Starlink

sodamo · Oct 6, 2022

Got email saying my Residential SL will arrive 10/12.

3Ts · Oct 6, 2022

I received my "Best Effort" SL 2 days ago. I plugged it in and ran a speed test, got 102.29 Mbps down & 9.82 Mbps up very pleased with that. Ran a speed test at noon today and got 12.90 Mbps down & 10.68 Mbps up. Not nearly as good and actually I'm disappointed it fell that much. I was hoping the lowest it would go would be around 30 to 50 Mbps. But even so, the performance is still better than what I've been using. I plan on monitoring the speeds for awhile to see how it performs over time.

plowhog · Oct 9, 2022

BigBlue1 said:
I'm confident they are just cautioning customers about potential challenges. They aren't going to actively block certain traffic types.

I'm not sure how one can have "confidence" in that.

1. It's an Elon Musk company.
2. There are many options to "block" traffic. The most obvious is an absolute "hard" block.
3. But a "soft" block could be done as well. It would not block traffic, but instead make gaming unusable. SL could slow speeds if: a) certain known gaming servers were being contacted, b) if transmitted data signature patterns matched known gaming patterns, or c) if certain ports were being opened or used-- indicating gaming activity. Detecting (most) gaming by SL would not be difficult to do. If the response was then to degrade speed instead of doing a total block, that could be made mostly invisible.

dmccarty · Oct 9, 2022

3Ts said:
I received my "Best Effort" SL 2 days ago. I plugged it in and ran a speed test, got 102.29 Mbps down & 9.82 Mbps up very pleased with that. Ran a speed test at noon today and got 12.90 Mbps down & 10.68 Mbps up. Not nearly as good and actually I'm disappointed it fell that much. I was hoping the lowest it would go would be around 30 to 50 Mbps. But even so, the performance is still better than what I've been using. I plan on monitoring the speeds for awhile to see how it performs over time.

Those are pretty much the numbers we have seen when we have done testing. But that is testing. We really don't see any slowdown when using StarLink. It might happen but it is not noticeable. We saw the same speed variations when using a cell based Internet. Starlink is soooo much faster than the cell service and has been far more reliable. Starlink has been more reliable than the cell based internet or DSL. Not even a comparison.

Later,
Dan

JethroB · Oct 9, 2022

I just checked my Star Link signal in my metal shop that’s is 100 feet from the router inside the house. The StarLink app indicated poor connection speeds. It was 10 Mbps. I’ll take that!

3Ts · Oct 10, 2022

When I got the 12.9 Mbps I also ran a speed test on my Hughes net link and got around 1 Mbps down (that is a one followed by a decimal point) so SL is still 10 times faster. I've ordered the pipe adapter and the dongle, they're due here Wednesday. I plan on getting a tripod mount to install on my garage roof and putting it there. Probably keep both networks for a little while yet.

scootr · Oct 10, 2022

3Ts said:
When I got the 12.9 Mbps I also ran a speed test on my Hughes net link and got around 1 Mbps down (that is a one followed by a decimal point) so SL is still 10 times faster. I've ordered the pipe adapter and the dongle, they're due here Wednesday. I plan on getting a tripod mount to install on my garage roof and putting it there. Probably keep both networks for a little while yet.

Ditch the Hughesnet. That service is the worse.
Starlink is the best. Better than my 4G cell service these days.
Get the ethernet cable set up.

ponytug · Oct 10, 2022

Has anyone gotten VOIP working via Starlink? If so, which services are you using?

Our landline was down, again, for eight hours last week.

All the best,

Peter

dmccarty · Oct 10, 2022

ponytug said:
Has anyone gotten VOIP working via Starlink? If so, which services are you using?

Our landline was down, again, for eight hours last week.

All the best,

Peter

We don't use VOIP to make phone calls, that is what the cell phone is for, and thankfully we have a decent connection to a tower. We have kept the landline to have the phone and dropped the crappy DSL. The cost of the landline is high enough that we are thinking of dropping it as well. We do use Slack, WebEx and Zoom for meetings and have not had any problem with conversations over the Starlink network.

JethroB · Oct 10, 2022

I’ve been using the free app WhatsApp on my cell phone via StarLink recently. Both for audio only and video calls. It works well and you can’t beat the price. There is also a web browser based method for tablets and PC’s once your cell phone account is set up. Both parties must be using the App.

