That Elon Musk SpaceX chap… what a guy! He’s developed a system to provide global, high-speed, satellite-based internet access at a reasonable price. Starlink is anow a fully mobile internet solution. And the good news is that it will at some point in the not too distant future, be usable in motion. ‘Hey…‘ we thought ‘… let’s get a Starlink terminal for our truck and see how it works‘. So how is Starlink for overlanders?

We bought our first Starlink in Canada and published this page in April 2021, but Starlink doesn’t stand still… it’s a rapidly evolving system and there’s been a lot of changes.  We’ve tried to keep current using the ‘Updates’ listed below, so you can click there if you just want our latest Starlink News. The original text is also there as a historical record. So if you’re a geek, or just feel like perusing the back-story, you can see how it went. Watch this space for updates as the system evolves and we continue travelling with Starlink across USA, Mexico and Canada.

• What is Starlink?
• Cost, Set-up and Data-rates
• Starlink for Overlanders
• Installing Starlink in an RV / Overlanding Truck
• Update No.1 – Travelling, Geo-fencing, Changing registered address (20/4/21)
• Update No.2 – Start-up times, Software updates, Power consumption, Obstruction data, Changing address, Satellite roll out, Dishy storage (7/5/21)
• Update No.3 – Mobile use of Starlink (4/6/21)
• Update No.4 – Improving service
• Update No.5 – New country, new dish!
• Update No.6 – Change of Ownership (24/11/21)
• Update No.7 – 100 addresses and Obstructions (16/12/21)
• Update No.8 – Modifying the Starlink Power Supply to run on AC and DC
• Update No.9 – Changes to Roaming (18/2/22)
• Update No.10 – Starlink Mobile Roaming (5/3/22)
• Update No.11 – Roaming is now officially called ‘Portability’ and SpaceX have just released an availability map (28/3/22)
• Update No.12 – Global Roaming, end of Portability and price changes in the USA
• Update No.13 – Starlink Service Plans (19 May 23)
• For other updates on Starlink see our Starlink Mobile Roaming page.

What is Starlink?

Starlink by SpaceX is a constellation of low-earth orbit satellites that provides internet access directly to end users (see www.starlink.com). The advantage of low-earth orbit is that it provides a low-latency connection, i.e. the connection is very quick because the signal does not have to travel extremely far.  The Starlink satellites orbit approximately 550 km above the earth. This may sound a long way, but most other broadband satellite internet providers use geostationary satellites some 35,786 km above the earth!  Having satellites 65 times closer obviously speeds up the time for the signal to reach the satellite and be relayed back to earth. 

So why don’t others do this?  The disadvantage of low-earth orbit is that each satellite can only cover a small area (a few hundred kilometres across), whereas a single geostationary satellite can cover almost half of the earth!  So a low-earth orbit constellation needs far more satellites than a geostationary system to provide global coverage. 

With SpaceX’s ability to launch 60 satellites on a single rocket, and the ability to then reuse each rocket, they have minimised launch costs. The reduced costs have allowed them to design Starlink to use 12,000 satellites. No, not a typo, that’s twelve thousand satellites! 

As at 7 April 2021, SpaceX already have 1,378 operational satellites and have started to provide a ‘beta service’ for internet.  With their usual humour, they’re calling it a “better than nothing” beta testing service.

Cost, Set-up and Data-rates

A Starlink terminal costs US$499 plus US$99 per month subscription (plus taxes) for unlimited data (prices as at Nov 2021, when we bought our US Dish).

Starlink Kit

The kit consists of:

• ‘Dishy McFlatface’ – yes, that’s what SpaceX actually calls it, or ‘Dishy’ for short;
• a tripod-stand for Dishy;
• a power-supply, router and connecting wires 

In the box when it arrives, Dishy is already wired-up and plugged-in to its power-supply and the router, so the setup process is extremely simple:

1. pull Dishy out of the box
2. put Dishy on the tripod outside in a spot with a good view of the sky (see below ‘Mounting and Locating Dishy’)  
3. Plug-in to mains power. Dishy will now start connecting to the overhead satellites and the router will power-up.
4. Use the Starlink app to set up the router’s Wi-Fi name and password, then you can log-in and surf away on the inter-web!

Mounting and Locating Dishy

Dishy comes with a tripod stand in the box and a 100’/30m cable so that it can be mounted and placed in a location that has good visibility of the sky. Alternatively, it can be mounted on a choice of optional extra accessories: a ‘Volcano mount’ that can be bolted or screwed to a flat surface; or the ‘Pipe Adapter’ that allows Dishy to be fitted to various diameter poles. 

To find the best position for Dishy you need to download the Starlink app onto your phone (iPhone or Android). The app uses your phone’s camera and position sensors to look for any obstructions.  As you move the phone around looking at the sky, it highlights the area of the sky for your location that needs to be obstruction free and indicates the best position for Dishy.

For overlanders, it would be convenient to have a Volcano mount on your vehicle roof that can be used if you are parked-up in a good location (see here how I mounted ours) Note: Dishy is not designed for very high wind-speeds, so if it is mounted on the roof, it should be taken down from the Volcano mount and stowed away before driving.

If the vehicle isn’t parked in a location that is good for satellite reception – maybe in a shady place under trees – you can put Dishy on the tripod up to 30m away from the vehicle (Note: obtaining service with obstructions such as trees in the area has been less of a problem than we originally anticipated, see Update 3 of June 2021 below)

A user asked the Starlink support team (on Reddit) if there would be an issue mounting Dishy 80’ up a tree.  Their reply was that if Dishy did not move more than 3’ it would be fine!  This equates to a movement of about 2 degrees, which is quite a lot.  This is encouraging for overlanders. With Dishy mounted on the roof of a vehicle, it will work well even with slight vehicle movements (e.g. rocking in the wind or while people move around inside).

Dishy should work fine if you happen to find yourself in a cold/snowy climate. The dish-face has water repelling properties and the heat generated by Dishy means that snow quickly melts and runs off.  There is some talk on internet forums about it having heaters, but from the information I have seen, I think that rather than having an actual heater, it simply adjusts the power to the electronics in the dish which then heats-up, causing the snow to melt.

