As much as I don’t like the thought of it, I finally bit and got a Starlink Mini. I’ve been holding off for Amazon Leo, but I really don’t want to be a beta tester, as their new products always perform poorly, IME. It usually takes a while for them to get a foothold. Anyway, Starlink has so many more satellites at this point. Amazon is just playing catch-up.
For those with Starlink, what do you think? I was planning to only use standby most of the time when I’m remote. I just need light internet, texting, and phone.
Read the terms very very well. There are many stories about people getting hit with $$$ congestion charges for even light use. Last report was $1800.
Adding to the problem, the owner of starlink does not believe in customer service departments or actual service, so when something goes sideways Amazon seller support is going to look amazing.
Starlink is my primary internet connection, with T-mobile as a backup connection. It has been great if you can’t get fiber in your area. Speeds are good and the important part is latency and jitter are very low especially for a wireless connection. Latency runs from less than 20ms to about 30ms most of the time even under load. I cannot say that about my 5G internet although speeds are faster with that connection.
I don’t use mine mobile so I can’t really comment on that but I am part of several forums on Starlink and lost users are very happy with the service, it works quite well.
As far congestion charges, you will know of there is a congestion charge at checkout before you hit confirm. Charges can range from under $50 to over $1500. If you elect to pay the congestion charge to get service you will only pay it once and then you cannot be charged one again. We had none here in Phoenix.
@Amazon_Seller be aware that the standby price is now $10 a month. It was $5 before. People were pissed that it doubled but I think it’s still a good value especially in hurricane areas where terrestrial internet will go out after the power goes out and the generators run out of fuel or battery power. Of course you have to also have a battery backup if you want to use it during an outage but they work very well. PM me for a code that gives us both a free month if you decide to sign up.
Support is AI at first level but Grok is actually not bad for normal issues like equipment failures and Starlink is very good at replacing hardware. You can also call for support and you will initially get the AI bot but you can request a human both on the web site or the phone and they will call you back. They are US based and once you get a human support is excellent. We have had no issues with equipment at all and installation is a breeze. Of course if you are going to be mobile with it then no install is necessary, it works fine just sitting on a table or your lawn, you just need a fairly clear view of the sky.
I wouldn’t wait for Bezos as Starlink is so far ahead by the time he gets his act together Starlink will be orders of magnitude ahead of Amazon. Bezos has about 300 satellites in orbit right now and SpaceX has over 10,000 and climbing. If Amazon can’t even get their rockets off the ground it’s going to be years before you see any real competition.
I could write a book on Starlink but the TL;DR is it’s really good and VERY reliable, AND you literally can use it anywhere. If you have questions fell free to ask me either here or via PM if it’s personal stuff. The plans can be confusing and I can give you the skinny on that stuff. Right now I’m on a promotion with USMobile for the Residential Max plan with a reduced rate for 6 months. That is the most expensive plan, but after the promo, I’ll probably go to the 100Mbps or 200Mbps plan as I don’t need the bandwidth. Max advertises up to 400Mbps but I have hit higher and lower speeds with mine. Over all it’s great. I don’t care about Musk’s politics, but Starlink was a brilliant idea.
Can you tell me how good standby mode is? Can I do light internet surfing?
As it is, I have to hike a mile to find internet when I’m camping. Even then, it’s spotty and very slow, so I think very slow internet is an upgrade if it means I don’t have to hike to find service.
I usually hike to find service in order to check for messages for my store.
As for Musk, I wish I had other options. Amazon Leo is coming, but I don’t want to wait and then find out they have so many glitches.
Standby gives you 0.5Mbps up and down. You should be able to check messages and make phone calls, send texts, etc. I have seen reports of people being able to browse on that bandwidth, but my experience with that speed on my portable hotspot after I used up my 25GB of T-mobile data was pretty abysmal. It would work, but was excruciatingly slow. I guess that might be fine for what you want to do. They also have some cheaper limited roam plans if you want a better experience and you can activate them before your trip and turn it off when you’re done.
Been involved in networking since the 70’s technology fascinates me immensely.
Working on writing that path up before it is lost…
On your mission, about a year ago we moved to T-Mobile Home Internet. Sounds like you have done the same. At the time they then offered us to to be a beta site for the satellite connection. We did not even have a T-Mobile phone, though we applied anyways. As time went on the T-Mobile internet was so good, in two locations, we added a T-Mobile phone. Finally, we had service where we never had it before.
One of our terrestrial locations can see the tower out the window, the other we are nestled into a peaceful valley. Both work, one better than the other.
We never did have the opportunity to test the satellite connection. Though I bet they piggy back on Starlink.
