Starlink. Is it reliable after a few months?

[ShakeyGS]

About two years ago, I installed 4g broadband with EE because I could not work from home with my copper wire BT broadband. Over the last month or so it has become very unreliable and frequently drops out altogether. I've spent ages on the phone to "the UK's most reliable network" and they can't find anything wrong.

As I'm rural, my only real option is to use Starlink or similar, but when I followed a special offer for them on Faceache recently, there were a lot of very negative comments about speed dropping off and zero customer service.

Who here is using it long term and have you experienced these issues?

 

[SOAA]

I haven’t used them but I have been following one or two of the Starlink groups on FB
Starlink: UK Owners might be a better place to ask.

The general consensus on there seems to be that yes the customer service is crap.
In terms of speed & reliability though that can vary considerably from what I have seen discussed

 

[GADGET]

Ordered, and has been delivered to my Daughter's house, as we are away until August, so cannot comment on use, but I'm going to install mine on the motorhome.

 

[EPG_19]

Used for a long time and works steady as broadband used to.

take it away in tthe Caravan and never paid for the extra Roam and never been mentioned

 

[nick.ct]

Good for file transfers, not so good for streaming. There are short periods of 'handover' as your connection changes 'route' via the moving satellites, this can lead to buffering.
The service is getting better as more satellites are launched and enter service, this is of course moderated as the user numbers and expectations increase

 

[SOAA]

There are short periods of 'handover' as your connection changes 'route' via the moving satellites, this can lead to buffering

Have you experienced this yourself?

 

[nick.ct]

Yes

 

[sparkplug]

@ShakeyBMW - first thing I’d try is a different SIM card in your existing setup

actually that’s not true. First thing to do is to check the external antenna hasn’t been damaged or whatever. If you haven’t got an external antenna then adding one would be worth considering


We’ve deployed a few Starlinks for customers and haven’t had any reliability issues. They are a bit laggy compared to other technologies (but less than other satellite internet because they have a lower orbit) so you wouldn’t be want to hang a call centre off one but could be a decent solution.

Having a clear uninterrupted view of the sky does make a big difference though. Trees etc can have a bigger impact than you might expect

 

[Pepsi]

I’ve recently purchased a Starlink system and have been pleasantly surprised with it. It’s the Gen 3 system, which I’m using as a mobile network in the van. You can pause and reactivate the service as you wish. So far so good. I used customer support once and whilst they weren’t extremely quick to get back to me, they did after a few days and the problem was resolved.

 

[sparkplug]

Out of curiosity, what was the problem you had?

I keep considering Starlink for the van, but the costs don't quite add up for me yet. One day I hope they might but they've gone the other way for now. Hardware costs have come down, subscription fees have gone up.

Did a config for a fellow Tosser yesterday who has the same LTE kit as me and we were hitting 80-90Mbps in what was a pretty heavily congested area.

More than enough for browsing + TV streaming and while the kit is more expensive to buy the running costs are a fraction of Starlink which for someone operating an 'always on' rig makes a big difference.

 

[Pepsi]

Out of curiosity, what was the problem you had?

I keep considering Starlink for the van, but the costs don't quite add up for me yet. One day I hope they might but they've gone the other way for now. Hardware costs have come down, subscription fees have gone up.

Did a config for a fellow Tosser yesterday who has the same LTE kit as me and we were hitting 80-90Mbps in what was a pretty heavily congested area.

More than enough for browsing + TV streaming and while the kit is more expensive to buy the running costs are a fraction of Starlink which for someone operating an 'always on' rig makes a big difference.

It was user error. I misunderstood which reference number I needed to ID my unit in order to activate the system. The instructions were a tad vague.
I’m getting on average 258mbps download and 18-30mbps approximately upload speeds, better than some people are getting from a fixed system in their home. It’s £85 per month but that’s unlimited data. Being able to pause and reactivate the service is a game changer as I don’t need continual use of it in the van.

 

[sparkplug]

It's a great system and has good speeds and acceptable latency for a satellite based solution.

The day that monthly charge comes down to about half of where it's at now then I'll be all over it like a rash....

My issue is that I can be away for 3-5 days a month which makes £85 expensive for just a few days.

£17/month is less than the cost of a beer per day for 5 days out of a month. It's also a pretty decent price for a backup line for work (I work from home predominantly)

As with all these things, it's balancing your budget with your use case scenario.

For my personal use Starlink makes no economic sense, but I've just put it in to two more customer sites and have proposed it for a third.

 

[Udders]

And I’ve still not broken it after 2 days.
I’m sure you’ll be getting a message sooner or later though.
I also learnt a few new things!

 

[ChasF]

It seems the Starlink monthly subscription in France and Spain is around 35 euros a month!

Still no interest from me though as my Teltonika router as recommended by Mr Sparkplug works perfectly and is generally faster than my livebox nstallation. The second SIM is only 5 euros a month.

 

[GADGET]

I've just finished installing a V2 Starlink on the roof off my Moho, converted to 12V and wired into Teltonika router instead of the Starlink, trip to Spain next month, so see how we get on, instead of using SIM card.

 

[Cjm2993]

Starlink runs to about £75 / month in the uk just now and whilst it’s more expensive than regular internet, we can’t get regular internet. It was a doddle to set up and works perfectly for streaming Netflix etc and even gaming. We get 90+ MB/sec typically.

 

[ktmman]

we had similar issues , only copper wire available, sky wanted over £45 for 3mb/s. Switched to 3 hutchison , with mobile router no landline. Now getting up to 350mb/s for half the price. I believe they are merging with Vodaphone in future so network should provide even wider coverage.

 

[Cjm2993]

To be fair to BT, they were my previous provider, when we moved they said that as they can’t offer as good a service in our new home, they would waive all cancellation fees and let the contract end. As such, we ended up on Starlink and it’s been great.

 

[Cjm2993]

To be fair to BT, they were my previous provider, when we moved they said that as they can’t offer as good a service in our new home, they would waive all cancellation fees and let the contract end. As such, we ended

 

[Barnoe]

Starlink is ok, but the connection causes duplicate posts