Connection Speeds / Data-rates

So far we’ve been very happy with the internet connectivity.

SpaceX say “users can expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms in most locations over the next several months as we enhance the Starlink system. There will also be brief periods of no connectivity at all.” 

In fact, they have already started to increase performance. We have had up to 250Mbps and other users are reporting data speeds of over 300Mbps. One user posted on Reddit that they briefly had over 700Mb/s!

Starlink for Overlanders

The Starlink system is super-easy to set-up/use and can provide high-speed data at a reasonable price, so it’s a potentially exciting development in the world of remote access to internet. But does it have long-term potential for overlanding use?

For overlanders/van-lifers travelling in the right parts of the world, requiring large volume, high-speed internet – maybe because they’re working on the road, or maybe just because they want to do lots of vlogging, Zoom with their families or watch lots of Netflix on rainy nights – it could be the solution of the future.

However, it has significant potential limitations and will not be attractive to everyone. No matter how much you might like the concept, you’ve got to recognise the likely concerns and limitations for overlanding.

A not so ‘mobile’ system… yet

As noted in the Intro above, it is not yet marketed as a ‘mobile’ system; it is only supposed to be used near its registered address.

Starlink uses a series of cells covering the earth. At the moment, each terminal is set to operate within the specific cell of its registered service address.  If you take the terminal outside of that cell, the satellite will not provide data.  The cells seem to be approximately 25 km across, so ‘roaming’ use of this distance range is not exactly within the definition of ‘overlanding’ 😊, but some travel around the immediate area is possible (Note: see Update 3 of June 2021 below about our further tests with wider mobile use of the system and Update 9 of Feb 2022 regarding Roaming).

Within the Starlink app (under ‘Support’, ‘Account’) the team responds to the FAQ: ‘Can I use Starlink when I travel?’. The answer is: ’Our teams are actively working to make it possible to use your Starlink away from your Service Address, but for now we can only offer service at the intended location (the Service Address on your Account).’

This raised a few questions in our minds that we wanted to investigate:

• What happens if I try to use it in an area that is not designated as a ‘cell’? We tried this 45 km from our registered address and the system told us to poke-off…. well actually, after a short data-exchange with the satellite that I observed in the Debug Data I was monitoring, Dishy shut-down and disconnected itself from the router. I had to turn the power off/on so that I could stow the dish to pack it away.

• Can I change my registered service address to a different cell in order to get coverage there? Yes. The Starlink app now has a way to do this on-line. It’s not necessary to actually live at (or have any kind of connection to) the ‘registered address’. It’s not even necessary for the registered address to be a dwelling of any kind. A registered address can be any random location you chose, provided it’s within a cell area covered by the Starlink network. It is quick and easy to change the registered address on the Starlink website. Once a new registered address is updated, it takes just a few minutes to take effect and Dishy starts working within the area of his new registered address. It’s important to note that there are limits on the number of systems that can be registered in any one cell area. So:
  • If the cell you want to go to is full, then you won’t be able to transfer to that cell; and
  • If you do successfully transfer to another cell and in the meantime your original ‘home’ cell fills-up with new systems being registered, you won’t be able to transfer back to your old cell again.

• Is there a limit to how often/how many times can I change my registered service address? Short answer: I don’t know. Long answer: In Canada between April and November 2021 we did 79 address changes and used the system at 136 different locations (obviously sometimes at multiple locations within the cell-range of one registered address). Under a new USA account, we have continued to do regular address changes as we move around USA. One day no doubt, the system will transfer seamlessly from cell-to-cell without re-registration in each new cell location. (Note: on mobile use, see Update 3 of June 2021 below)        

But when it’s cleared for mobile use…

So it will at some point be cleared for mobile use and that will overcome a pretty major hurdle for overlanders. But that won’t be the end of the story. Depending on where you plan to do your overlanding, there will be several other considerations:

• Starlink doesn’t have global coverage of cells yet and it’s unlikely that true world-wide coverage will be available soon. However, SpaceX is launching on average, some 60 satellites every 12 days and coverage is increasing rapidly. Check https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink (look under Technology) for the latest coverage.

• Use of satellite communications (or even simply being in possession of the equipment) may be illegal in the countries you want to visit, so this needs to be investigated for your overlanding destination.

• Dishy needs to have a clear view of the satellites in the sky (see Mounting and Locating Dishy above). It’ll therefore be difficult in areas like forests (unless you can find a clearing within 30m of your vehicle to position Dishy on his tripod). And even more difficult in city centres, where high buildings are likely to restrict Dishy’s visibility to the sky and remote placing of Dishy probably won’t be possible (although see in Update 3 of June 2021 below, in practice this has been much less of a problem for us than we expected).

• Dishy has wind-speed limitations, so even if you have a Volcano roof-mount on your vehicle, Dishy can’t be deployed in the mount whilst moving at any speed. This means it will not assist with any sat-nav or GPS devices that require on-line connectivity.

• Security and attracting attention by displaying Dishy may be a concern in some places.  

Is it better and cheaper than getting local data SIMs in-country?

Obviously, this depends on the country you’re travelling in; data prices vary hugely around the world. But even in the cheapest countries, high volume data use is likely to end up cheaper with Starlink’s unlimited data, than with local providers. Only you can decide what is more cost effective for your own level of required data usage.

In addition to price, you might also consider:

• ease of obtaining the data SIMs in each country for high-volume use (particularly if you arrive in a country at a remote border crossing and have to drive long distances to reach the first town where you can register with a network and buy data packages);
• geographical coverage of mobile data with regular network companies (e.g. here in Canada, only a tiny fraction of the country has mobile data coverage, so overlanding away from densely populated areas means no internet access); and
• data-rate speeds available with local providers are often far lower than Starlink’s.

So having considered the pros and cons, might it be for you? And if you like the idea, do you want to instal it into your truck?

