On Sunday, Starlink added a new plan for RV use. They are shipping units now. No wait. I ordered mine yesterday and have already been informed the estimated delivery date is June 6th. Woohoo! My road-trip to Boca Chica will be epic now!
It'll be €25/month here in Ireland from what I've heard. Here, their FAQ mention of in-motion use appears to be a regulatory limitation - "In Motion Use - We do not support Starlink use in motion at this time and mobility use is currently prohibited until we have obtained all necessary approvals. While our teams are actively working to make it possible to use Starlink on moving vehicles (e.g. automobiles, RVs, boats) in the future, Starlink is not yet configured to be safely used in motion."
I used the ship to an open cell address to get service and had been roaming at my home address since, routinely trying to move my home location from that other address with no luck. Interestingly, the day I got the email about the new roaming charge I tried moving service to my home location again and it let me do so. I've had a 2nd Starlink order in place for over a year for my home location and it still notes my area is full and availability is late 2022/early 2023. Maybe just luck that the move went through on that day, but I'll take the savings.
Mike what are your thoughts on what the hardware is going to look like for the mobile application? Right now I have my dish permanently mounted on the roof using a Winegard DS-2000 Universal 22-inch Tower Mount. Every time I move the RV I have to go on the roof and put it in a horizontal position. Having an instillation that is low profile will be great.
Yeah, great question! A permanent mount flat on the roof is great for when you're moving (once mobility is supported) and when you're stopped in the open, but not great if you want to park under some trees. Also having the option of moving it off the vehicle to an open space makes a lot of sense. My approach is to make a flat panel that can attach to the roof, but that can still come off and lie flat in a field, or propped on a rock or bag or whatever. I feel that gives the most flexibility while still being very light and portable. I HOPE that Starlink themselves produces something similar, but for now I'm building my own :) Thanks for watching!
@@MikeOnSpace Looking forward to seeing your solution. I may just buy another antenna and go with your solution instead of waiting for their hardware. Not so interested in having internet while in motion. Just would like to not have to go on the roof each time I want to relocate. Any guess as to when you will have details worked out on your solution? PS Great channel!
Thanks! I'm not 100% sure on my timeline - family and work get priority on my time - but I'm hoping to have something I can take out camping in June. It might not be fully waterproof, but something I can use that's reasonably rugged so I don't break it!
@@MikeOnSpace Are you sharing any details about your design choices or on your progress? RU-vid? Like you, I am about to embark on building a "quick" release mount to go on the roof of my Volvo V70. My Starlink RV setup is out for delivery, so it should be delivered any moment now. Once it arrives, I will take measurements and begin the build.
Mike, that shirt hurts my visual cortex! On a more serious note: For RVs, the more attractive Starlink becomes technically, the less affordable it turns out to be - now almost CA$200 a month (including roaming charge and taxes). At least you can pay only for the months you're actually traveling.
@@mrspeigle1 Fair enough, but only if you really need tons of data. Much less if you're fine with 30 or 50 GB a month. Also, Starlink charges roughly the same all over the world, while in most countries mobile data is significantly less expensive than in North America (like €30 / CA$40 a month for an unlimited plan in Europe).
Hello Mike, I have enjoyed the videos. I have some questions on exactly how the stow function works, and am curious if you have any insight into the software and whether it knows dishy AZ when it stows. I am working on an auto deploy roof mount for the RV market. Let me know if we can talk a bit?
Another informative video thanks Mike. Do you know if the new mesh network modules can be used as a stand alone router/ modem for your starlink set up ?
That's hard to say. I think SpaceX will get approval for airplane use first because they're already doing fairly extensive testing and it's a very controlled environment. I think it'll be much longer before they allow it on consumer-level vehicles without a professional installer. It feels like there's too much liability of things falling off or interfering with vehicle systems. I'm hoping it's not TOO long though. Are you thinking of car use or something else?
It kinda feels like they're closing the "loophole" I talked about in a previous video. People who were still waiting have started ordering for service in other areas then just using roaming at their home address until service is available. That's fine and all, but now SpaceX wants an extra $25 - kinda like a deterrent?
Like so many things in the modern world, this is all about licensing. Use in other countries comes with a different stack of paperwork -- and may, in fact, be completely prohibited. (it's a bit stupid, but sovereign nations are _sovereign_ nations.) [Gaming the costs of service, and exchange rates is a minor problem.]
Ok Elon Your rich enough. You increased the price of STARLINK Now your getting greedy and STARLINK is starting to look like a greasy company. Give us a break Quickly loosing interest in the billionaire as this is just plain greedy…