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docj · 10-27-2020, 09:38 AM

Starlink has begun allowing people to actually sign up for its service at a cost of $99/mo plus a payment of $500 for the receiver. Promised speeds are 50-150Mbps with some periods of "no service". The no service issue probably arises because there may be times when the satellites will not be in position above your location.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/27/spac...st-begins.html

C5c5 · 10-27-2020, 09:40 AM

Good channel for internet news. They have info on Starlink.

https://youtu.be/niy-7ITUexc

MSHappyCampers · 10-27-2020, 10:44 AM

I'll pass for now!

lemodrop9344 · 10-28-2020, 08:13 AM

Mobile Internet Resource Center has some good info on Starlink & how it applies to mobile users.

HarryStone · 10-28-2020, 08:44 AM

$100 a month? That sounds too high! I guess if you are desperate, and are in an area without cell service for a long time, it might be worth it.

Isaac-1 · 10-28-2020, 09:03 AM

Keep in mind in many areas it will outperform Cell, and will likely have no data caps. Though there is concern that it will be geo region locked at least initially.

docj · 10-28-2020, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Isaac-1

Though there is concern that it will be geo region locked at least initially.

They are allowing some limited educational users access in TX: https://arstechnica.com/information-...in-early-2021/

Goodspike · 10-28-2020, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Isaac-1

Keep in mind in many areas it will outperform Cell, and will likely have no data caps. Though there is concern that it will be geo region locked at least initially.

Yes, supposedly only the very northern states (44th parallel and above).

$100 a month really isn't a horrible price with no data caps and more importantly gaps in coverage (assuming trees don't cause issues). We almost burned through my wife's 20 gigs of hotspot data in about 3 days before we figured out how to download streaming content (the mistake we made at first is the Fire Tablets will still stream programs if it has an Internet connection, which it needs to connect to a Fire stick, but PCs don't because you can direct connect them via HTPC without an Internet connection).

I'm not sure though that will be the final price when it isn't a beta product.

Isaac-1 · 10-28-2020, 10:49 AM

$100 per month should give us at least a ballpark idea on where pricing will end up, and is certainly comparable to other options, Viasat, Hughesnet, etc. Viasat for example offers plans priced between $65-$120 per month at the moment with data caps and of course much more latency.

Goodspike · 10-28-2020, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Isaac-1

$100 per month should give us at least a ballpark idea on where pricing will end up, and is certainly comparable to other options, Viasat, Hughesnet, etc. Viasat for example offers plans priced between $65-$120 per month at the moment with data caps and of course much more latency.

I had a DirecPC (not a typo) service many years ago and latency was a huge issue, particularly for webpages that have many different elements. It was very fast for downloading large files, but webpages were slow due to the latency.

Not sure but DirecPC might be what is now Hughes????

Don/Lou · 10-28-2020, 11:13 AM

I think that is about what I expected $ wise!
If u want it and NEED it it is quite reasonable for what we are getting.
I am not deterred !

Red Wolf · 10-28-2020, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryStone

$100 a month? That sounds too high! I guess if you are desperate, and are in an area without cell service for a long time, it might be worth it.

Given that I'm paying Verizon $180/mo for phones and "unlimited" data plans that are really 15GB per phone for hotspots, I think $100 for 50mbps speeds as a ground floor, plus no data cap, is a win.

Looking to buy a house in the country, and I'll be paying a lot more than that for wireless internet (given there is no cable out there)

Camper25 · 10-28-2020, 05:51 PM

Please post a link from Starlink that says there will be no data caps.

docj · 10-28-2020, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camper25

Please post a link from Starlink that says there will be no data caps.

There are a lot of people making assumptions about Starlink that aren't based on anything other than internet supposition. There's no basis to extrapolate from this $99 starting price to anything relating to what the eventual monthly fees and performance will be.