Is Starlink worth it for RVers?

[BGMAC]

I have the RV version in use at my home right now and I’m quite happy. I have it on a retractable flag pole getting the idea from a post on here. It is 1000% faster than my dsl. I was getting 8Mbps on dsl. We do not have cable here. So now I can retract the pole and remove the dish, take the pole and dish with us in the Rv.

 

[Old Bubblehead]

Has anyone gone with the new fixed antenna yet? It is a significant cost adder, but not having to fuss with cables and antenna every set up/ break down would be nice as well.

 

[Jim]

Has anyone gone with the new fixed antenna yet? It is a significant cost adder, but not having to fuss with cables and antenna every set up/ break down would be nice as well.

That's OK, if you never park under trees.

Just an update, the "unlimited data" has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread. That isn't the case anymore. A couple of months ago, Starlink imposed a 1tb data cap.

Probably still not a problem for most, but just so you know.

 

[Gizmo]

We just got ours since the KOA in Davenport FLA is a dead spot for T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. It works OK and I get between 8 and 180 on the speed test depending on the time of day. It is interesting that in the first 24 hours, I got between 120 and 200 then after the first 24 hours I got throttled down to the RV level of speed. I really hate to pay the 135.00 since this is the second time I have not been able to use my unlimited Calyx T-Mobel 5G hotspot and get 200 to 700 on the speed test the costs me 43.66 a month for service. Since we paid for 3 months at this KOA we get some use out of Starlink and maybe the next time we don't have service.

 

[docj]

Just an update, the "unlimited data" has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread. That isn't the case anymore. A couple of months ago, Starlink imposed a 1tb data cap.

The "data cap" applies only to the high priority data that Starlink residential customers receive. Starlink RV users don't get "high priority data" so they don't have a data cap. Even for residential users it's not really a "cap"; it's just a limit on the quantity of priority data that you receive.

 

[Jim]

Even for residential users it's not really a "cap"; it's just a limit on the quantity of priority data that you receive.

Yes, @docj is correct, and I guess I should been a bit more clear as to the explanation of "cap". Starlink is following the path of the other satellite Internet providers by offering "unlimited Internet", with a cap on priority data.

But in a layman's definition, once you hit the "priority cap" you sill have Internet connection, but the usability of that connection is questionable and the degree of frustration raises quickly.

 

[docj]

But in a layman's definition, once you hit the "priority cap" you sill have Internet connection, but the usability of that connection is questionable and the degree of frustration raises quickly.

After you reach the "priority cap" your data will be exactly the same as what the RV Plan subscribers have all the time. There are Starlink RV plan subscribers who say they are satisfied; others less so. So the jury is out.

 

[Jim]

After you reach the "priority cap" your data will be exactly the same as what the RV Plan subscribers have all the time.

I wasn't aware there were any plans. Is this new? Or are you referencing the type of Starlink service you want to buy? With Hughes and ViaSat, you can buy plans, and those plans offer certain amount of "priority data" before your speeds are diminished.

With Starlink business, residential and RV users all get the same data allowances. The only difference was speed, but that wasn't dictated by a plan, it was governed by the dish that you were using. The older dishes were slower, the newer ones are faster. Business services got the newer dishes by default.

The differencing attributes between the services was that RV speeds were downgraded first, residential went next, and business services remained unscathed. Thus the difference in pricing.

Since the 1tb data cap on priority data, your speeds are diminished when you hit the "cap", unless you opt to buy more "priority data". As far as I know, this is the same for all users of the Starlink program, regardless of whether you are a business user, residential user, or RV user.

As a user of satellite Internet for many years, I can attest that very few people are ever satisfied with speed and dependability of non-priority data.

 

[Scotttkd2]

Hi Jim, I haven't read the legalese lately on the Starlink site, but my understanding of how the "plans" work is residential is full speed and quality monitored for number of users and usage, and they don't allow new users in that area until capacity is increased. Portability add on to residential gives you the ability to access service outside of your home area "IF" bandwidth is available. I read that as them saying they could potentially deny you access on portability if a cell is already at max capacity. In real world use though, I don't recall ever reading anyone posting about being denied, so it can't believe it is happening much if at all. The RV plan guarantees you service anywhere they offer their service but at a de-prioritized state. That is my plan and it manifests itself during high traffic times (evenings) as slower speeds. I have never been denied service, but do suffer some in the evenings. However, I have never had an instance where I couldn't stream video with little to no pixelation or buffering. If that has changed I need to re-educate myself but frankly I haven't invested much effort in that as the service is solid for my needs and has allowed me to downsize my backup and "while mobile" cellular plans in my pepwave far more than the cost of the Starlink service, so a win for me.

