Starlink

[scootr]

I live where there is only cell tower service. Fiber optics go past this place without the possibility of service. Same for cable, no cable service.
Making me quit is not going to free up more bandwidth in your more remote area - The only thing that will do that is if there is a decrease in the demand for service where you are... your location.
But the cost cut you praise is aimed at getting more people in your area to sign up and start sharing your connection so you will have decreased service and Elon will have more $.

 

[Jchonline]

I think the biggest problem is that Starlink constantly promotes the idea that as more satellites are added to their constellation, service for all customers will improve. But instead, service quality has drastically lowered. Coupled with the horrible customer service, the price increases are just more salt in the wound.

What ever happened to under promise and over deliver?

Customer service definitely leaves something to be desired...just wish we could talk to a person. I guess most companies are headed that way. However I do have to give them kudos...I had a rat chew one of the cables on a Gen 1 dish. They replaced the entire cable/dish. Then about a month later I was backing out of my shop and knicked the cable with my bucket (stupid of me to have it exposed, but we were in a transition/moving period). They also replaced the cable and dish AGAIN. No charge to me.

Every launch costs $15 million, and they send around 50 satellites per. Some are lost before they ever get to service life. In order to keep the company from running out of money they had to sign up more people. That of course degrades service overall.

 

[Jchonline]

But the cost cut you praise is aimed at getting more people in your area to sign up and start sharing your connection so you will have decreased service and Elon will have more $.

As opposed to me having Hughesnet, paying 4 times the amount for 1/4 the bandwidth and a 1/4 the data allowance? Elon can have my $$, you can go back to Hughesnet.

Look if there were other viable options out there...we could speak with our wallets..just jump to another provider. But there arent yet...so this is the best we can get. I do hope some other companies get thier act together and offer more high speed satellite based internet. Amazon looking to start launches this year.

 

[sodamo]

Part of the challenge is identification of true need. I get regular mailings re Fiber, 2 neighbors even have it. Not possible for me, totally off grid as are more than 3/4 of the houses on my road. Only way I could get electric would be pay for the additional poles. That existing line services the FAA Station and a Cell tower. Those immediately adjacent have been fortunate to tap in. So these recent surveys of availably incorrectly shows as being available to me. I’m sure SL sees it similarly.

 

[NoTrespassing]

As opposed to me having Hughesnet, paying 4 times the amount for 1/4 the bandwidth and a 1/4 the data allowance? Elon can have my $$, you can go back to Hughesnet.

Look if there were other viable options out there...we could speak with our wallets..just jump to another provider. But there arent yet...so this is the best we can get. I do hope some other companies get thier act together and offer more high speed satellite based internet. Amazon looking to start launches this year.

Amazon’s Kuiper satellites are good to go after FCC’s approval of orbital debris plan

The FCC cleared Amazon's Project Kuiper satellite constellation for deployment after the company refined its orbital debris mitigation plan.

www.geekwire.com

 

[scootr]

Let me put this another way. Who here wants to pay more for anything so other families can pay less for what is potentially better service? I have been selling things for 50 plus years. My Dad made me sit through slide presentations when I was 10-15 yrs old. Nowhere in any of my years of sales have I ever heard a salesman say you will pay more so others can pay less. What's next? Internet reparation?

 

[BigBlue1]

I live where there is only cell tower service. Fiber optics go past this place without the possibility of service. Same for cable, no cable service.
Making me quit is not going to free up more bandwidth in your more remote area - The only thing that will do that is if there is a decrease in the demand for service where you are... your location.
But the cost cut you praise is aimed at getting more people in your area to sign up and start sharing your connection so you will have decreased service and Elon will have more $.

I assume you're responding to me. I didn't say my service would change. I implied that service in a cell where some people have other ISP options would improve for the Starlink customers that needed it because they have no other viable options.

And I didn't "praise" a cost cut. You may want to re-read what I said because you've mistook most of it.

 

[BigBlue1]

Let me put this another way. Who here wants to pay more for anything so other families can pay less for what is potentially better service? I have been selling things for 50 plus years. My Dad made me sit through slide presentations when I was 10-15 yrs old. Nowhere in any of my years of sales have I ever heard a salesman say you will pay more so others can pay less. What's next? Internet reparation?

Where are you getting those ideas about what is being said? Those are odd interpretations.

This is simple supply and demand. If demand is high for scarce resources then prices rise and act to reduce demand. That's generally good for the system as a whole. Not good for some individuals, true. But it helps ensure that those who really need the product/service have access to it. Let's take a ridiculous example to make it clear: If Starlink cost $5/mo and everyone signed up because it was cheaper than anything else out there it would be worthless to anyone. Higher cost leads to less demand so the customers who have no other options can get the service - and it is generally worth the extra cost to them because they have no alternatives.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

I find it unlikely that any location with a high density of potential users is not going to have other ISP options that are better choices for them. Certainly going to be the exception, not the norm.

A lot of people subscribed to Starlink because it didn't impose a data cap. Didn't to them matter if they had alternate high speed connections.

My only other option for Internet service is a 28.8 kb modem on an old fashioned copper wire. I'm very rural, so there's no DSL, cable, or even WiMax. Not exactly high density, as most properties are over 40 acres in size. Apparently a lot of folks in this area have jumped on Starlink, because we've been wait listed since the very beginning. I put my deposit down back in the beta days (2/2021), and only got the system up in April of last year.

 

[BigBlue1]

A lot of people subscribed to Starlink because it didn't impose a data cap. Didn't to them matter if they had alternate high speed connections.

My only other option for Internet service is a 28.8 kb modem on an old fashioned copper wire. I'm very rural, so there's no DSL, cable, or even WiMax. Not exactly high density, as most properties are over 40 acres in size. Apparently a lot of folks in this area have jumped on Starlink, because we've been wait listed since the very beginning. I put my deposit down back in the beta days (2/2021), and only got the system up in April of last year.

I've been paying attention to SL discussions in forums, Reddit and FB groups for more than the past 2 years and I've not heard any critical mass of people who signed up for the unlimited data. Can't even recall anyone who said that, TBH. It was pretty well predicted that data caps in some fashion would be implemented as it grew. Not saying there weren't people who had other reliable ISP options but choose SL for data volumes, but I can't believe it was "a lot of people". Regardless, any folks will have to evaluate their cost/benefit of SL versus their other options and choose what works for them. At least they still have options. For you and me, with hardly any other ISP, SL is pretty much it. I have LTE but that has more drawbacks.