Installing Starlink in an RV / Overlanding Truck

Just to be clear… no ‘installation’ is necessary with Starlink. You could of course just get it out of the box and run loose wires from the router and the power-supply (inside) to Dishy (outside). If you want the easy-life, just stick with the simple set-up then sit back with a beer and surf-away. 

But being a geek¹ and having a bit of lock-down time on my hands, I decided to do a full installation of the Starlink system into Cuthbert, our RV/overlanding truck. The aim is to:

• avoid having to open a window/door/mosquito net to accommodate the cable running outside to Dishy;
• tidy-up loose cabling; and
• simplify/speed-up the set-up/pack-up of the Starlink system.

Doing a ‘permanent’ installation yourself might be considered ‘Stage 2 Geekery’ and isn’t for everyone. But if you’re up for a bit of wiring-extravaganza, I’ve set out in a separate blog-post the full tech-specifications of the system and a detailed explanation of the installation process in our truck… read on here: Installing Starlink in an RV / Overlanding Truck.

Update No. 1 : 20 April 2021

Ta-daaah! Here’s the first update on our recent wander into Starlink-World. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve learned a lot about how the system works and there’s even been a couple of Tweets from Elon with very encouraging news for overlanders hoping to use it in future 😊

In our tests so far, we have particularly focused on using Starlink away from its registered address to see how it might work in the future for overlanding.  During the short time we have been testing there have been some system software updates and we’re sure there will be more coming along regularly.  This has meant that some of the results of our early tests are already out of date. It’s a fast-moving beta program and there’s no holding back the improvements.

Travelling with Dishy and Geo-fencing

When we first started to test the limits of where we could travel, Dishy would shut down and refuse to play ball if we strayed too far from the registered address.  The distance appeared to be approximately a 35 km x 35 km square box (not a circle) centred on the registered address, which gave a range of around 17.5 km from the registered address (a bit further going out in the directions of the corners of the ‘square’ – see diagram).

Within this ‘geo-fence’ box Starlink worked well, but beyond it Dishy was designated (in the Starlink App’s data log) as not ‘reachable’. To re-establish the connection with Dishy, the power had to be turned off/on then Dishy had to be quickly ‘stowed’ before it became ‘unreachable’ and shut down again. 

‘Debug data’ for the system can be seen in the Starlink App or internet browser of a computer connected to Starlink (192.168.100.1 in browser to open the equivalent of the Starlink App on your computer).  Within the debug data I saw that Dishy was establishing a data-connection with the satellites and then shutting down.  I can only speculate that it exchanged its GPS position and if the location was beyond the acceptable area, SpaceX commanded a shutdown of Dishy. 

Following Dishy’s recent software update, this behaviour has changed.  Now if we travel beyond the geo-fence box mentioned above, Dishy no longer shuts down. However, the further we go from the registered address, the worse the performance of the system becomes.  Eventually at a range of approximately 35 km from the registered address (i.e. approx. double the distance of the ‘old’ geo-fence box noted above) two things happen in the App:

• In the debug data, the “unexpectedLocation” tag changes from ‘false’ to ‘true’; and
• The home screen displays ‘Unexpected Location’: ‘Your Starlink is not at its registered address.  Service may be degraded or unusable. Please use it at the registered address.’

But as we said… Dishy does not shut down. We still get data service, but with very reduced performance. The reason, it seems, is that (for now at least) Dishy can only connect to its designated satellites which are beaming down to its registered address location. When Dishy leaves its home area it doesn’t look for the nearest satellites beaming down to its current location. So the further Dishy goes away from its registered address, the weaker the signals from its designated satellites, the more obstructions there are between Dishy and its designated satellites, the harder it is for Dishy to pick-up a good signal from its designated satellites.

Address Change

Having reached the limit of range from our registered address (and having seen the ‘Unexpected Location’ message in the App) we decided to try to change our registered address to a closer location.  We were parked-up 32 km from our original registered address and the debug data was showing lots of obstructions resulting in a very unreliable service. However, the connection was just strong enough for us to open our account and change our registered address, so we chose a new location which happened to be around 9 km away (you can type in an actual street address or drag a marker on a map to a location you want to use as the registered address).  Within 15 minutes of submitting the address change, the Starlink performance dramatically improved and the debug data showed the obstructions had disappeared. 

This rapid improvement in performance after an address change seems to confirm the theory that Dishy can only connect with the satellites overhead its registered address, rather than those overhead its actual position. It also explains why the ‘Check for Obstructions’ function in the Starlink App is not particularly good when used away from the registered address (see ‘Obstruction Data’ below).  I assume that one of the software changes that will be made before mobile use of Starlink is officially allowed, will be to make Dishy connect with the closest satellites.

So far we’ve only changed the address once and that was to a location where we knew there was an active Starlink cell. Whether this is useful for overlanders to constantly change addresses whilst taking Dishy across a large country the size of, say, Canada, remains to be seen… 🤔 (Note: in Update 3 of June 2021 below we have tested the ‘address changing’ method of staying mobile for some time now without any issues)

Obstruction Data

Within the debug data there are two lists of obstruction data: ‘wedgeFractionObstructedList’ and ‘wedgeAbsFractionObstructedList’.  These lists each have 12 entries with values varying between zero and one (expressed to fifteen decimal places).  It seems (from reading other beta-testers’ assessments and this great on-line tool http://starlink.dsmfaq.com/tools/obstructions.html) that:

• zero means there are no obstructions, and one means it is completely obstructed; and
• the value at each entry in the lists relates to 30-degree segments of the sky (the first value being for between north and a bearing of 030, the second a bearing of 030 to 060, next 060 to east… and so on).

When we were close to our registered address, the Starlink App ‘Check for Obstructions’ function tied very closely with the obstruction data in the debug data log.  However, when we were a long way, over 17 km, from our registered address, a lot of obstructions appeared in the debug data log which did not correlate and appear in the App ‘Check for Obstructions’ display.  It seems that the App, by wrongly assuming that Dishy is being used at its registered address, also wrongly assumes that Dishy could connect to any satellites that are overhead at that time. In fact, Dishy can’t connect to the overhead satellites because it is actually some miles from home and can only struggle to connect to those designated satellites back at its registered address. The result is that the App shows an unobstructed view to the overhead satellites, when in fact there are many obstructions between Dishy and the designated satellites that it is trying to connect to.

