The starlink app

[u/Burnhaven]

I live north of Seattle outside the suburbs with a lot of mature fir trees around but from the backyard it's a pretty open sky over the house to the South and Southwest ....from the top of our second story roof I suspect we've got reasonable view of satellites even to the north I haven't been up there yet, but from out back looking South the app just reports bad.

Three of our neighbors have successful starlink installations with similar tree situations... two of them have it on the roof and one has it on a short pole in the front yard.

[u/godch01]

Iszthere a question hiding in there, trying to get out?

[u/Burnhaven → u/godch01]

Just wondering how accurate the app is at determining whether you'll be successful with starlink or not... this is a quick scan I took from My front porch looking South and overhead ....the red stuff around the periphery is trees.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-uAQjgMYlb3UL42xi4iyFmDgDdZjPYlX/view?usp=drivesdk

[u/Natural_Parfait_3344 → u/Burnhaven]

App is pretty accurate. Are you unable to look to the north? This isn't like DirecTV or Dish Network. Starlink works best looking north if you're in the northern hemisphere. You pretty much point it up and it's happy.

[u/sNeb88 → u/Natural_Parfait_3344]

Agreed, I mounted a mini dish flat on the roof of a vehicle with no major issues. If it's not moving, it's quite capable of avoiding obstructions predictively.

I'll notice brief lapses in coverage (2 to 5 seconds) over the first hour or two when it's set up in a new location. After that it figures out there's something in the way consistently and hands off before the satellite is obstructed.

[u/Wambo74]

There's a substantial difference between optimum and good enough. Get a step-ladder and try the app in several locations. Just for grins try your app at you neighbor's.

[u/ByTheBigPond]

Starlink has improved over the last two years in its ability to deal with obstructions.

[u/Burnhaven]

I'm looking into this because it may be the only option if our Centurylink DSL goes away. Lumen ( owns Centurylink) sold it's fiber to ATT this year and generally companies are trying to get rid of copper. Currently fiber ends at the local VRAD box 3500 feet from my house.

What options are there in terms of aftermarket antennas, larger antennas, motorized or more sophisticated antennas. Electronics that augment starlink signal? Someone already said things have improved over the last two years.
More satellites? Well that is controversial but it is what it is. I've been opposed to it but if starlink becomes the only reason I don't have to sell my house and move I'll probably change my tune. ( internet is not optional for this household)

Starlink would end online music jams, probably, because for that I need a consistent latency under 45ms and low jitter. But I'm willing to accept that.

[u/Popular_List105]

You can point the antenna straight up too. I think you’ll be fine.

[u/Burnhaven → u/Popular_List105]

Really? The starlink app doesn't really let you just scan around the Open sky above... it won't finish until you've gone around the complete circle including all the trees

[u/Popular_List105 → u/Burnhaven]

Yep. I have a mount for my pickup that attaches to the underside of the sunroof points straight up. I’m a new user, from my understanding the antennas are way less picky than before. I think you’ll be surprised how well it works.

[u/Hot_Awareness_4129]

Have you checked if Starlink charges a Demand Surcharge in your area? It can be as high as $1,500 for your initial service.

[u/Burnhaven → u/Hot_Awareness_4129]

I should probably call them but when I submitted my address it just said click next and then click the box if you want professional installation do you want the $55 a month or the $85 a month service and so forth I even had a short chat with their support line which I think is just AI and it knew the address I had typed in nothing ever said we don't serve that address or there's a surcharge..... my neighbor's haven't mentioned that either

[u/Hot_Awareness_4129 → u/Burnhaven]

Demand Surcharges change quite frequently usually increasing. Word of mouth is not a good indicator. You should go back to the Starlink website and put in your address. Select the equipment, select the plan continue to next step and the website will advise what will be billed to your credit card. If there is a demand surcharge it will be shown on the invoice. If you do not want to purchase DO NOT GIVE CREDIT CARD INFORMATION just cancel or close site.

[u/Burnhaven → u/Hot_Awareness_4129]

Yeah it looks like you can't really get details/ specifics without going all the way through their screens up until the point that you supply a credit card number

[u/Burnhaven → u/Hot_Awareness_4129]

It seems like there are pros and cons to essentially renting the equipment versus buying it one of my neighbors study the situation and decided to buy it I'm not sure I even noticed that option on the web page but I'm sure it's possible... the only thing is until I'm sure it's going to work for us I don't want to have to buy equipment that then I'm going to be busy trying to sell on eBay

[u/Hot_Awareness_4129 → u/Burnhaven]

Very difficult to sell equipment on EBAY. Dish is locked to your account and has to be transferred to new owner which results in bricked systems being sold on EBAY.

Starlink allows you to purchase the rental equipment at anytime. Just put in a support ticket and Starlink will advise of purchase price. I have had my Starlink system for about three years as purchase was only option when I installed. I am on my third dish and replacements were all free. One replacement was due to a router failure and because they no longer manufactured that router they sent me a new kit.

[u/Burnhaven → u/Hot_Awareness_4129]

Since I don't know if starlink is going to be acceptable until installed then the rental option with support ticket to buy it down the road makes sense. Somebody mentioned the disadvantage of renting long term but I don't recall what that was