 

[Jim]

Hi Jim, I haven't read the legalese lately on the Starlink site, but my understanding of how the "plans" work is residential is full speed and quality monitored for number of users and usage, and they don't allow new users in that area until capacity is increased. Portability add on to residential gives you the ability to access service outside of your home area "IF" bandwidth is available. I read that as them saying they could potentially deny you access on portability if a cell is already at max capacity. In real world use though, I don't recall ever reading anyone posting about being denied, so it can't believe it is happening much if at all. The RV plan guarantees you service anywhere they offer their service but at a de-prioritized state. That is my plan and it manifests itself during high traffic times (evenings) as slower speeds. I have never been denied service, but do suffer some in the evenings. However, I have never had an instance where I couldn't stream video with little to no pixelation or buffering. If that has changed I need to re-educate myself but frankly I haven't invested much effort in that as the service is solid for my needs and has allowed me to downsize my backup and "while mobile" cellular plans in my pepwave far more than the cost of the Starlink service, so a win for me.

Agreed. I know of no one that has been denied either. Deprioritized, yes, denied, no.

 

[docj]

I wasn't aware there were any plans. Is this new? Or are you referencing the type of Starlink service you want to buy? With Hughes and ViaSat, you can buy plans, and those plans offer certain amount of "priority data" before your speeds are diminished.

With Starlink business, residential and RV users all get the same data allowances. The only difference was speed, but that wasn't dictated by a plan, it was governed by the dish that you were using. The older dishes were slower, the newer ones are faster. Business services got the newer dishes by default.

The differencing attributes between the services was that RV speeds were downgraded first, residential went next, and business services remained unscathed. Thus the difference in pricing.

Since the 1tb data cap on priority data, your speeds are diminished when you hit the "cap", unless you opt to buy more "priority data". As far as I know, this is the same for all users of the Starlink program, regardless of whether you are a business user, residential user, or RV user.

As a user of satellite Internet for many years, I can attest that very few people are ever satisfied with speed and dependability of non-priority data.

With all due respect, your explanation is not entirely correct. Only residential Starlink customers get a priority data allowance (1 TB/mo). Since RV users don't get ANY priority data, they don't have a cap to exceed. I'm pretty sure this is also true of residential customers who take their system outside the area. Once you are outside your area, you receive only deprioritized data.

Since RV pricing is higher than residential I can't understand your comment that the prices has to do with downgrading of performance. RV accounts are automatically deprioritized regardless of usage.

I've also never seen anything that indicated that there was a performance difference between the older round dishes and the rectangular ones. Starlink changed designs presumably to lower production cost. One thing they also did was make the Ethernet port an extra-cost accessory.

 

[Jim]

With all due respect, your explanation is not entirely correct. Only residential Starlink customers get a priority data allowance (1 TB/mo).

What about business users? No data allowance for them?

 

[Jim]

It does appear that SpaceX is making the rules up as they go along. First sold as no data caps, business and residential now have a 1tb cap. And as @docj pointed out, that's not a cap on the amount of data that you can use, it's only a cap on the "priority data" that you get.

This is actually a misnomer as non-priority data is basically useless, but advertising it as "non-priority data" sounds better that saying the date rate is all but useless for anything other than checking emails.

It also appears that RV uses are not currently subject to that "data cap", probably because they were not guaranteed any "priority data" in the first place, they aren't subject to the priority data cap restrictions.

My guess is that as more and more residential users "game" the system, and put RV accounts on their homes, that Starlink will implement the data cap for RV accounts as well.

Either way, as this thread is about RV usage, I stand corrected as RV users aren't limited with the 1tb cap.

 

[Gizmo]

We have the RV service and were disappointed in the thruput. During the prime time speed test dot net was giving us around 1 to 3 in the evenings and maybe 10 to 20 during the day. In the area we are snowbirding in you can not order the residential version of Starlink says coming in 2023. I was seriously considering returning the Staklink on the 30-day trial period. After I ran a speed test I saw you can change servers so I tried several other servers and found that I'm getting between 100 and 150 during the day and 50 to 100 during prime evening hours. I check several other servers and got similar results then went back to the original server that speed picked and back to do a poor performance. Century Link server is the only server I can find that reports really low numbers for Starlink and suspects it's their network and not Starlink.

 

[Scotttkd2]

Gizmo......and now we have stumbled into the heart of the matter, internet is a two way transaction, and the other end you are talking to is just as able to affect your perceived speed as your end is. Different speed test sites and apps will give wildly different results, and yes, the nearest server that the app selects (typically nearest is used in their search algorithms) is not necessarily the fastest. Glad you were able to discover this before turning in your equipment.