So although the App ‘Check of Obstructions’ function can be inaccurate when not used at the registered address, the debug data log does appear to be accurate as it is based on actual measurements from Dishy. The debug data in raw format is not particularly easy to read, so I have created an Excel spreadsheet which plots out the data in a polar diagram.  I cheated and downloaded an example Excel polar diagram from here and modified it.

I copy the debug data into a word document, then cut and pasted the required data into the Excel spreadsheet.  One day I may write a macro to do this automatically, but for now its manual.  The polar diagram makes it extremely easy to visualise where the obstructions are that are affecting Dishy’s connections to the designated satellites.  The outside edge of the polar diagram is zero obstructions and the centre, fully obstructed. You can download our Excel spreadsheet below:

For more up to date information on obstrutions see Update No7.

On April fools’ day the SpaceX team had us laughing at their modified ‘Stow’ comand page.

Watch this space for Update No. 2…. errr, sometime…

Update No. 2: 7 May 2021

Here is a quick update from our experience with Starlink over the last month.

Start-up Times

These are the average times that Starlink takes to start up:

Power on                                                         0:00 (min:sec from power on)

Dishy moves to horizontal                           0:30 (min:sec from power on)

Dishy moves to correct orientation           1:30 (min:sec from power on)

Wi-Fi starts                                                      1:50 (min:sec from power on)

Data available (no obstructions)                2:00 (min:sec from power on)

Data available (with obstructions) up to 2:40 (min:sec from power on)

Software Updates

We have now received six software updates for Dishy and four for the router.  There is no information available about what changes these software updates effect.  However, we have seen the system’s performance improve and it now adapts to handle obstructions better.  When installed at a new location it might initially identify quite a few obstructions, but within a few minutes the system seems to chop and change between the available satellites to avoid any sector with an obstruction.  This leads to a much more stable service compared to earlier software versions.

Power Consumption

I have also been monitoring power consumption and have seen minor variations averaging between 102W and 98W.  One Reddit user with the newer ‘grey’ Dishy has reported his power consumption to be about half of this, but I have no way to verify that data (I am slightly sceptical that there could be such a significant power saving with the new Dishy as I would imagine most of the power usage is due to the transmission power required).  Also, I have now shortened the dish cable by approximately 95’ (29m) and the average power consumption appears to have reduced by approximately 5.5W to 94.5W.

Obstruction Data

Above in the first update I posted a link to an Excel spreadsheet that I had created for plotting-out obstructions to connectivity at a new camp-spot. I have now updated this spreadsheet so that it automatically processes the debug data that is copied in from the Starlink app or http://192.168.100.1/support/debug.  To use this spreadsheet, simply copy all the debug data into cell ‘A1’ and the spreadsheet will produce the polar diagram for your obstructions.  To make this work automatically I have written and incorporated some macros into the spreadsheet which will generate warning messages when you open the spreadsheet.  Because of the macros I cannot share the spreadsheet through this website, but it can be downloaded from my dropbox using this link. The spreadsheet is not locked, so be careful not to accidently delete any formula or data from any of the other cells.

Address Change

We are continuing to explore the limits of the system with regards to the registered address.  We are now on our third address and have had no issues changing it so far.  Unfortunately, due to Covid19 we have travel restrictions here in Canada and so are not travelling beyond our local health authority region.  We have created a Google Map with all our testing locations, see below.  On the left side of the map, you can de-select/select the data as required so you can see individual locations or address-related data plots. Covid restrictions have now been lifted within Canada and we have started to travel further see Update 3 and Update 4 below. Now with the border open we have crossed into the USA, see Update 5 below.

Satellite Roll-out

On 27 Apr 2021 SpaceX received FCC approval to lowering the altitudes of all the Starlink satellites to approximately 550 km and for the polar orbits, which is great news. Having all the satellites at approximately 550 km, rather than having half of them at over 1000 km, provides lower latency.  I suspect we will see the polar launches starting very soon.  The polar satellites have an inter-satellite laser communication system, so they don’t need to be in direct connection with a ground station to provide service to a user.  The lower altitudes will also allow the polar orbit satellites to provide data at sea and in remote areas globally, without nearby ground stations.  With this approval SpaceX have said they should be able to provide full global coverage by the end of the year.

Dishy Storage

Originally, we had no designated storage space for Dishy when he was not in use, but we have now found a solution to this. We now store Dishy attached to the underside of our table-top and have shortened its cable.  For full details see our update to ‘Installing Starlink’.

Update No. 3: 4 June 2021

Mobile Use of Starlink in an RV

Over the last month we have continued using Starlink on a mobile basis in our RV/overlanding truck around British Columbia, Canada. SpaceX is still not yet selling it as a mobile system for use away from its registered address, but we are managing to make good use of ours as we hop around BC from lake to lake.

The first thing we have noticed is that the system seems to dealing with physical obstructions (e.g. trees and buildings) better than we expected. Although it is preferable for Dishy to have a clear, unobstructed view of the sky, the system’s recent updates seem to be improving the capability to deal with a certain amount of obstruction. Parking up in forests and being surrounded by trees for example, is not always the show-stopper that we expected it to be. We pick the best spot we can find, then use the phone app (bearing in mind our location in relation to our current registered address) to optimise the spot for Dishy to get the best reception. Obviously the more obstructions there are, the more likely we are to get short outages with the service, but this has certainly been less of a problem than we expected.

By trial and error we have found that, depending on terrain and other obstructions (e.g. trees), Dishy will work within a cell area up to around 25-30km from his ‘registered address’ (see above about changing registered address as we move around).

