I signed up for Starlink internet 14 months ago, and I got a message from Starlink on Monday that they would ship the kit (antenna, cable, modem, etc) to me as soon as I paid the balance, which I did. My question is, if any of you have Starlink-how satisfied are you with the service? I live in the middle of BFE and internet options are few, and they are slow, expensive, and have data limits. I plan to use Starlink for streaming and to be able to tell DirecTV and their $300/month bills to shove it. For those of you who stream, what are the services that I need to subscribe to (Netflix, Hulu, etc)? Any help would be appreciated-thanks in advance.
OT: Starlink Internet
- Thread starter Eleven Bravo
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I'm told Hulu Live has ESPN and SECN. I haven't looked into it yet, but if this is true, I think we are about to cancel cable.
Starlink is by far Elon Musk's greatest contribution to the human race... Reserving the right to change this opinion once A3X49€ comes of age... Expecting big things from that kid.
But yes, Starlink works wonderful in my part of the world which is different level BFE. Just need a decent sized clearing.
I have had Starlink now for a few months and I'm very satisfied with the service. I also live in BFE and told Dish Network exactly where to cram it about 2 days after getting Netflix and YouTube TV.
A buddy has both starlink and a verizon hotspot. He and his wife both work from home, and switch off depending on which one is better at the time. For large file downloads, he definitely uses starlink.
FYI - he initially signed up for Hulu TV, but the service wasn't compatible with starlink for some reason (perhaps a continuous connection issue). He had to cancel and sign up for YouTube TV for his streaming TV option for sports.
Hmm. I already pay for YouTube Premium, perhaps I should go this route.
Thanks for the input, everyone. My friend who lives a couple miles away has Starlink and has had it several months now. He averages around 180 megs download and about 50-60 meg upload. His house is surrounded by trees, but he says he goes outside several times each day and sees his antenna moving. So far, no buffering and he’s running 4 TV’s, a couple of iPads and several cell phones. I hope this thing gives me 1/2 the service he is getting. We watch all sorts of things on TV, especially stuff like Discovery, DIY, my wife watches HGTV and stuff like that. She also wants to get the local news out of Jackson in the early mornings and the evenings. I only watch sports during football season.
Be sure you fully read and understand the Mars clause before signing the subscription agreement
Ummm, this is a real head scratcher for me. Watching Jackson local news would be like watching Sarah McLachlan Rescue Shelter commercials, COPS, and C-SPAN all at the same time. It's depressing, infuriating, and entertaining depending on the current story they are covering
I watch a lot of RV and Van Life videos on YouTube and a lot of those channels use it and they all love being out in the middle of Vancouver Island off the coast of BC, remote Alaska, etc and having really fast internet for about $130/mo. The only person I've seen have trouble is a couple on a sailboat, it would connect while they were at anchor but not well if they were sailing.
As for Hulu Live, YouTube TV, etc, I would highly suggest easing into whichever one you decide on, like go w/out for awhile and just use a Roku, Fire Tv, free channels, etc to start. My wife and I were addicted to our own cable shows when we "cut the cable", me to sports and action shows, her to Crazy Arse Housewives and anything else on Bravo. We learned very quickly that we didn't need it or miss it.
As for pay services now we've got Amazon Prime Video w/ our Prime acct, and alternate back and forth between Hulu (video not Live) and Netflix every few months, that's it, for less than $20/month. Then for other channels we use an antenna for networks and their free sub channels, then Pluto, Crackle, Tubi, regular YouTube, PBS. Don't just dive in and get a big package of anything, try it w/out any pay channels for awhile. I have added Sling during football season and then cancelled after but I didn't even do that last season, I watch network games and thats's it and that's saying a lot from a guy that formerly hit the couch when Game Day came on in the a.m. and fell asleep on the couch watching West Coast games at midnight. I just don't miss it and don't give a rats arse about it anymore.
As for Hulu Live, YouTube TV, etc, I would highly suggest easing into whichever one you decide on, like go w/out for awhile and just use a Roku, Fire Tv, free channels, etc to start. My wife and I were addicted to our own cable shows when we "cut the cable", me to sports and action shows, her to Crazy Arse Housewives and anything else on Bravo. We learned very quickly that we didn't need it or miss it.
