Here is the relevant thread.  Would a mod please reopen that thread and append the responses in this to that thread?

Starlink

New info

SpaceX Starlink user terminals tested by board members as beta nears

"SpaceX’s nascent Starlink user terminal technology – the consumer hardware that will connect customers to a vast space-based internet constellation – is being put through its paces in a series of closed tests with employees, board members, and investors.

This news comes around the same time as SpaceX took two significant steps towards a beta debut for Starlink internet service, completing the eighth successful launch of Starlink v1.0 satellites and opening a new web portal where anyone can sign up for updates on service availability in their region. According to COO and President Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX means to begin rolling out Starlink internet service once 14 launches are completed and ~840 satellites are in orbit. Whether or not that figure includes SpaceX’s first launch of 60 ‘v0.9’ Starlink satellites back in May 2019, it’s safe to say that that 14-launch milestone is just two or three months away if the company can sustain and average of two to three launches per month.

Specs-wise, the same virtual seminar revealed that a normal level of connectivity for a user terminal will be around 100 megabits per second (mbps) down and 40 mbps up. According to Musk, Starlink internet latency (often known as ping) might actually be better than fiber internet, offering ~20 ms for Version 1 and ~8 ms when Version 2 debuts (ETA unknown)."

15 July 2020 Update:

1.  SpaceX ‘Starlink router’ approved by the FCC

"A critical subcomponent of SpaceX’s Starlink ‘user terminal’ has received FCC approval, shedding additional light on the antennas and hardware customers around the world will use to access the orbital internet.

Deemed SpaceX’s “Starlink Router” in FCC regulatory approvals published on July 14th, the documents reveal that user terminals will ship to customers with a WiFi router – possibly designed and built by SpaceX itself – in the box."


A prototype of SpaceX’s Starlink user terminal – the antenna customers will use to access the satellite internet network. (SpaceX)

"Customers will have four options for installing the antenna, taking between five minutes and three hours to complete. Once the antenna is secured, customers will plug in a single cable into the terminal and route that cable to a convenient location inside the building that needs service. Based on SpaceX’s recent FCC filings, that cable will plug into a Starlink router capable of delivering power over ethernet (PoE) to the antenna, allowing a single cable to deliver power and connectivity. The router, of course, will have to plug into a wall outlet, meaning that the user terminally technically needs two cables, but that distinction is splitting hairs."

2.  SpaceX Starlink internet-beaming satellite service takes next step for beta test

"According to an FAQ on the beta published on Reddit, SpaceX will kick off the beta with users in the "northern United States and lower Canada, with those living in rural and/or remote communities in the Washington State area".

Participants also need a clear view of the northern sky because Starlink's system of satellites can only provide internet service between 44 degrees and 52 degrees north latitude."

I hope they go to lower latitudes.

3.   Reddit "copy" of beta test agreement

22 Feb 2021 Update

Starlink poised to double its speeds to ~300 Mbps by the end of the year

"Starlink may already be providing rapid web access to several remote areas today, but the satellite internet service is poised to get even better this year. As per recent comments on Twitter from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Starlink’s speeds should double to about ~300 Mbps later this year, with latency dropping to about ~20 ms. "

16 April 2021 Update:

SpaceX Starlink internet could exit beta this summer

CEO Elon Musk says that SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service will “probably [be] out of beta this summer” as the company continues to rapidly improve “service uptime, bandwidth, and latency.”

On top of Musk’s belief that Starlink will be ready for primetime as few as 3-5 months from now, the SpaceX executive also believes that the company will have enough satellites operational to enable customers to take their Starlink dishes just about anywhere the service is allowed and even install and operate them on mobile vehicles.

   This is accurate. Service uptime, bandwidth & latency are improving rapidly. Probably out of beta this summer.

4 May 2021:


Updates will now be provided in the thread as they occur.
News: @SpaceX announces that over 500,000 people “have placed an order or put down a deposit for Starlink.”

I cant wait.

3mb down and .25 up out here in the sticks.

I can’t wait. They say it will be available in northern latitudes first. Not sure how far north.

Last thing I read is southern Texas and mid-southern Florida will be out of range parts of the orbit at first. The rest of the world north of that will be good to go.

EDIT: Here is a video that explains/shows it a bit.

https://youtu.be/k73AFybi7zk?t=95

You can also now signup for beta on the starlink.com website. Email address and zipcode.

Wonder what the price will be. This is coming up exactly when I'm starting to look at moving back to the boonies

I'm hoping the price is good.  I want reliable high speed!

About 80 month is what they are saying

Take my money!!!

I'm fine with that!

Interested to see what the ground stations will look like and costs.

If they can get the  latency down to 20 ms, that will be a game changer - I'd be real interested in how that is accomplished, even with low earth orbit.

I get 200 mb with Comcast for $50/month.  I understand in rural areas that is not available.

What is the cost of Starlink's 100 mb package?  And I assume you need a satellite dish?

