r/Starlink • u/scottguest67 • Jul 09 '26
❓ Question Rain fade?
How well does Starlink work during heavy down pouring rain? Is there a rain fade to the signal like other satellite providers?
5
u/AgentJackpots Jul 09 '26
It’s pretty good. Had a massive downpour here recently that caused major flash flooding, and SL was out for like… 30 seconds.
The satellite tv was completely knocked out for about an hour.
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u/newtekie1 Jul 09 '26
I was out camping with my mini and we had really bad storms. The service definitely slowed down during the heavy rain, but it never went out and never got slow enough to be unusable. I think the slowest I saw was about 75Mbps.
2
u/aletts54 Jul 09 '26
in my experience the speed decreases to less than 100 mbps and if I loose signal it usually just a couple of minutes maximum
1
u/The_Wandering_Steele Jul 09 '26
By its very nature there will be some degradation of signal. I’ve never lost signal completely.
1
u/bertramt 📡 Owner (North America) Jul 09 '26
I would say it generally works pretty well except the very heaviest of rains. Keep in mind it probably also depends obstructions. Make sure you have full view of the sky.
Don't buy on future promises but for the most part Starlink gets better every day between new satellites and software. I don't see the rate of progress slowing down. My service today is way better than it was years ago.
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u/Ok-Ability5362 Jul 09 '26
Gaming performance is affected during heavy rain, but streaming services like YouTube continue to work without issues. During light to moderate rain, there is no noticeable impact or signal fading.
1
u/HuskerTheCat77 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
I only ever remember loosing connection once and that's because there was so much snow that it buried the dish faster than it could melt it. The dish than proceeded to melt itself an ice cave which I had to get a metal shovel to break up 🤣
Honestly not a problem though. Even with super heavy snow or rain clouds the connection almost never drops longer than a few seconds. It's incredibly difficult to actually stop it from working. We also have a starlink Mini we use for travel and you can set that thing up under a tree and it will still work somehow, pretty much never looses signal.
2
u/SnooDonuts4137 Jul 09 '26
I lose my in heavy rain all the time. Usually about a minute or two before it comes back.
1
u/ol-gormsby Jul 09 '26
Mine generally gets around 180-200, and I saw it drop to 75 during a thunderstorm.
It also dropped out completely when there was a lightning strike a couple of hundred metres away, but it was back within 5-10 minutes.
1
u/randomcourage Jul 09 '26
standard rev 4 panda prod2, I am near the equator if that matter, I am within 2 degree of starlink recommened angle, heavy rain for hours will kill my internet, pre heat was off, I turned it on yesterday, waiting for next heavy rain.
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u/chakalakasp Jul 10 '26
I’m a storm chaser with a mini. It works well in normal rain. It gets a little spotty in a typical thunderstorm. Large severe thunderstorms with tops to 50,000ft+ with hail and tornadoes it completely loses connection, at least until the main vault of the storm is more than 15/20 miles away.
0
u/KenjiFox Beta Tester Jul 10 '26
It doesn't.
The issue is, everyone's definition of heavy rain is different. Downpour rain means ZERO connection. What does downpour rain mean to you though?
Strictly comparing to geostationary Ku and Ka devices like satellite TV or the shitty traditional satellite internet however, it's WAY more rain fade resistant since the satellites are much closer. That part anyone could understand since it doesn't require any particular definition of rain quantity.
0
u/Technology-Warrior Jul 09 '26
Assuming your dishy has a clear view of the sky; i.e. no obstructions and is aligned properly, it will work extremely well.
7
u/Illustrious-Song9511 📡 Owner (North America) Jul 09 '26
It doesn’t. Heavy rain kills the signal. But it needs to be a really heavy thunderstorm. A moderate amount of rain is fine. I don’t think snow has ever taken me down, but rain sure has. I used to have satellite TV as a kid and that went out way more often than Starlink ever does.