We have been moving around, parking-up in various beauty spots, each time changing the registered address to a position near to our camp spot, so far without problem. With download speeds averaging around 220mbps, we are loving the system and finding it usable. The two limiting factors for overlanding use of the system at the moment we think are:

• there is no seamless mobility to transfer between cells as we move around (Elon has said that he is aiming to have the system fully mobile by the end of this year); and
• coverage is not global yet. There are limited locations/cells with satellite coverage where a registered address can be placed (this coverage is increasing steadily as SpaceX launches around 60 satellites per week!!)

It’s important to recognise that the system is still only sold on a beta-testing basis and full/flawless service is not guaranteed even for static use at a fixed address. So for us to be using it successfully on a mobile basis as we are, we think is pretty cool. Things can only get better. And in the meantime, we get to keep an eye on the world with internet in the wilderness 😀

Power-supply Temperature

One small problem we have found with the system is that when the power-supply gets very hot (i.e. with extended use on hot days) we get lower data-rates and a warning of ‘Slow Ethernet Connection‘. When this happens, we have found that re-seating the black Dishy ethernet cable into the power-supply, then re-cycling the power will clear the fault. From comments on Reddit, this appears to be a known issue and users who request it are receiving a replacement power-supply free of charge.

Update No. 4: 19 September 2021

We reported to Starlink customer support the issue of the “slow ethernet connection” when in hot weather (this was after I had stopped using our ethernet junction, see Starlink installation update No.2).  I was asked to check the connector on the power supply and saw that it had a couple of pins not seating correctly (from what we have seen on-line this was an issue with some early power supplies).  The Starlink team shipped a replacement power supply which arrived a couple of days later and solved the issue.  A very quick response and good experience from the support team.

In the 3 months since the last update, we have had 9 dish software, 5 router software and 7 app software updates. The system keeps getting better.

There has been a significant reduction in power consumption with a new dish software release we received on the 26^th of August 21.  We are seeing a 20-watt reduction to an average power of 75 watts – for us this makes a significant improvement.

Around 20^th of August 21 SpaceX appeared to roll-out some kind of change to the active cells.  Several cells that I had previously found to be open, became closed. Several cells in which I know there were active users, showed as being unavailable until later in the year (i.e. not that the cell was full, but unavailable). We hunted around the part of Canada where we were, but were unable to find any open cells to move to and use.  Initially we thought SpaceX might be locking down the system to stop people travelling and changing addresses, as we had been doing.  Then a few days later, the system appeared to return to normal but with different cells available. Starlink seem to be making lots of changes as they refine the system, that’s why it’s called Beta testing.

We have changed our Starlink registered address 63 times so far in our travels across Canada!  We are now in Newfoundland but unfortunately there do not seem to be any open cells across the whole of Newfoundland. So we are back to travelling without the use of Starlink for a while.  This gap in service availability in our travels has really brought home to us just how great Starlink is and how terrible mobile phone data is in Canada. With its high price and low data caps, it is by far the worst mobile data service we have encountered in all our travels around 48 countries over the last seven years!

Having completed launching the first shell of V.1 satellites at 53 degrees, there was a break of several weeks in Starlink’s launch tempo.  SpaceX have now started to launch V1.5 satellites for the second shell.  This shell will be at 70 degrees which will cover much higher latitudes like Alaska and Scandinavia and will add extra capacity to the existing coverage.  It will probably take about 6 months to launch the full shell (720 satellites, 51 satellites per launch) and possibly another month or two to get them all into their operational positions.  These V1.5 satellites include a laser communication link for inter-satellite communications.  This laser inter-satellite link will allow a satellite that cannot connect to a ground station directly (because it is over a remote area or the ocean) to be able to route its traffic through other satellites down to a ground station.  This will allow Starlink to be used in remote areas.  All future Starlink satellites will have this laser link.

Key updates from various tweets over the last few weeks:

There have also been several improvements to the App and it’s looking very good now.  I love the new 3D graphics of obstructions near the dish that you can move around.

Starlink has also carried out a questionnaire survey of RV users, which we completed. This is hopefully a sign of a mobile option coming soon.

Update 5 – New country, new dish! 16 Nov 2021

We’ve continued our travels across Canada using a total of 79 different registered addresses and over 190 locations. However, the border is now open and we have crossed back into the USA in our RV. So this update is about:Starlink border crossing capability

(i) border crossing capability

(ii) suspending a reactivating our account

(iii) our new system for USA

(iv) Starlink’s new rectangle dish for the US market and finally

(v) Starlink Website Update

(i) Border Crossing Capability

On the basis of ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get…’ we thought we would try asking to move our existing Canadian Starlink into USA when we crossed the border. But as expected, Starlink confirmed this isn’t possible yet. So to continue our Starlink service in USA, we have now bought a new system for use here.

However, Starlink did helpfully explain that they are looking at options such as flexible subscriptions (which would presumably be helpful for snowbirds):

“We are working on options that offer additional subscription flexibility to customers, including seasonal usage of Starlink. We expect to have more information soon”

We offered to send our unopened USA Starlink back to them if they could transfer our existing Canadian hardware to our USA account, but Starlink explained:

“Starlink Kit power/electrical configurations and certifications are based on country-specific requirements, therefore, a Kit from the US will not work or be considered certified in another country.”

On this particular explanation, I can understand that there could be a certification issue with the kit. However, I’m a bit puzzled by the ‘power/electrical/configuration’ argument.  The power supply is a ‘switch mode’ type, rated for all countries. We have been operating our Canadian (110VAC 60 Hz country) Starlink system from our 230VAC 50 Hz inverter!  One night in Canada we were parked-up just 100m from the USA borderline and saw that the Dish and Router countryCode in the debug data had switched from ‘CA’ (Canada) to ‘US’ (USA). So it would appear that the hardware is capable of moving country and reconfiguring itself accordingly.

Throughout our border crossing experience, the Starlink customer support has been great and very helpful. They really are trying to help make the system fantastic.  We are still in the early days of Starlink and I am sure that more flexible border changes and other options will arrive soon.