Caution: They really really want access to your contact list. I defeat that (I hope) by manually punching in a phone number each time. WhatsApp is after all a META/Facebook company.

fatjay · Oct 10, 2022

I'm currently in 3rd world rural thailand, and i have the highest 5g package with full bars. When i run speed test i get 150/50mbps down/up, but in reality, i don't get anything close to that. websites are slow and images are slower. and sometimes not at all. My only guess is they're somehow optimising speed tests for the sale, then not delivering on content.

i know starlink is sending kits over to ukraine for internet coverage, and that got me wondering, if i got starlink here, would it work?

IXLR8 · Oct 10, 2022

I have sketchy Cell coverage at my house and use Starlink to do WiFi calling all the time, which is basically VoIP.

sodamo · Oct 11, 2022

Fedex delivered my Residential Starlink late this afternoon. I will swap out with my RV setup in the morning.

BigBlue1 · Oct 11, 2022

plowhog said:
I'm not sure how one can have "confidence" in that.

1. It's an Elon Musk company.
2. There are many options to "block" traffic. The most obvious is an absolute "hard" block.
3. But a "soft" block could be done as well. It would not block traffic, but instead make gaming unusable. SL could slow speeds if: a) certain known gaming servers were being contacted, b) if transmitted data signature patterns matched known gaming patterns, or c) if certain ports were being opened or used-- indicating gaming activity. Detecting (most) gaming by SL would not be difficult to do. If the response was then to degrade speed instead of doing a total block, that could be made mostly invisible.

Well, I've been a SL customer since Feb 2021 and I've been actively paying attention to the offering for 2 years. I participate on several SL discussion forums, including multiple subs on Reddit. They've done nothing in that time to control or impact any type of traffic. Nobody in these forums has ever indicated they've noticed anything like that. The only 'quality of service' things they appear to do involve the 'best effort' and 'RV' service classes.

You can worry all you want and fret over what they may or may not do. That's your prerogative. Two of us use our SL service for full-time WFH, stream many types of TV, do non-buffered Zoom/WebEx/Teams meetings with audio & video, and the kids play PS and X-Box games. None of that has seen impact since SL moved out of beta in mid-2021. That's where my confidence derives from.

BigBlue1 · Oct 11, 2022

ponytug said:
Has anyone gotten VOIP working via Starlink? If so, which services are you using?

Our landline was down, again, for eight hours last week.

All the best,

Peter

For my work (and my wife's) we use VOIP via Zoom/WebEx/Teams as well as plain VOIP desk phone service. And we stream video on those types of meetings. It's always worked great over SL. I don't have personal phone VOIP but no reason to think it wouldn't work just as well. Should be even better since it wouldn't be funneled over company VPN.

ponytug · Oct 11, 2022

BigBlue1 said:
For my work (and my wife's) we use VOIP via Zoom/WebEx/Teams as well as plain VOIP desk phone service. And we stream video on those types of meetings. It's always worked great over SL. I don't have personal phone VOIP but no reason to think it wouldn't work just as well. Should be even better since it wouldn't be funneled over company VPN.

Which "plain VOIP" are you using? I asked, because I installed VOIP system, which worked for dial out, but not dial in, due to CGNAT. A belatedly discussion with tech support confirmed that they don't support CGNAT installations (e.g. Starlink), and have no intention of doing so.

Thanks!

All the best,

Peter

BigBlue1 · Oct 11, 2022

I *don't* have plain, personal VOIP service. I use various voice streaming services via Teams, Zoom, WebEx meetings and also WebEx Calling for corporate VOIP (which has an actual external phone number and can be called direct and make outbound calls to anywhere. They all work fine on SL. I'm no expert in the underlying technology that makes them work though.

Citydude · Oct 11, 2022

I must be missing something, I use WiFi calling. What's the advantage of using something different?

JethroB · Oct 11, 2022

Citydude said:
I must be missing something, I use WiFi calling. What's the advantage of using something different?

Gets confusing doesn’t it, at least for me. I do miss the old copper landlines and desk speaker phones for good quality audio. And the ease of old school faxing if needed.