Starlink

[BigBlue1]

What is the difference between the Starlink ini router and the Gen 3 router? ould I use my own with either system?

The Starlink Mini is an all-in-one highly portable system that can be flexibly powered (AC or DC). Its performance is reasonably on par with the standard Gen 3 system. The difference comes from the all-in-one nature. The ramification of that is that the wifi router is co-located with the dish, which is going to be outside somewhere. If you're sitting in a tent 15' from it that's probably a non-issue. But if you are in a campground and the dish needs to be 50' away to get a view of the sky all of a sudden your wifi signal in the RV is going to be fairly low. Same thing if you wanted to use it for residential use and mount it on your roof. And while yes, you can hook up your own router to a Mini, that means you need to run another cable - an ethernet connection - from your router out to the dish.

So, CAN it function very similarly to a standard Gen 3? Sure. But with drawbacks. Only you know how you will use it and if those situations are problems for you.

 

[ponytug]

The Starlink Mini is an all-in-one highly portable system that can be flexibly powered (AC or DC). Its performance is reasonably on par with the standard Gen 3 system. The difference comes from the all-in-one nature. The ramification of that is that the wifi router is co-located with the dish, which is going to be outside somewhere. If you're sitting in a tent 15' from it that's probably a non-issue. But if you are in a campground and the dish needs to be 50' away to get a view of the sky all of a sudden your wifi signal in the RV is going to be fairly low. Same thing if you wanted to use it for residential use and mount it on your roof. And while yes, you can hook up your own router to a Mini, that means you need to run another cable - an ethernet connection - from your router out to the dish.

So, CAN it function very similarly to a standard Gen 3? Sure. But with drawbacks. Only you know how you will use it and if those situations are problems for you.

I agree, but I think that there is small caveat; the mini can do download speeds "up to" 200Mbits/s (we get 120Mbits/sec here), but the larger gen 3 dish has three service plans currently;
100, 200/Mbits/s, and "MAX",
and the system can do up to 350Mbits/s.

Starlink

High-speed internet. Available almost anywhere on Earth.

starlink.com

FWIW: Here, we have seen 350Mbits/sec download speeds on gen 3 fairly often. The old gen 2 had a maximum of 120Mbit/s here.

All the best, Peter

 

[B7510HSD]

Even the 100bit plan would work for me as I only get 25 now!

 

[ponytug]

What ever works best for you!

All the best, Peter

 

[Fallon]

What is the difference between the Starlink ini router and the Gen 3 router? ould I use my own with either system?

I've got a g2 system. At home the dish is plugged into the g2 router. In the RV I have a standard non-Starlink WiFi router going to a POE injector that runs the dish. I have a similar poe injector & WiFi setup for some mobile lanparties. I have the custom setups so I don't have to worry about hauling anything but the dish & cable around. The g2 router only accepts 120v I run my mobile gear of 12v (basically car batteries). Also because I'm a huge nerd.

G2 routers & dishes use a funky proprietary plug on the cable. You can get an adapter to change these cables to RJ45, or cut the end off & put a standard RJ45 plug on them.
G3 routers & dishes use a standard RJ45 connector on the cable, but it's a heavier cable than most Ethernet.
I'm not sure how the minis are setup. I think the WiFi is in the dish itself & there is no Ethernet. Power is over Ethernet though. Feel free correct me if I'm wrong though

 

[ponytug]

I've got a g2 system. At home the dish is plugged into the g2 router. In the RV I have a standard non-Starlink WiFi router going to a POE injector that runs the dish. I have a similar poe injector & WiFi setup for some mobile lanparties. I have the custom setups so I don't have to worry about hauling anything but the dish & cable around. The g2 router only accepts 120v I run my mobile gear of 12v (basically car batteries). Also because I'm a huge nerd.

G2 routers & dishes use a funky proprietary plug on the cable. You can get an adapter to change these cables to RJ45, or cut the end off & put a standard RJ45 plug on them.
G3 routers & dishes use a standard RJ45 connector on the cable, but it's a heavier cable than most Ethernet.
I'm not sure how the minis are setup. I think the WiFi is in the dish itself & there is no Ethernet. Power is over Ethernet though. Feel free correct me if I'm wrong though

For the mini, it is just the antenna. WiFi, and the satellite are inside. There is one RJ45 Ethernet socket for Ethernet.

The power is via a USB C style connector providing DC in 12-48V @60W, but higher on the voltage is preferred due to the power draw. So, a "not quite standard" USB C. I'm told that a beefy enough USB C (60-100W)power supply can supply a short cable, but due to cable resistance and the associated power loss, longer cables only work with higher voltage adapters. I've only used it with the Starlink provided adapters (AC version, and DC version).

https://starlink.com/public-files/specification_sheet_mini.pdf

All the best, Peter

 

[Fallon]

For the mini, it is just the antenna. WiFi, and the satellite are inside. There is one RJ45 Ethernet socket for Ethernet.

The power is via a USB C style connector providing DC in 12-48V @60W, but higher on the voltage is preferred due to the power draw. So, a "not quite standard" USB C. I'm told that a beefy enough USB C (60-100W)power supply can supply a short cable, but due to cable resistance and the associated power loss, longer cables only work with higher voltage adapters. I've only used it with the Starlink provided adapters (AC version, and DC version).

https://starlink.com/public-files/specification_sheet_mini.pdf

All the best, Peter

USB PD (Power Delivery) can provide up to 48v 240watts. If the client device requests it & the power supply is capable. Everything above 5v .5@ is negotiated, so you won't fry anything. It's pretty cool & starting to replace dedicated vendor specific power supplies for laptops & other stuff.

I'd assume they are just using that rather than something propitary. They did use standard Ethernet signaling, but propitary connectors early on, but have since moved to standard Ethernet connectors on the G3 dishes.

USB hardware - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[bdhsfz6]

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[ponytug]

USB PD (Power Delivery) can provide up to 48v 240watts. If the client device requests it & the power supply is capable. Everything above 5v .5@ is negotiated, so you won't fry anything. It's pretty cool & starting to replace dedicated vendor specific power supplies for laptops & other stuff.

I'd assume they are just using that rather than something propitary. They did use standard Ethernet signaling, but propitary connectors early on, but have since moved to standard Ethernet connectors on the G3 dishes.

USB hardware - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I agree USB C should cover it.

I did not probe the USB C connection myself, but what I have read is that it is not standard, and there were warnings about some people having fried phones and tablets by trying to use the DC adapter as a USB C source. Never believe what you read?

All the best,

Peter