(ii) Suspension/Reactivation of an account

We have now suspended our Canadian account but can reactivate it when/if we return to Canada. Starlink helpfully explained how it will work for us going forward:

“This service cancellation removed you from the billing cycle, while allowing you to keep your Starlink dish. When you are ready to reactivate service on your account, you can reach us via a support ticket and request that service be reactivated.

From there, we will make every effort to get you back online. Please keep in mind that we cannot guarantee that we will be able to reactivate service as this reactivation is dependent on service availability in your area.”

(iii) Our New Kit for USA

Unfortunately, we received our new US system just before Starlink launched its (even newer) rectangle Dish for the US market (see below). So although we don’t have the very latest version of the system, one advantage of our new kit is that it has a lower power consumption than our ‘old’ Canadian system. This will make a big difference to our power management in our RV. 

My initial testing of the new Dish with a full-length cable resulted in an average power consumption of 50 watts.  However, with the shortened cable we use in our installation this has reduced to just 43 watts.

Looking at our two systems (i.e. our old Canadian and our new US systems) in a little more depth: in the debug data I can see that the original dish was hardware version “rev1_pre_production” and the new one is “rev2_proto4”. Both the original and new router are hardware version “v1” and it seems they might be interchangeable. Certainly, I have found that our Canadian router has no problem working with the USA Dish in the USA. It would therefore seem a reasonable assumption that the USA router would work with a Canadian Dish in Canada (although unfortunately I can’t go back to Canada to test this). The power supply and cabling seem to be the same specification (although the power supply part number is one digit higher on the newer model). The new dish cable and mast are light grey rather than black.

(iv) New Rectangle Dish Version

Obviously, we are disappointed to have just missed getting the new smaller rectangle Dish that is only available in the USA at present. However, I have (of course 😉) looked into this new system and there seem to be several improvements. Other than the obvious shape change here are the main differences:The power supply and router are now combined into one unit.

i. The cable is unpluggable at the dish end.

ii. Supplied with a 75’ (22.8 m) power supply to dish cable and a 150’ (45.7 m) cable is available as an accessory.

iii. There isn’t an ethernet port on the router but there is an accessory that plugs into the dish cable to provide one if required.

iv. It is almost half the weight!

Full specifications for both systems can be found by looking at the questions on the Starlink website, see here: https://support.starlink.com/

(v) Starlink Website Update

There has been a big update to the Starlink website: first, it no longer mentions Beta testing. Secondly, the functionality for updating the registered address has improved. Previously when we tried to move our registered address on the map, if the location wasn’t accepted (i.e. due to no service in that area or at full capacity) then the map would jump back to our existing address.  This meant spending a lot of time zooming and panning the map around looking for new location options. With the new website, it notifies us if a location isn’t available, but leaves the map in the same position. This means we can try another nearby location quickly and easily. Using the above technique in Canada, we were able to successfully moved our registered address to some locations that are initially showing as not available (at capacity or no service).

Update 6 – Change of Ownership 24 Nov 21

We have sold our Canadian Starlink Dish and transferred ownership to a new user.  We are very happy to know that our Canadian equipment will now provide great service to someone else.

These are the steps we took to transfer our system to the new user:

1. We contacted Starlink support and give them the contact details and location of the new user.

2. Starlink did some checks (e.g. that they can provide service to the new user at their location) and sent the new owner a link to fill in information.

3. After approval, Starlink set up a new account for the new user and transferred the system from our account to the new user’s account.

Obviously, the sale and physical transfer of the equipment is your responsibility and has nothing to do with Starlink.

Update 7 – 100th address and Obstructions 16 Dec 21

We have reached bit of a Starlink Milestone: we have now registered at our 100th registered address! These have provided service at 157 locations during our travels with Starlink!

I’ve been contacted by a few people to clarify some information on obstructions in my Update 1 above, so here’s a more detailed description:

Obstructions

Obstruction data has become much clearer with the improvements in the app and its visualisation.  Basically, if the dish has an issue receiving a signal from the satellites in a certain direction, it will show the obstruction as ‘red’ on its graphic of the dish’s view.  The image below is an old example from when we were using the dish in a small clearing in the woods; you can clearly see the trees around the dish causing obstructions.  

However, when operating outside the centre of the cell of the registered address, the system can show what I call ‘phantom’ obstructions.  These phantom obstructions aren’t any physical obstruction, they are simply areas of reduced signal strength due to the beam’s pattern on the ground. They look like this in the older visualisation on the app.

To illustrate the concept of ‘phantom’ obstructions, try to visualise a round/circular torch (flashlight for Americans 😊) beam shining directly down on the floor.  The light beam produces a nice circle. But if you shine it at an angle, it becomes an oval shape on the ground.  Now consider the signal from the satellite as the torch/flashlight beam.  As the satellite flies past it shines its beam at the centre of the cell.  In the cell you get the full signal, but around the edges of the cell you get the oval beam pattern. As the satellite tracks past the cell, the oval will rotate about the cell.  If you are outside the cell on the side of the satellite, you will not get a very strong signal beyond the cell’s perimeter.  However, if you are on the opposite side of the cell to the satellite, you will receive a reasonable signal for quite a distance as the satellite points in your direction.  The signal’s strength will vary markedly as the satellite tracks past and the edge of the oval beam pattern passes your position as it rotates – this is what causes the phantom obstructions – the large variation in signal strength.

Update No.8 – Modifying the Starlink Power Supply to run on AC and DC

Living off-grid, or like us in a motorhome, power consumption can be critical.  Having to convert our battery DC power into AC through an inverter, then back to DC through a power supply is not the most efficient way to power any device.  We love having Starlink in our overlanding truck, but the power consumption can be a bit of a concern sometimes. So I wondered… would a DC power supply save a few valuable watts that are normally lost through the DC to AC to DC process? Click here for the details.

