Share your Starlink RV install and experiences

[ehochuli85]

Thank you all for the great info, and (specific thanks to Neal and Scottkd2 for responses to my questions). Most of you are talking about flagpole and roof mounts, but I’d like to avoid that. I don’t have a ladder on the back of my coach, so no easy way to mount a flag pole, and I do my best to stay off any ladder! I’d like to ground mount, which also gives me a little more leeway in avoiding trees, or set it on top of the jeep. A few questions:

1. Do I just need a clear sky to the north, or do I need a lot of clear sky above the dish?
2. Can I just place the Starlink router inside a bay of my coach that has a 110 receptible, and plug it in there? Or do I actually need the router inside the coach? In other words, is it likely that the wireless signal transmitted by the router in the storage bay, is strong enough to be received inside the coach?
3. Any ideas on how to secure the antenna so it can’t be easily stolen, if it’s just placed on the ground or toad? It appears that the “dish” could easily be detached from the tripod, so locking the tripod to something wouldn’t prevent the “dish” from being easily stolen? Suggestions?
4. Lastly, what is the return/cancellation policy? Is there a return policy on the equipment; and can the monthly service be cancelled or paused? Is there a contract?

Thank you very much!
Ed

 

[Neal]

I've seen some that have disabled the motor and just point it straight up at the sky. Not sure I'd do that. I think the Starlink app may tell you where it needs to be pointed, I think I've seen mainly north and west. I haven't used the app, I've thrown it on the roof and let it do its thing. My last location was partially obstructed.

I put the router in the basement and I gently push close the basement door so the cable compresses against the gasket, no issues. I've done this with other power cords in the past with no issue. Since I have an ethernet run between Starlink and Pepwave I turned off the Wi-Fi on the Starlink router, the only way to restore it is with a master reset. I will always use the ethernet connection on mine. I just want to avoid more Wi-Fi signals and channel issues, etc. I believe it's also a mesh router so you can add more if needed, not sure, but that's typically what mesh means.

I think you'd have to go on trust. If you have a dashcam on your RV and/or toad and it is pointed towards the antenna it may help if needed. I see no way to secure it and think just like portal SAT dishes you're going to have to take the risk. I bought this King tripod, it's going to need some adapter work but it would work as is for now. I removed the arms that are used with the SAT setup. I will use this if I need to get the antenna out of the way of obstructions. I suggest put google to work such as "Starlink tripod" or "Starlink mounts" as they are going to crop up everywhere. This is the latest game in business. The flagpole buddy is interesting as it's all 3D printed parts. Well done, shows you can do great things with 3D printing skills.

I don't recall, I think it's 14 days. I don't see you returning this, it takes all the stress out of Internet. I highly recommend it and if needed you can suspend service. You must suspend prior to the next billing date as it's by cycle.

 

[AbdRahim]

Hey Neal, what sre the round things on top of your A/C’s?

 

[Neal]

Hey Neal, what sre the round things on top of your A/C’s?

Laser defense system. Parsec Husky cellular antenna.

 

[Neal]

Thank you all for the great info, and (specific thanks to Neal and Scottkd2 for responses to my questions). Most of you are talking about flagpole and roof mounts, but I’d like to avoid that. I don’t have a ladder on the back of my coach, so no easy way to mount a flag pole, and I do my best to stay off any ladder! I’d like to ground mount, which also gives me a little more leeway in avoiding trees, or set it on top of the jeep. A few questions:

1. Do I just need a clear sky to the north, or do I need a lot of clear sky above the dish?
2. Can I just place the Starlink router inside a bay of my coach that has a 110 receptible, and plug it in there? Or do I actually need the router inside the coach? In other words, is it likely that the wireless signal transmitted by the router in the storage bay, is strong enough to be received inside the coach?
3. Any ideas on how to secure the antenna so it can’t be easily stolen, if it’s just placed on the ground or toad? It appears that the “dish” could easily be detached from the tripod, so locking the tripod to something wouldn’t prevent the “dish” from being easily stolen? Suggestions?
4. Lastly, what is the return/cancellation policy? Is there a return policy on the equipment; and can the monthly service be cancelled or paused? Is there a contract?

Thank you very much!
Ed

Ed,

Let me follow up in that I forgot some of the reasons I did things such as the King tripod stand is because I fix mounted the included tripod to my roof. Starlink comes with everything you need including a small tripod stand. If you need to mount in some other way you can browse their online store after you create your account and they have mounting options but typically for residential use. If you need to use a flag pole type concept to get it up off the ground for security and maybe better angles there are flagpoles that mount to hitches and also ones that go under tires (flat part that the pole attaches to). I suggest order the RV version from Starlink and then innovate from there per your needs.

As to security, when I got my Hughes AutoFormer I thought I'd need to secure it and never did. Same with Progressive Industries Surge Protector, never did and for both never needed to. All depends where you are as to the level of security awareness, i.e. southern AZ areas probably need higher awareness than northern locations.

 

[Scotttkd2]

Hi Ed, all info on your 4 questions is spot on. I will only add that on question #1, it needs a a much bigger swath of northern-ish sky than most people realize. The low orbit sats are cruising past at 17k mph, and the dish is "monitoring" a large swath of sky to "see" them. Unlike a tv sat dish with a geo stationary sat, it's possible to get a signal through a hole in the tree cover, that wont work nearly as well on the starlink. I think your wise to go with the tripod on the ground, just carry plenty of cable in case you find yourself parked in a shaded spot. So far I have had good luck with both mounts. I use a heavy duty audio speaker tripod and used the Starlink pole adapter to attach to it. Works well and stores in a very small amount of precious cargo space underneath the coach. Good luck!

