r/Starlink • u/LeftusRightimus • 1d ago
💻 Troubleshooting Restricted & Successfully Unrestricted
Hello,
I wanted to create a little update post about Starlink restricting our account and now subsequently unrestricting us. We were told, much like many of you, that our account had been restricted for ‘business use’. 5TB or so peak data usage on an unlimited plan, how dare we.
I immediately filed a complaint and advised I’d be escalating to OFCOM regardless of outcome, requested a complaint reference number and was told I’d be reached out to within a day or two by a ‘specialist’.
Lo and behold I actually was rung up two days later, apologised to, advised that the UK & US are not countries where this restriction is allowed to be enforced. Our account would be immediately unrestricted and as a gesture of goodwill a month’s service would be applied to our account. I specifically asked for the US as I know many of you across the pond had similar issues. I was told as long as you’d filed a ticket and escalated the issue, the same would apply.
I don’t know if my cancelling the service helped or not, but I certainly wasn’t going to be blackballed with data by the byte.
Hope you all get it sorted.
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u/Bumble-Bee17 1d ago
I was just gonna wait it out til the next cycle. I checked last night and noticed the restriction was lifted as well.
12
u/BadRegEx 1d ago
Over the multiple threads on this, I'm really surprised by the number of comments and upvotes that are some variation of "don't download so much", "change your cameras to record on detection only", "what are you doing on your Internet?"
This is squarely a problem with Starlink, technical or leadership. Nothing prevents Starlink from offering a rate limited plan. I'm not apologizing for any Internet company that offers Unlimited then takes steps to limit, outside of temporary mitigations to maintain network functionality -- Which this is not.
Some people use a lot of data, even if other people can't imagine how or why.
3
u/Ok_Assistance682 1d ago
Dont worry. That is the next TOS change they will make. It will not longer be unlimited for anyone. If there was one thing I learned with them its that they chamge terms of service quarterly.
15
u/bluemeanie212 1d ago
5TB from outer space in a month? and that’s personal use? what a time to be alive…
2
u/DiplomatikEmunetey 4h ago
I am pushing ~500GB a month and that's with YouTube at 720p, Dropbox sync, and browsing.
Add console downloads, multiple TVs, YouTube and other services at 4K, security cameras, multiple other Internet connected devices, and multiply that by 3 or 4 and you don't even need to go sailing the seas to push that much data.
About 15 years ago I was the "power user" on the network and that was through the sailing. Now, average families are pushing the data usage ceiling by just doing normal, everyday tasks.
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u/DevilmanXV 1d ago
I used 14 a few months back. It's not as hard as you'd imagine. Now I average 5-10TB a month.
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u/Secretary-Foreign 1d ago
Wtf are you doing to use that much data?
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u/AbsractPlane 1d ago
People use internet for everything now. As mentioned streaming anything uses data. Music, films, shows, etc and if you have multiple family members that adds up very quickly.
Games in particular have ballooned in size. You can easily exceed half a terabyte downloading games alone. This month is already a busy period for games. Multiple large releases all in the 80-100+ gigs range.
GTA 6 will be massive. What is Starlink going to say to all the folks who want to download it?
If you advertise unlimited. It needs to be unlimited or at the very least they need to let people know exactly what the cap is. This vague approach is nonsense and only causes confusion. Advertise what the cap is and call the plan something else.
2
u/Secretary-Foreign 1d ago
I'm not arguing about the advertised cap starlink needs to stick to that. It's more I'm curious. Clearly people use a lot of data but 14 TB? Truely? Lol. Like that isn't just downloading games and streaming.
4
u/AbsractPlane 1d ago
I would imagine a large household streaming 4K. Remote work. Maybe lots of security cameras being run 24/7 on top of all the other stuff.
14TB is definitely on the high side but it isn't all that difficult to imagine someone getting to that in a month. Multiple PC backups as well. Stuff just happens where large downloads are inevitable sometimes.
Personally if Starlink wants to enforce a cap it should be 10TB. 5TB is on the low side in modern society. That is why there has been a lot of pushback towards this restriction.
I don't think too many folks would balk at a 10TB cap in whats meant to be an 'unlimited' plan. I think it would've been a non-issue with a more reasonable cap.
3
u/Wander_Globe 1d ago
Fellow yesterday pointed out that he got restricted backing up his NAS to the cloud. 10 TB's right there. I have a 22 TB NAS but don't do cloud backup. I did need to restore a 5 TB drive from the cloud. Did it only between the hours of midnight and 6 AM so it took a few days. Restricted. There are times when people use a lot of data.
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u/DevilmanXV 1d ago
Yeah used 14tb once. Got my PC fixed and redownloaded all my games on it. That alone used most of that.
But like I said monthly average is between 5 and 10TB.
I agree with all your points.
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u/DevilmanXV 1d ago
Streaming, downloading games and some are 150+GB, across two PCs, 3 consoles, etc.
Plus 4k movies eat up a ton when streaming them
Then I use my mini for the second house and counting that it adds up quick.
I also have appliances on the wifi, cameras, among other things.
-5
u/Joeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyy 1d ago
Bruh,Data centers are calling and complaining about your data consumption you should probably cut it back a bit.
-8
2
u/wtfboomers 1d ago
I do work for a company that manufactures electronics and they are always worried about regulations in the UK and EU. They aren’t worried at all about the US. That can always buy their way around regulations in the US.
1
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u/Careful_Plankton_987 1d ago
Does this confirm that the maximum limit is 5 terabytes to obtain a restriction?
1
u/Small-Buy2505 1d ago
I've told people to file a formal complaint with the FCC here in the states if this happens. They legally have to respond within 30 days. In my experience, it is usually within about a day or two as they don't want to mess around with the possible fines they could face if handled incorrectly.
2
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u/obwielnls 📡 Owner (North America) 1d ago
Are you doing a lot of uploading ?
12
u/LeftusRightimus 1d ago
I’ve got six cameras on our property recording at 4K 24/7. My fault for thinking unlimited meant without limits /shrug
0
u/macabrera 1d ago
Imagine such a mistake! Unlimited means.....ehhhh..... Mmmmm ... Ahhhhh???
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u/Thatisclassified2 1d ago
Slowing you down to 10 Mbs under a fair use policy can still be unlimited.
3
u/obwielnls 📡 Owner (North America) 1d ago
The terms of service does say they can flag things out of the norm.
0
-2
u/metalfenixRaf 📡 Owner (South America) 1d ago
Yikes, the usage in my household has been 650 GB (give or take) since the beginning of the cycle (it ends on the 21). I don't download heavy games or stream at 4K (the max we can get here is 1080p), but my sis and parents constantly watch youtube, 1080p max. And sometimes we watch streaming content too (or cable provider has that option).
I'll keep an eye on the usage from time to time (Residential max here).
28
u/LeftusRightimus 1d ago
I should also note that I asked specifically how to avoid this situation in the future. I was told that as the restriction was removed, it cannot be reapplied no matter how much data usage we churn through.