Update No.9 – Changes to Roaming 18 Feb 22

We’ve recently noticed a significant change in the roaming status of our system, which indicates that it might no longer be necessary to register address changes at every new location when travelling with Dishy. This is potentially a game-changer for the use of a single Starlink system at multiple locations. Previously, there was no roaming facility on our system. There was no mobile use of Dishy without re-registering the address at each new location, thereby automatically cancelling the registration at the previous address. On the 11 February 22 we noticed whilst touring around the Eastern Sierras/China Lake area of California, that we could move into a new cell and still have Starlink service without registering a change of address from our previous cell.
If what we have found is replicated in other areas, then home-based users should (subject to the further notes below) be able to leave the system registered at their home address and use their Starlink roaming at their weekend camping location.

In the last few days we have reported our findings on social media and it appears that some users can also roam like us, but others cannot. At this stage we don’t know if our account has had this feature enabled for SpaceX testing or whether we are just lucky and are travelling in an area that has had this feature enabled. So we can’t yet say that this change would allow service in any location at the moment. Starlink is rapidly expand its network, however there are still areas without active cells and many cells near large towns/cities are at capacity – we assume that these cells remain unavailable for use. So although this roaming change does not indicate unlimited roaming, it does indicate that the formality of address re-registration for each move may be a thing of the past.

So how is this removal of an administrative process a benefit? Well first, it’s good for users who have their systems registered at their home address but want to take Dishy away for a weekend away camping. Until now, the need to reregister the address at their temporary campsite created a risk their home cell might be full to capacity when they returned home. If no address change is necessary, this will no longer be a risk. As we live permanently mobile in an RV, the above isn’t really a benefit to us. For us, the advantage is the ability to just set-up Dishy (provided there’s coverage in that area with capacity) without the need to reregister the address before we can get service. To re-register the address in a new camp-spot location, we needed to plan ahead: either ensure our new camp-spot will have a phone signal with data (often not possible in the remote areas we like to travel), or plan ahead and reregister the new address before we reach the remote area. This has been a bit of an inconvenience with our spontaneous, unpredictable travel style: no phone data = no Starlink service ?. Not any more, it seems! The Starlink system has been an internet game-changer for overlanders like us… and step-by-step the guys at Starlink are making it even better!

More Geeky Notes:

Over almost a year of travelling using Starlink across North America, we have until recently found that we can get service up to about 20 km to 30 km from a registered address within a cell. In our recent testing of roaming, we took the following steps:

• We camped in a location to which we could not move our address because (according to the address change process) service wasn’t being provided in that location.

• We then moved our address as close as we could (using mobile phone data) to approximately 10 km away (this has been our previous normal method of getting service in these areas).

In the debug data we could see the unexpected location was ‘true’; roaming was also ‘true’, and we had service as expected.

Following a restart of our system, the unexpected location flag changed to ‘false’ and the roaming flag remained on ‘true’. This appears to indicate the system had learnt that this was now our address, although on checking our account, we saw that our registered address hadn’t changed.

Next, we set off travelling and setting up wherever we wanted service, without changing our registered address. Each time the system works. Initially we get the unexpected location and roaming flags set to ‘true’. But following a reboot (normally shutting the system down over night while we slept) the unexpected location flag changes to ‘false’.
The map below shows the route we drove and the locations we tested the system.

Update (20 Feb 22)

When we crossed from California to Nevada, roaming stopped working.  However, once we moved our address to a location in Nevada, we were able to roam again within Nevada.  It appears roaming might only be possible within the same state as the registered address.  We will test this again when we cross back into California later.

Update (21 Feb 22)

Our roaming experience has continued through Nevada. Everywhere we have set up, we have had service!  Last night I checked several of our recent locations and they all showed as ‘at capacity’ when trying to place an order.  It is of course remotely possible that each of these places filled-up just after we visited, but I think it is unlikely to be the case with all the spots. And when I checked the location where we were currently parked, it too showed ‘at capacity’ when I tried to place an order for there.  Despite this, I set up Starlink and it connected straight away!  I understand from social media posts that roaming hasn’t been activated for some other users, but for some reason, we seem to have been lucky.  Whatever the reason, Starlink has gone to a new level for us and shows how great it is going to be for travelling.

Update (22 Feb 22)

We have crossed back from Nevada to California and Starlink connected straight away.  Our experience of roaming not working when we crossed for California to Nevada a few days ago could have simply been a slow connection.

Update (7 Mar 22) – Two upates:

• Over the last few days a lot of users have been reporting on social media that they now have roaming enabled, but the system won’t necesarily indicate this whislt you are still at your registered address. If you are at your registered address, the system will show ‘Roaming = false’. It will only change to ‘Roaming = true’ once you take it away from the registered address. One user reported that he had roaming enabled, but had a ‘Roaming = false’ in one particular area. I suspect that may be because that loaction’s cell was at capacity, so priority was given to users who had their registered address in that cell.
• Another user has crossed from the USA to Mexico and was able to use his US Starlink there. So it seems that international borders are no longer a problem. It’s important to note that Starlink service has been available to buy in Mexico for a while. I suspect it would not be possible to roam into a country that isn’t already offering Starlink services.

Update (11 Mar 22)

We have now crossed into Mexico. Roaming and ‘in motion’ use is working well.  We have seen the Country Code in our Dish and Router change from US to MX.  We noticed when entering a ‘cell’ that may not have any users, the cell appeared to be in some kind of ‘sleep mode’ and we initially saw no communications received from the satellites.  After several minutes the cell appeared to wake up and normal service began.  This behaviour would make sense as a way to save satellite power and resources (thinking back… this could also be what we experienced when we roamed from California into Nevada a couple of weeks ago 🤔).  As far as we know, it is only possible to roam into a country that has Starlink service activated. Note in the debug data screen shots below, the ‘Motor Stuck’ is stated as ‘true’. This is because we have disconnected the motors on our dish so that it could be mounted flat on our roof (see Starlink Mobile Roaming).