There used to be a nationwide satellite internet provider formerly called first DirecWay and then Hughes Net.  From what I recall it was pretty pricey so they were obviously taking advantage of those with no other choice but dial-up.

Ya but comcast infrastructure is total shit when it comes to running RDP stuff. WAY too many dropped packets.

Hurry up already

I dont think they have named a price yet but they did hint at around 80. Something along the lines of "people are paying 80 for shitty internet and thats what we are trying to fix"

$81.xx for 3 down .25 up.

Give me some starlink.

For sure. Im moving in a couple days and the best option for me is cellular data. Cant wait for starlink to get up and running.

Sign me up! I absolutely HATE Hughesnet. I pay way to much for what is basically equivalent to dial up.

I'm thinking that if Starlink is all it's cracked up to be, there will be an uptick in rural property purchases.

And that is a good thing.

All fun and games till he gives internet access away for free

Attached File

No joke....80 not bad at all....may persuade me to move into the sticks too

Especially with all the nonsense going on in the city centers.

That's exciting. I wonder what the premium tier speeds will be. I get less than half that now. It's not expensive but I'd gladly pay 2-3x as much for better service. Especially if the ping times are as low as claimed! I signed up for the beta last week

Oh I can't wait for the "wifi gives you cancer" dumbshits to find out about this

The Starlink constellation is not just low earth orbit - it's VLEO, or very low earth orbit.

Speed will go up and latency will go down as time goes on.

I just got an upgrade at my place in Florida.

5mb down and .75 up.

I was like you at 3/.25 previously.
No idea how or why because I'm at the very end of a DSL service....I had always been told 3 was as good as it gets...

My internet is already faster than that.

Yep, I'm at ~80 for shitty 5mb DSl through Centurylink. I'd pony up 100/mo for decent internet when it's available at my place in Florida.

what would be awesome is if he limits service to professionals only.

make their own browser that does not access social media or streaming services or track you or all the other shit.

can you imagine the consumer network he could build from a model like that?

for creators not consumers....

putting sats in space to sell more netflix and youtube to the sticks is dumb and sad. i hope Musk is cooler than that.

2 phone lines to get me a total of 5 megabit down.   Sign me up.   1 phone line and no internet will help cover the cost of Starlink.

Good for you. I pay $100 a month for 12/2 and that is the best I can get without paying AT&T $2,700 a month for 500/500 fiber.

If I heard correctly in the video, by late 2020 all of continental US will have coverage???

Doesn't seem to be much info out there on configuration, cost, and acquisition structure of user terminal equipment.
Does a viable terminal equipment design even exist yet?
Outside antenna/box? (I did see "phased array" so im assuming a pretty sophisticated tracking array is required to maintain Signal/Noise ratio. Hopefully it is a low cost foil on substrate assembly)
Lease or buy?
Direct online ordering?
Who or what company(ies) will be providers of equipment?
Will they also be writing subscriptions?


Will subscription license allow me to local relay thru another antenna or ethernet cable and share with a neighbor(s) to keep per-user cost down?

More than likely some sort of radome with an antenna inside that can track the satellites.  But, being that there are so many trains deployed, tracking may not be needed.

Please take my money... I'm dealing with shitty DSL as my only option. Around $100/mo for a 12mb line that only gets 6mb on a good day, and 1mb on a bad day. I'm not even that far from town but up a rural road with houses on acreage, and nobody is planning on running new lines up here any time soon. Too little revenue potential for the massive cost of running cable or or fiber up here.

Wait what? No, HELL NO. What Elon is doing will force internet providers to upgrade and expand. No more local area internet cartels.

Access to high speed internet has been one of the limiting factors on where the wife and I would be willing to relocate to.  This will open up many opportunities for us.

My Optimum modem shits itself a few times each day and they just jacked my bill another $10/month.  It's either that or 1 Mbit DSL... sign me the fuck up.

Some business contracts allow this, no idea if starlink will offer business and if so if it will allow it.

Yep. A re-ruralization of America. The Left has been preaching it's utopian dreams of corralling us all in urban centers where work, hospitals and entertainment is just a short walk or mass transit bus ride away....no use for those nasty automobiles. I did 'city' for a long spell in my early life. Got the T-shirt.  That would be my personal hell on earth.

Here's a photo of what is suspected to be the Starlink ground antennas, being tested at Boca Chica, TX.

Attached File


ETA: For those asking about tracking, they're supposed to be electronically steered, phased array type things. No moving parts, beam forming done electronically.

Is the signal affected by weather at all?  I know that I have problems with Sirius all the time when there are storms in FL, which is pretty often.

So an ISP version of our own Team Forum that keeps freeloading riff-raff, like, um, you, out to provide a more favorable experience for those who qualify to use it?

Dumb question, how much is signal affected by partial tree canopy?

Asking for a friend

You do realize there's no guarantee Musk won't be a bigger prick than Hughesnet?  

Just sayin'.

I'm paying $73 for 20/4 through Spectrum. It runs multiple video steams on multiple devices with very, very little trouble.