Month: April 2024

We’ve been on Starlink for three months, as I write this post. There are some very definite upsides to having Starlink and some challenges as well.

Challenges

The biggest challenge is the cost. The equipment has an upfront charge of nearly $700, with shipping charges. That could be a huge barrier to entry for many people.

Secondly, the monthly cost is $120. The subscription rate is significantly higher than most Internet fees; if Starlink is your only option it’s reasonable.

Upsides

• Dependability – Starlink has occasional outages but they are often less than two seconds. Compared to our local alternative, Astound Broadband (cable), Starlink has far better “uptime.”
• Latency – Our previous cable provider, Astound Broadband, had horrendous latency, particularly for uploads. It was common to see over 100ms latency (sometimes over 1,000ms) for uploads. This challenge wreaked havoc with my streaming radio station feed for RadioDAVE.US. The music stream places very low demands on the Internet provider – typically less than 0.2Mbps of data. Starlink, even though it often is jumping from satellite to satellite as the satellites whiz past us overhead, has far lower latency. The typical, measured latency is less than 30ms – in fact, it is often less than 20ms.
• Emergency Availability – In a recent power outage, I realized that my Internet connection was still running on the battery backup. We have Internet, via Starlink, as long as we can get emergency power – such as our generator. The local cable Internet provider loses connectivity as soon as the local electricity goes out.
• Enough Bandwidth – We have rarely had challenges watching streaming videos, updating computers, or other higher-demand Internet events. Over the past three months, there have been just a couple of evenings when the Starlink system was so overtaxed that we noticed.

So, am I glad we switched?

Absolutely. We now have stable Internet delivery for the first time in many years. My coworkers are surprised when they learn that my Zoom calls are via Starlink. Starlink’s signal is so stable that I sometimes have a better Internet connection than people in the business offices.

Would I ever switch to something else?

Certainly, if a different, stable connection were to become available, such as fiber, I would consider changing. A local fiber connection should have much more capacity, lower latency, and would be cheaper. Until I have a cheaper, reliable option, I’ll stick with Starlink.