Starlink mounting options - Let's see yours

[58Yeoman]

Same here !

I am using a Polycom Obi200 with Google Voice. FREE, but officially "unsupported" in 2024. No 911.

We have 911 support with OOMA and we checked the fees before we even joined with them; less than $8 per month for local fees and taxes. Our landline/internet was BrightSpeed and they're the worst for service. We'd lose internet often and when we'd call, they'd say it's our fault and they'd want to send someone out on a service call, if you could understand them. We would tell them we didn't have the net and they would say it's only us. My wife would say there's probably more people out, and after an hour on the phone, they would finally say there are more people out of service.

That last time hit us about a month or so ago and we were out for four days, as were most people in the town and a lot of businesses. A new cable company had just come into town and was taking a lot of Brightspeeds customers away, but we couldn't get them out here in the country. We are right at the end of the line for dsl so we were happy to get that. We'll cancel BS on Monday and they can send me a label for me to send their modem back.

 

[Mikeske]

I realize this is an older thread and I just had to add to it. I just finished the mounting and installing my Starlink kit and I took Starlink up on their offer on free rental and hardware if you took it for a year then the dish is mine. I got the residential 200 plan for $80.00 a month with the first 4 months for $65.00 a month.

I used an old Dish tv mount but had to move it from the south end of my back porch to the north end of my front porch. NO real issues and works fine. I did get the Starlink pole mount adapter and noticed one thing that I did and that was take the adapter which aluminum and drill a 3/4" hole in the pole mount adapter and thread the cable though the drilled hole and down inside the old Dish tv mount to keep the cable protected and not outside. The reason was to prevent the cable to be caught in the winds that we do get in the winter and present a neater appearance.


I had been on DSL with the local telco and I was getting a bit upset with them as they had 4 outages in the past three months with one of them for 23 hours and I finally had enough. 5 years ago the local telco was sold and the new owners stated that within the next 4 years the service area for fiber optic would replace the copper wire. Then 2 years ago the telco had the area I live in slated for summer time replacement of the copper yet two years later I was still waiting. Last month I looked on the telco website and the area that was shrunk and deleted the neighborhood I am in. That was final straw.

Starlink is not prefect but when you can download a 1 Gb update to my phone in less then 3 minutes and the DSL would have 20 minutes I am impressed. The speed difference is great and when I am working on my computer and watching tv at the same time and I don't get buffering I am satisfied.

 

[CraigStu]

We have had Starlink for maybe 8 months now. We also have satellite DirecTV. A few months after we got Starlink we had a thunderstorm and lost the TV signal. For a test we switched over to Prime which comes in over the Starlink. It took maybe 2 min to fire up Prime so the storm hadn't changed any. The Prime TV picture was perfect! I think it is due to there being a constellation of Starlink satellites vs one for DirecTV.

 

[dcg9381]

We have had Starlink for maybe 8 months now. We also have satellite DirecTV. A few months after we got Starlink we had a thunderstorm and lost the TV signal. For a test we switched over to Prime which comes in over the Starlink. It took maybe 2 min to fire up Prime so the storm hadn't changed any. The Prime TV picture was perfect! I think it is due to there being a constellation of Starlink satellites vs one for DirecTV.

I think you mean Amazon Prime (TV). I suspect this is related to how Amazon streaming handles packet loss and latency (pretty well) over how DirectTV does it. You might be right that DirectTV has fewer sats in the sky.

The StarLink mini works really well in motion for things like streaming TV, web, etc. But it's not stable enough to do live video / voice calls... To do that, you've got to be stationary and be relatively unobstructed.

 

[forestchump]

 

[kbuhagiar]

Cute meme. Care to elaborate?

 

[forestchump]

Cute meme. Care to elaborate?

You’re an IBEW member? Starlink is a product that enriches one of the foremost largest union busting anti working class corporatists to have ever lived. I wouldn’t buy a starlink if any nation bombed the undersea cable providing the globe with internet connection.

