Test Results: Starlink on a Sailboat Underway

[shimari]

Originally Posted by redneckrob

How did you get "roaming" enabled, if you don't mind me asking?

Roaming is enabled for just about everyone now. My dish arrived a few weeks ago and I set it in the marina, and then took it home (50 miles away). It worked fine at home and roaming was marked enabled.

[shimari]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

I would think that the ten mile offshore restriction is not physical - but logical in the software. The satellites are whizzing everywhere and would not naturally cut off ten miles from shore. I would think, for the US, for licensing reasons, it is being limited to the 12 mile territorial limit. Just MHO.

Otherwise, this is GREAT news!

The restriction is due to the lack of a nearby ground station. The latest gen satellites can act as relays. The first gen versions could not. If the satellite can't see a ground station, there's no service.

[goboatingnow]

It will be interesting to see how starlink deals with the national regulatory situations. This aspect nearly killed iridium , which has a “ bent” pipe option from the start.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Hermia II

I wonder if we have missed something here. Starlinks satellites are not like Iridium or Inmarsat. They are dumb, meaning they must see the user AND a land station at the same time (traffic is only "bounced off" the satellite. They are also low orbit, so chances at this point in time are that the system is not for ocean sailing.

Not sure who missed things…. Inmarsat are geostationary satellites so they always have a link with a ground station. Iridium is low orbit.

Starlink has satellites with laser-based interconnects up but not yet enough for ocean service. Elon Musk said we’ll have that in a year from now.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Not sure who missed things…. Inmarsat are geostationary satellites so they always have a link with a ground station. Iridium is low orbit.



Starlink has satellites with laser-based interconnects up but not yet enough for ocean service. Elon Musk said we’ll have that in a year from now.

What’s strange is that starlink initially launched with non connected satellites to begin with. Surely Iridiums technically superior concept of sat to sat handoff was clear to say starlinks engineers

[toddster8]

Today they announced a deal with Hawaiian Airlines to provide trans-Pacific service starting next year.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

What’s strange is that starlink initially launched with non connected satellites to begin with. Surely Iridiums technically superior concept of sat to sat handoff was clear to say starlinks engineers

Iridium constellation is only 72 satellites iirc. This is very different from 12,000 satellites, which shear number is required to create the needed bandwidth.

Most of the required bandwidth is in direct view of ground stations so it’s much better to use dedicated satellites for that bulk.

What I really like about Iridium: for two Iridium terminals to communicate with each other, no ground stations are needed. I wish Starlink would be a constellation based Ethernet bridge.

[Seafarer7]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

What I really like about Iridium: for two Iridium terminals to communicate with each other, no ground stations are needed. I wish Starlink would be a constellation based Ethernet bridge.

Starlink should have that same feature. According to Elon Musk (in the article referenced by Simi60 abject):

“Over time, some amount of communication can simply be from one user terminal to another without touching the Internet.”

From same article (per Elon) we should expect to have full ocean coverage this summer - 2022

[Seafarer7]

The Hawaiian Airlines - Starlink press release signals some important mode and timeline indicators for global / transoceanic coverage.

Both airlines that have signed up for Starlink intend to offer it free to all passengers - which indicates Starlink pricing and service level could make current competition obsolete. Implementation timeline confirms imminent global coverage.

Excerpts from the article:

Hawaiian Airlines today became the first major airline to announce an agreement with Starlink to provide complimentary high-speed, low-latency broadband internet access to every guest onboard flights between the islands and the continental U.S, Asia and Oceania.
….
Hawaiian Airlines is ensuring its passengers will experience high-speed internet the way we expect it in the 21st century, making hassles like downloading movies before takeoff a relic of the past
….
In Starlink‘s low-Earth orbit constellation of advanced satellites, the latest of which utilize a revolutionary laser mesh network, Hawaiian found an ideal solution to ensure reliable, high-speed, low-latency connectivity on transpacific flights. Guests will be able to stream content, play games live with friends on the ground, work and collaborate in real-time, plan their Hawai‘i vacation, or share their special island moments on social media. Connecting to the internet will be seamless when guests walk on board, without registration pages or payment portals.

Hawaiian and Starlink are in the initial stages of implementation and expect to begin installing the product on select aircraft next year. Hawaiian is not currently planning to deploy the service on its Boeing 717 aircraft that operate short flights between the Hawaiian Islands.




Full article here:

https://newsroom.hawaiianairlines.co...spacific-fleet

[WhiteHill]

The Starlink website information here isn't very clear about the 99 euros monthly subscription; is there a minimum number of obligatory months, and can one stop and restart the service, as is possible for Iridium users?
Also, how well will the dish tolerate the marine environment over time with or without plastic sheet coverings?

[HeywoodJ]

Originally Posted by WhiteHill

The Starlink website information here isn't very clear about the 99 euros monthly subscription; is there a minimum number of obligatory months, and can one stop and restart the service, as is possible for Iridium users?...

There are no contracts/minimum term. For reactivation, from Starlink customer support, "yes, but..."

Cancel Service:

If you decide Starlink is not a good fit for you, you can cancel at any time. Clicking the "Cancel Service" button on your Account page will start the service cancellation process. Your service will remain active until the end of the payment period. Service will be canceled for future billing cycles.

Please note - by canceling service, you may not be able to reactivate immediately. Reactivation is dependent on service availability and capacity in your area.

Return Policy:

You may return an undamaged Starlink Kit and any accessories within 30 days of receipt, for any reason, for a refund on hardware (shipping not included). After clicking the "Cancel Service" button, check the box for "I would like to return my hardware" on your Account page and click confirm to initiate the return of your Starlink hardware.

Note: You can uncheck this box if you wish to keep your Starlink for reactivation in the future. Reactivation is dependent on service availability in your area.

[WhiteHill]

Originally Posted by HeywoodJ

There are no contracts/minimum term. For reactivation, from Starlink customer support, "yes, but..."

Thank you.

[ThereAndBack]

I'm excited to say, I'm posting this from starlink. Works great so far. Roaming enabled.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

What’s strange is that starlink initially launched with non connected satellites to begin with. Surely Iridiums technically superior concept of sat to sat handoff was clear to say starlinks engineers

Not strange at all when you realize they can reach the vast majority of their stated target audience (rural underserved land based users) without it. Iridium simply had a completely different target audience.

[shimari]

Anyone looking for a dome for the square dishy yet? Reddit has some links to a dome that works with the original dishy. I believe it should still work with the square dish, but I haven't looked at the numbers yet.

I know technically you shouldn't need it as dishy is designed for outdoors. But, I wouldn't mind a tad bit more protection.