Here is a link to the Starlink coverage map for Mexico:

https://api.starlink.com/public-files/Mapa_de_Cobertura_de_Mexico.png

Technical data of our system during this testing:

Dish: Part Number: 22490000-507/A, Model: UTA-211, rev2 proto4 (Round grey version)
Router: Part Number: 013822337-512, Model: UTR-201, Rev.A v1

Dish software: 4a931632-9730-4468-9456-c4058cd02081.uterm.release which updated to: fe7571ae-50bf-4ec7-86c4-a7bb173e6369.uterm.release on 17 Feb 22.

Router software: 2022.03.0.mr9052-prod which updated to: 2022.08.0.mr9980-prod on 14 Feb 22, then updated again to: 2022.09.0.mr10062-prod on 19 Feb 22.

App software (iOS): 2.0.22 which updated to 2.0.24 on 13 Feb 22.

Update No.10 – Starlink Mobile Roaming 5 Mar 22

Elon Tweeted “Mobile roaming enabled, so phased array antenna can maintain signal while on moving vehicle”. Hmmm… interesting! I guess that in context, he probably meant for this to apply to his recent supply of Starlink terminals to the brave souls defending Ukraine. But it got me thinking… if it can work in Ukraine, could it work for a couple of British overlanders touring around North America too? We’re lucky to have Roaming enabled on our system, so could I stick our Dish on our RV roof and get Starlink mobile roaming… internet ‘in motion’? Click here for the details on how we tested it.

Update No. 11: Roaming is now officially called ‘Portability’ and SpaceX have just released an availability map 28 Mar 22

It appears that SpaceX has officially named the roaming feature as ‘Portability’.  Recently SpaceX updated their ‘Starlink pre-order agreement’ to include a section for Portability:

SERVICE PORTABILITY.

Secondary Service Locations. If the portability feature (“Portability”) is available in your region, you may relocate your Kit and access Services at locations outside your registered Service address on your account (“Secondary Location(s)”). Service at Secondary Locations will be best effort and users may see slower speeds during times of network congestion. Starlink does not support in motion or mobility Services. Using the Starlink Kit in motion will void the Limited Warranty of your Kit. Visit https://support.starlink.com/ to verify if Portability is supported in a region.

Limitations and Requirements. Starlink does not guarantee when or where Portability will be available. Portability is dependent on many factors, including obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for (a) understanding and complying with all applicable laws and regulations associated with your use of Portability Services and the Kit; and (b) stopping use of the Portability Services or Kit if you are in an unsupported geographic location. At its sole discretion, Starlink may update the primary address registered on your account along with invoicing requirements if you use Services at a Secondary Location for an extended period.

Here is the offical SpaceX Starlink availablity map: https://www.starlink.com/map

Update No.12 – Global Roaming, end of Portability and price changes in the USA

In the last week there have been a few updates from SpaceX about Starlink services:

Starlink Global Roaming Service

Some users got an invitation to the Starlink Global Roaming service, the message said: “Starlink Global Roaming service, which allows your Starlink to connect from almost anywhere on land in the world.

Global Roaming makes use of Starlink’s inter-satellite links (aka space lasers) to provide connectivity around the globe. As this is a new technology, you can expect Starlink’s typical high speed, low latency service intermixed with brief periods of poor connectivity, or none at all. However this will improve dramatically over time.

The price for Global Roaming is $200/mo for the service and $599 for the Starlink kit.”

Unfortunately, this is quite expensive and may not be too popular with long term travellers like us. In some cases, particularly for slower travellers, it works out cheaper to buy and sell Starlink systems as you move around the world than it is to buy this Global Roaming system.

Let’s take the current pricing in Mexico as an example. A tourist visa is usually allowed in Mexico for 6 months, but let’s say you buy a Starlink system in Mexico and stay 3 months. Then you move on to Guatemala and continue using your Starlink for 2 more months (this 2 month limit in another country is not enforced by Starlink at present but probably will be at some point). The purchase price is Mx$8300 (US$447), plus Mx$1350 (US$73) per month for 5 months, that is a total of US$812 for 5 months Starlink use. Global Roaming excluding the hardware price, would cost US$1000 for the same period.  Due to a lack of clarity in Starlink’s rules, it may or may not be possible to continue using the system into a third country and get even better value out of the basic system, but even if that’s not possible and you end up having to sell the system and buy new in the next country, it is still cheaper to buy a new dish every 5 months. And the longer you stay in a country (say, if you stay in Mexico 6 months rather than 3 months) it is even cheaper! Obviously, rates vary from country to country around the world, so this needs to be reviewed for your specific journey, but it’s definitely worth checking before investing in the pricey Global Roaming system.

The end of Portability for Residential and price changes for RV in the USA

In the USA, Portability is no longer available if you do not already have it active on your residential account.  This means residential users can no longer add portability so they can take their Starlink with them when they travel or on holidays.  If you already have portability active on your account, they will not take it off you, but if you cancel it you cannot get it back again!

For residential users they are also changing the pricing in the USA:

“The Starlink monthly service for residential customers is changing as follows:

o             $10 increase in areas with limited capacity. New price will be $120/month.

o             $20 decrease in areas with excess capacity. New price will be $90/month.

As a current customer in an area with limited capacity, your monthly service price will increase to $120/month beginning April 24, 2023. For new customers in your area, the price increase is effective immediately.”

This means for overlanders like us, the only option now for travel in the USA is RV (if you haven’t already got Residential with Portability).  The RV pricing in the USA is also changing:

“The monthly service price for Starlink is increasing in areas with limited capacity. As a service that can be used in any area, including those with limited capacity, the monthly service price for existing Starlink for RV customers will increase by $15 to $150/month beginning April 24, 2023.”

These changes do not affect countries other than the USA at present but, could be a sign of things to come for the rest of the world as Starlink evolves.

Update No. 13 – Starlink Service Plans (19 May 23)

A couple of weeks ago Starlink announced new service plans.

The price of these plans do vary depending on your country, so you need to check your regional prices. Click here to link to the above picture of the service plans.

For our latest updates on Starlink see our Starlink Mobile Roaming page.

Click here for our other Starlink pages.

¹ Marcus has a Master’s degree in Avionic Systems and over 25 years operational experience in military avionics

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