Starlink anyone?

[Jim_in_Delaware]

We put down a refundable deposit on Starlink internet about two years ago before moving into our new home. Our home is in a small rural development (about 45 lots) and Mediacom is the only wired service available (also no 5G internet service availabl). I just got a notice from Starlink that our order is ready to process if we still want to go forward (have a week to decide). Prices between Mediacom and Starlink are about the same. Does anyone have Starlink for their home internet service and are you happy with the service?

Thanks in advance,

Jim

 

[Bruce]

I have had Starlink for more than a year. I do not have any landline service available at my home.

This is faster than a typical Speedtest result for me.



On the positive side it is faster than the fixed wireless service that I was using before.

Reliability is decent. Perhaps three major outages in the last year which were system wide. I do lose service for short periods during heavy rain.

My local cable company received $12M in federal funding to roll fiber into unserved areas. My street was supposed to have service ten months ago, the fiber is on the poles but the company will not call me back. I likely will keep Starlink for a while or permanently after getting the fiber as my past experience was that the cable company was unreliable.

Starlink supported four to six kids using devices in the house, several televisions and two adults well over the summer. I just need more speed for work.

Starlink does not have phone based tech support. You email and they reply days later. I had an issue with service reliability that likely resolved after a firmware or network update. My email describing the issue which only occurred while the dish was heating to thaw itself resulted in no communication beyond a new Starlink access point and cable arriving at my home which I have stored in case they are needed in the future.

 

[JASmith]

Mediacom is pretty much the worst service in history, so I'd definitely go with Starlink

 

[Bruce]

Probably a more realistic test result when more people are using the network. Consumer speeds are limited by the link between ground stations and the satellites. Increasing the number of ground stations may help with that. I have seen speeds as low as 30 Mbps.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Bruce, thanks for the real world numbers. They are about three times slower than what I am currently experiencing. (Gotta love how 1G cable service is actually 1/3 of what they advertise.) I’ll run some more speed test this evening when I know our speed will drop.

I have mixed feelings about our Mediacom service. They wired our house for free and the initial year of service was $99/month. Now it’s $128 with fees and modem rental. Will go up another $48 next year.

It looks like Starlink residential service is about $120/month. Do they add any of fees or taxes to that?

Jim

 

[@JC!]

My previous Midco 1GB/100mb service metered at 960ish/94ish... currently suffering on 43/7 point to point while I wait for the rural fiber co to run the line from the road. Then I'll be on 1gb/150mb and from what I've seen at the neighbor's it meters pretty close to advertised speeds minus overhead. I would strongly recommend wired (cable/fiber) over point to point or satellite. Sat/Pt2Pt ping (latency) can be 10x a long as wired and drops are short but frequent enough to be annoying if you do any work from home or stream video.

If you're really only seeing 300mb down on Gig service then you probably need a new modem or router set up, do you rent Mediacom's equipment or own your own?

 

[Bruce]

@Jim_in_Delaware Starlinks’s $120 bill is just $120. It was $100 or $110 when I signed up. The bill goes up or down depending on the level of demand in your sector.

Personally I would not switch to Starlink if wired service was available.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

I have a clients home set up with Starlink as a failover provider. When Comcast Gb service goes down, there is no noticeable effect unless there are many users streaming. Reliability is on point for a wireless provider. I rarely get a notification of loss of service from the SonicWall, even during poor weather. Your usage will likely be the determining factor.