As for pay services now we've got Amazon Prime Video w/ our Prime acct, and alternate back and forth between Hulu (video not Live) and Netflix every few months, that's it, for less than $20/month. Then for other channels we use an antenna for networks and their free sub channels, then Pluto, Crackle, Tubi, regular YouTube, PBS. Don't just dive in and get a big package of anything, try it w/out any pay channels for awhile. I have added Sling during football season and then cancelled after but I didn't even do that last season, I watch network games and thats's it and that's saying a lot from a guy that formerly hit the couch when Game Day came on in the a.m. and fell asleep on the couch watching West Coast games at midnight. I just don't miss it and don't give a rats arse about it anymore.
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I tried Hulu live. It was unusable. I cancelled on day 6. I went back to Fubo TV
10 actually. But A3X49€ is the one that will likely bring time travel or easy fold fitted sheets to the masses. I call it the Boy Named Sue Paradox.
Pipe Dream.
Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime (i got this just to watch Rings of Power, but have enjoyed other options on there), Disney,
They have a new hardware system called "flat high performance" that just rolled out. It allows in motion use up to highway speeds. It's $2500 though. Apparently the satellites have always been capable, but the original receiver can't track fast enough to keep up.
The RV or "Roam" version is amazing out west. There is an infinite amount of clear spaces to dry camp without any trees. And while it can get warm during the day, it cools down so much at night you don't need the shade like you would in the south. There are also huge gaps without cell service in the public lands and wilderness areas so having Starlink really helps you stay off the grid so to speak a lot more.
I have Starlink and I am out in the boonies. You need clear sky view to avoid interruptions so the trees can be a big problem. I have a firestick that I used to download some stuff as well as Breaking Cable and can watch anything anywhere.
I installed it for a brand new manufacturing plant in Jackson, AL in March of this year. We were building out the plant and PLC network and needed to use our own firewall and needed dependable internet and a static IP for VPN connections. They didn't have access to fiber, and Starlink was their only option. I was even able to get a static IP and order a kit from Starlink to bridge the modem, plug in a cable to give you an ethernet port (it only comes as wireless), and allow you to use your own firewall behind it. Works beautifully. They're getting about 200 Mbps up and down. No problems whatsoever. You do the setup with a phone app.
YouTube TV has literally every single thing that DirecTV has, and now they have NFL Sunday Ticket. There are literally zero reasons to have DirecTV or Dish in today's world with Starlink in existence.
Slightly off topic but you might be the person to help me with this.
I'm onsite at a project in Greenville MS. The customer has wifi but its not good for teams meetings as it goes out sporadically. I have used a cspire mobile wifi and now a cricket wireless. Neither are super fast, but they are consistent.
Any way for me to boost the signal with an antenna from outside to inside?
edited to add Stark link isn't an option due to timing.
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Digi cellular router. Here is the link. I've installed hundreds of these in Family Dollar stores all across the southeast. That's what they use now for store internet and intranet access. Can even get a static IP. You'll want to get the kit with the LM4 wire and exterior Omni antennas.
Having to routinely deal with losing cell service while storm chasing this sounds very intriguing. Not that I have $2,500 to put on it now, but something to keep in the back of my mind when our Patreon site finally takes off. Unless of course clouds kill the signal.
Your bigger issue is driving tree lined highways. We don't get heavy rain, but we get a shìt load of snow and starlink handles it great. It hates trees though and wants a clear view of the north sky at a 30-40° angle.
There's always one channel that screws it up. Direct Tv is better with four packages, but it also does not have Nat Geo Wild unless you get one of the oversized packages, and that is a dealbreaker. My wife watches every show on Nat Geo Wild. I think YouTube TV has everything except the History Channel.
DIRECTV is also much more expensive, and you must buy the premium channels separately.
I was that person several years ago that had to have everything on tv. Now, I could get by with YouTube videos only, or Pluto only. I stepped back took a look at how much time I spent in front of a tv with people training me to buy, eat, drive, swallow, save, throw away etc whatever they wanted me to. Not anymore and I get so much more done and make my own decisions now instead of letting commercials and shows make them for me
