Starlink internet onboard?

[Vinny]

I was talking with a Captain down in Texas yesterday online, and he was all the rave about his Starlink High Speed internet on his boat...

He said that he can make 10kts and not lose his connection to the satellites.

I am mostly on the Tennessee River, Ohio River, and the upper/lower Mississippi...

I was wandering if anyone in these areas is using it, and what they think of it?

I looked at the Starlink site, and it said expanding in 2023 for those areas?

They are billing $110 a month, plus $599 one time for equipment.

I want reliable internet for streaming online to my Twitch, and YouTube accounts from the boat.

What are your thought on Starlink?

Vinny

[O C Diver]

There are several other threads on the forum with positive results mostly in the Northern USA. I'm strongly considering adding it for next summer. My cruising takes me to the Great Lakes including Superior, Georgian Bay and the North Channel. Having reliable internet, weather forecasting and voice over internet communications would be a huge plus.

Ted

[psneeld]

It will be $135 a month for the portability option, either home with portability or RV. It will also allow disconnecting for periods of the year when you are not using it.

This trip my new,, small dish has worked well in NJ, Shenandoah Valley, and Wilmington, NC. In the woods and populated areas. I can't vouch for moving speeds, but of course that is still not approved by Starlink. Using it in my RV.

As for clear sky, we still had pretty good service with this amount of trees around and over one campsite. See pic. Note....motion like wind in the treetops did interrupt connection so my guess is any boat motion without very open sky coverage might do the same.

[Coppercove1]

I was speaking with the Sidney BC Manager of NW Explorations and they are installing them on some of their charter fleet. Early experience is that the RV dish is not marinized and corrodes. They are testing installation of the dish inside an decommissioned Sat TV dome. Apparently it will work.

Anyone else heard of this? I will not recommission our older Sat TV system, and this sounds like a good solution.

[Lepke]

I was among the first users. Mine is on a power boat. I was using it before bolting the antenna down. It blew overboard, tied by the wire. I flushed it with fresh water, let it dry and it's been working ever since.
It works fine. Usual download time is 50+mbps and runs as high as 300. You can use it outside your area but at a slightly slower speed. I haven't noticed any difference. It works at sea but I've only checked at about 25nm out. With the phone app, you can see outages. They are rare, usually only a few seconds, and doesn't effect any data or streaming.

[capngrumpy]

hi Vinny,I've had starlink for almost s year and i am a fan. i live in Ladner BC a suburb of Vancouver and it works beautifully. At sea your reception will of course be affected by sea state but you are on a river so that should not be a problem. i think it is great value for the money and highly recommend it

[Helmsman]

The new flat panel for $2,500 is supposed to be much more wind and rain tolerant. I will be unboxing mine early next week. By January it will be on the boat at the confluence of the TomBigBee and the Tennessee. Will come back to let you know what I find.

This thread has a vast amount of info in it. https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/...ink-61866.html

[SeaMoose]

Just ran this exact area with it stuck under the teak grab rail and bungee corded down. Worked great. There's a picture of my mounting arrangement in this blog post:

https://www.adventuresofyorksieandme.com/post/onward-ho

Many people on other forums are reporting using the RV version and putting it on a bucket so it always points straight up - and it works just fine. Other users are drilling holes in the RV version to disable the pointing motor and mounting it flat.

There are enough satellites now that it doesn't need to point anymore.

It's been a game changer for us, as we are cruising and working.

[Cheeky]

T-mobile home internet works for me.
$50 a month, no equipment charges, speeds average 120m down, 60m upload.
runs on 5g so depends on your local reception.

[GoneFarrell]

We're in the middle of nowhere Sea of Cortez.
Mex RV package. Works very well, a game changer.
Speeds of 200 mbps seen. Spoiled rotten!
Phone calls on wifi are like being in the same room.

[kehoff]

I am not cruising very far , but I use my straight talk phone as a hotspot ,then I get my" tv " shows I like , and navionics ,anyone else do that with any issues ?

[JayB]

Gee Starling sounds great for us wandering souls but Elon's web site has a steep $5k monthly for maritime! From website:*
"STARLINK MARITIME High-speed, low-latency internet with up to 350 Mbps download while at sea. $5,000/mo with a one-time hardware cost of $5,000 for two high performance terminals." Maybe that is for cruise ships?

Akkkk! While I've been pondering mooring the 'passage maker' I made an offer on to save cash!

RV package looks safer and probably work near shore?
"STARLINK FOR RVs Immediately access unlimited high-speed, low-latency internet on an as-needed basis at any destination where Starlink provides active coverage. $135/mo with a one-time cost of $599 for portable hardware or $2,500 for in-motion hardware."

As needed basis? Sigh.

*https://www.starlink.com/maritime

[GrandWood]

Appears to work pretty well from the pnw clear to turtle bay in mex. Jim and Rosie on M/V Sea Venture just cruised that leg and had great connection the whole way. M/V Feedom in the PNW is having good luck with it as well, some in and out. He did his own custom install. Capt Paul over in Fla on M/V Southern Estates seems very happy with it, just stuck it up on a pole on the side of the house.

Starlink just launched a crap load of satellites so coverage should be getting much better.

[ksanders]

Originally Posted by GrandWood

Appears to work pretty well from the pnw clear to turtle bay in mex. Jim and Rosie on M/V Sea Venture just cruised that leg and had great connection the whole way. M/V Feedom in the PNW is having good luck with it as well, some in and out. He did his own custom install. Capt Paul over in Fla on M/V Southern Estates seems very happy with it, just stuck it up on a pole on the side of the house.

Starlink just launched a crap load of satellites so coverage should be getting much better.

I'm in the Sea of Cortez and it works great here. It was perfect from Anacortes south.

[chanprr]

Originally Posted by Helmsman

The new flat panel for $2,500 is supposed to be much more wind and rain tolerant. I will be unboxing mine early next week. By January it will be on the boat at the confluence of the TomBigBee and the Tennessee. Will come back to let you know what I find.

This thread has a vast amount of info in it. https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/...ink-61866.html

I'll be interested in your posts. Planning for Starlink on the 46.

[Sababa]

Originally Posted by chanprr

I'll be interested in your posts. Planning for Starlink on the 46.

Here’s the new flat panel mounted on my NT37. Works great but draws a lot of juice.

[chanprr]

Originally Posted by Sababa

Here’s the new flat panel mounted on my NT37. Works great but draws a lot of juice.

Thanks. Looks good. Any interference when the radar is on?

[Simi 60]

Here's our flat panel

Just the standard $450 dish that set itself flat well over a week ago
Power usage is not noticed.

[Sababa]

Originally Posted by chanprr

Thanks. Looks good. Any interference when the radar is on?

None at all. The Seaview mount is designed to put the satellite antenna above the radar beam. Works great underway too.