buckeyefarmer]

DSL uses higher than audio frequencies on the phone lines that are rapidly attenuated by distance. So the maximum speed has always been close to the central office, or fiber to copper repeater. It has never been a great technology for rural areas. It is also twenty plus years old and pretty much everyone has stopped making the modems, chips, and transceivers for DSL. One AT&T representative mentioned that they are sending boards to Canada to be refurbished, and have had six month backlogs due to a lack of parts.

Our local AT&T has larger issues with respect to maintenance, and an unwillingness to service our area.

All the best,

Peter

Seems like only yesterday they were installing it. I remember it being installed in my area around 1998. Guess I’m getting old. I was 1 house away, they stopped at my neighbors and would not give it to me.

 

[newbury]

Apparently SpaceX is preparing to impose high-speed data caps for US users. It has always been assumed by their customers that Starlink data caps would never exist! :-(

SpaceX's Starlink Quietly Mentions High-Speed Data Caps Are Coming for US Users

The company adds new language to Starlink's terms of service about users receiving a monthly allocation of 'Priority Access.'

www.pcmag.com

You know what is said about ASSUME.
They mention

users in France. Specifically, the high-speed caps involve slowing down a customer’s internet speeds once they exceed a 250GB monthly data limit and if capacity on the network has been stretched.

I just checked and I've used about 50GB this month with only a maybe 20 minutes/day of Youtube (ukraine war). SWMBO probably streams about 3 movies per week, so maybe another 50GB/month. But my son is a gamer for several hours a day. Still I think this household in Virginia could stay under 250GB/month.
But I always figured Starlink would suffer from "tragedy of the commons".
When my household had the 3 more (now grown up) children I'm sure the 5 of us would have easily been able to exceed the 250 GB/month limit.
I'm very glad I've got 100 Mbps fiber to my door in Mississippi, for $55/mo with unlimited data and included fiber optic modem and a router. But I expect as the county builds out they will either jack up the price or put limits on it.

 

[JasperFrank]

Its only been ten years since we had DSL as the only land line option in my area. Starlink, Me Thinks, is just a bad idea to get involved in. 5G looks to be a better answer, if you have line of sight to a tower, as it is being rolled out. Spectrum is somehow giving 1 gig, landline, last mile service. I have no idea how, but the neighbors down hill have it, after running an entirely new overhead line to their house at great expense. I'm guessing they had to, because the downhill place ONLY had co-ax, and not twisted pair, even though I have twisted pair with no co-ax, running in the same underground conduit.

 

[Oaktree]

All the carriers are attempting to get rid of DSL. My theory on this, is that they don't want to maintain so many modems and lines. And that the carriers certainly don't want you, OWNING, the at home DSL modem, or using an unlocked, secondhand modem that isn't leased. The carriers want both, a rental on the modem, AND, a subscription to the carrier.

Don't know where you are, but here if you want internet from the "phone company" it's going to be DSL. They've run fiber backbone thru much of the area, but the "last mile" is DSL. At least as of a couple years ago you had the option to rent or to purchase your own modem. This may vary by provider, telco here is Consolidated.

 

[BigBlue1]

Its only been ten years since we had DSL as the only land line option in my area. Starlink, Me Thinks, is just a bad idea to get involved in. 5G looks to be a better answer, if you have line of sight to a tower, as it is being rolled out. Spectrum is somehow giving 1 gig, landline, last mile service. I have no idea how, but the neighbors down hill have it, after running an entirely new overhead line to their house at great expense. I'm guessing they had to, because the downhill place ONLY had co-ax, and not twisted pair, even though I have twisted pair with no co-ax, running in the same underground conduit.

If you have other hard-wired options they likely are just as good or better choice than Starlink. But Starlink shines in rural areas where no other hard-wired solution exists (or only DSL) and where cell signals aren't strong. A LOT of rural locations are not well served by cellular, and certainly not by 5G. That may not be your experience, but Starlink is a huge solution to those types of folks. As with anything, the value is situational and what isn't a big deal to some is a major thing to others. Be happy if you have alternatives that are better.

 

[IXLR8]

Its only been ten years since we had DSL as the only land line option in my area. Starlink, Me Thinks, is just a bad idea to get involved in. 5G looks to be a better answer, if you have line of sight to a tower, as it is being rolled out. Spectrum is somehow giving 1 gig, landline, last mile service. I have no idea how, but the neighbors down hill have it, after running an entirely new overhead line to their house at great expense. I'm guessing they had to, because the downhill place ONLY had co-ax, and not twisted pair, even though I have twisted pair with no co-ax, running in the same underground conduit.

Except some of us will never have 5G as there is just not the population density to justify it. No cable company offers service where I live and while I do have fiber optic running down my street, the cost is higher and the speeds are slower than Starlink. So it's Starlink for me.