 

[Neal]

I use a heavy duty audio speaker tripod

Do you have a link for this? I have the pole adapter from Starlink but it doesn't fit my tripod and I was going to 3D print an adapter.

 

[Neal]

When I looked up the dimensions of the Starlink pole adapter I read that it came with screws which I forgot about. I found mine and it comes with short and long set screws so it will work on about any pole you want to attach it to. Below are pictures of my King tripod mount. I had to drill out the single rivet with a 3/16" drill to remove the black plastic top where the hinged supports for a dish go which I already removed (nut/bolt setup). Once the black top part was off I was able to put on the Starlink pole adapter so this is now set and ready to be used.

 

[Scotttkd2]

When I looked up the dimensions of the Starlink pole adapter I read that it came with screws which I forgot about. I found mine and it comes with short and long set screws so it will work on about any pole you want to attach it to. Below are pictures of my King tripod mount. I had to drill out the single rivet with a 3/16" drill to remove the black plastic top where the hinged supports for a dish go which I already removed (nut/bolt setup). Once the black top part was off I was able to put on the Starlink pole adapter so this is now set and ready to be used.

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Yup, that is what I used. Since I got the flagpolebuddy, the SL mount just stays attached to the tripod now. Sorry, just re-read your post and the tripod I got was just an amazon generic via their search. Looks like you got your setup dialed in now though. Wow, fancy bag too!!

 

[Scotttkd2]

Just as an add on, I have gotten some suction cup type mounts from techno rv and plan to adapt to grip the flagpolebuddy pole and attach to the short side of my FWS in front of coach if my ladder mount is in shade. I will be letting the pole sit on the ground though, just using the cups to stabilize it and hold it in place. I see FPB has suction cups option now as well, but I wouldn't want to try to support the entire weight like they show in their pics. my 2 cents

 

[RKins]

Any suction cup suctioned on paint will leave a ring in the paint, which is tough to remove. I use suction cups on my driver window to stabilize the Gen-turi and also to mount my directional antenna pole base.

 

[ehochuli85]

Thanks again, Neal and Scottkd2, for the great on-point info.
On the theft issue, someone told me that the Starlink is like an iPad, in that if it gets stolen, you can deactivate it / report the theft to Starlink, and no one else will be able to use it, even with their own account. If so, that removes a lot of the motivation to the thief. Anyone know if this is true?

 

[Tnedator]

How it he flagpole buddy working for Starlink? Haven't been to the RV or out with it since I got my flagpole buddy or new cell booster (went with the WE boost directional, hi powered amp version, since the mobile ones suck).

 

[Neal]

How it he flagpole buddy working for Starlink? Haven't been to the RV or out with it since I got my flagpole buddy or new cell booster (went with the WE boost directional, hi powered amp version, since the mobile ones suck).

Flagpole buddy is just an innovate 3D printed mount that goes on a ladder and works with their poles. I don't have to go up the ladder to set it up. I put dishy on the end part which is at the top of the pole, insert pole into top area then put pole into the holder on the bottom, tighten thumb screw to secure. Cable still runs outside and into a bay for the router connection. Simple setup and kudos to the innovator. Yeah, it's expensive but I reward great design and gladly pay to promote their good work.

 

[Tnedator]

Flagpole buddy is just an innovate 3D printed mount that goes on a ladder and works with their poles. I don't have to go up the ladder to set it up. I put dishy on the end part which is at the top of the pole, insert pole into top area then put pole into the holder on the bottom, tighten thumb screw to secure. Cable still runs outside and into a bay for the router connection. Simple setup and kudos to the innovator. Yeah, it's expensive but I reward great design and gladly pay to promote their good work.

Yea, I've had one since I posted a link to it on I think page one of this thread, but haven't even taken it out of the box, as I haven't been out in the RV since getting it.

As long as the plastic ladder mounts hold up, it seemed like the most convenient option.

 

[Buly]

I was wandering how much the reception will be affected, if the dishy antenna on a tall pole moves during high winds. There must be some wobble. Don’t know if the antenna locks on one satellite at the time, or group of them?

 

[Neal]

I was wandering how much the reception will be affected, if the dishy antenna on a tall pole moves during high winds. There must be some wobble. Don’t know if the antenna locks on one satellite at the time, or group of them?

I don't know the scientific/exact answer but my guess is not much. I think this is connected via phased array radar.

 

[Scotttkd2]

Hi Ed, both the dish and the router Mac addresses are attached to your specific account you set up when ordering. If either were stolen you can disable them via customer service. A pain, but useless to someone else. I agree with Neal, these are becoming more common and and will soon be like seeing all the dish and direct tv tailgaters sitting near RV's. My bigger concern is someone running it over if not on my flagpole mount.

 

[Neal]

I'm curious how dishy will hold up to hail. I see people permanently roof mounting much less if hail is predicted should you bring in dishy? I think it's thin plastic and don't trust it's going to survive, the same applies to carefully storing to not break the face of the dish.

 

[Neal]

I haven't seen the best of Starlink connectivity here in Granby, CO and I'm not sure why. Today I decided to check the Starlink app and it still showed obstructions which was from the last time I used it in Fort Collins (yes, there was a tree). I tapped "Visibility" in the app and it did a scan for obstructions which took 24 minutes (as the app showed). After that completed I'm now seeing good speeds. I wonder if there is a bug in the system that remember it's degraded or something? Here is my speed test after the scan. I'll see if this changes much over time but I'll be using this as AT&T is not consistent here.



EDIT: Still unstable on speeds here. Not sure why, clear skies, no obstructions