 

[kbuhagiar]

You’re an IBEW member? Starlink is a product that enriches one of the foremost largest union busting anti working class corporatists to have ever lived. I wouldn’t buy a starlink if any nation bombed the undersea cable providing the globe with internet connection.

Fair enough. Thanks. And yes, I am a retired IBEW member.

 

[forestchump]

Fair enough. Thanks. And yes, I am a retired IBEW member.

No problem . Solidarity forever!

 

[Mikeske]

You’re an IBEW member? Starlink is a product that enriches one of the foremost largest union busting anti working class corporatists to have ever lived. I wouldn’t buy a starlink if any nation bombed the undersea cable providing the globe with internet connection.

So what do you propose if you are in situation like I am in. There is no cable, cell phone/home internet by 5G or LTE is to far away, a unreliable telco and no fiber optic in my neighborhood. The options are Hughesnet which is not viable if you need to have calls via internet. My wife is in assisted care due to dementia and I need reliable phone and internet service in case of an emergency like my wife had in March and had to be admitted to the hospital.

I am a 38 year member of a IAM which is a major union but I need something reliable to be able to communicate living on a pension and fixed income the only option to use Starlink. The DSL was $79.00 a month and after the introduction offer in 4 months Starlink will be a dollar more. I can not afford to move so I do what is needed.

I would likely also guess that you have shopped at Walmart or buying from Amazon or Apple Store, even grabbing a cup of coffee from Starbucks as these companies don't have that many union members. Options out where I live are limited and I have to find what works. Do I agree with the person running that company no but I have to use what works for me. As a retired union member I would love to find a affordable and reliable union company to give the service I need but that option does not exist where I am at

 

[lovetap]

If there was any alternative option that would work for our use case I would support another company. But it's the only option for now that provides high speed internet in remote places. Here's a packout I setup with a mini. We attach it to a mount on a snow machine or fourwheeler while we're working. Works fine through the lid.

 

[CraigStu]

I think you mean Amazon Prime (TV). I suspect this is related to how Amazon streaming handles packet loss and latency (pretty well) over how DirectTV does it. You might be right that DirectTV has fewer sats in the sky.

The StarLink mini works really well in motion for things like streaming TV, web, etc. But it's not stable enough to do live video / voice calls... To do that, you've got to be stationary and be relatively unobstructed.

Yes Amazon Prime. I say DirecTV has one satellite because aiming the antennae is critical. We were having more than enough TV outages maybe 4 yrs ago and they sent a service man out. He used a signal strength meter of some kind and did fine tuning of the antennae aim using a screwdriver on the adjustment screws. He commented to me that he improved the strength by turning one screw 1.5 turns and the other a bit less than one turn. OTOH when I installed the Starlink antennae it has a fixed angle above the horizon as it is mounted on a vertical pole. But how to rotate that pole? I used a compass and my eyeball to point it a little east of due north. I was on a ladder at the peak of the gable of our 2 story house on the end w/ the walk out basement door so actually 3 stories above the ground. I was VERY uncomfortable there so my aiming was far from finely tuned. We are just consumers w/ no TV etc tech backround. What I know is that w/ our old satellite internet when I was on the desktop I could tell when my wife was watching a video on her tablet. Now I never slow down even w/ wife and two grandkids on our wifi at the same time.

 

[dcg9381]

OTOH when I installed the Starlink antennae it has a fixed angle above the horizon as it is mounted on a vertical pole. But how to rotate that pole? I used a compass and my eyeball to point it a little east of due north. I was on a ladder at the peak of the gable of our 2 story house on the end w/ the walk out basement door so actually 3 stories above the ground.

Sounds sketchy at 3 stories up. Can the pole be rotated from the ground? A photo would help.

You "point" starlink using the mobile application on a phone or tablet. It will give you correct tilt and compass heading. If it's up 3 stories and "working fine" I wouldn't mess with it.