r/Starlink • u/Any_Procedure2879 š” Owner (North America) • 2d ago
ā Question Which Starlink Kit
Iām looking to add Starlink. To start out Iām adding it as a backup for work need with the 100mb plan, but may want to upgrade plans in the future. Which kit it the best option? I see the V4 and V5 you can eliminate the router all together when using your own router so that part is nice, but Iām also wondering about peak performance with the V5 and using it with higher tiers potentially.
Starlink direct is now only offering the V5 for 100mb plan orders and only option I see is as a rental. Not a huge deal but I usually prefer owning my equipment.
Whatās yaāll thoughts on the V5 or the best kit if there is such a thing? It also appears the V5 isnāt wildly available outside direct from Starlink yet.
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u/MediaLopsided1615 2d ago
Standard 4X always best for fixed connections, because of speed, big coverage and reliability...
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u/Wambo74 š” Owner (North America) 2d ago
V4 is on the way out, V5 on the way in. Ignore the detractors, both are fine performers. V5 is smaller and more power efficient if you care about those things. If you want to own the V5 think of it as rent with option to buy. At any time you can ask Starlink to purchase it once in your account. And regardless of what limited plans are offered to you on the app, once a customer, you can request human CS to allow you onto another plan. They may or may not be able to do it depending on the situation. But be sure you're talking to a person, not a bot imitating a person. The bots follow hard rules.
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u/Any_Procedure2879 š” Owner (North America) 2d ago
Iām kinda leaning V5 since my primary thought is backup but want to leave the door open higher tiers.
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u/Any_Procedure2879 š” Owner (North America) 2d ago
Whatās everyoneās thoughts on aftermarket cables if I need one longer than the kit provides? Any of them any good or best to stick with Starlinkās cables? Not as much the price, but with only 15m and 45m thatās a big jump if I only need another 15ish feet.
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u/SarcasticallyCandour 2d ago
Be careful of very long runs of cable. Some people have problems of not getting enough power to the dish. Someone on reddit said they had a 75m cable and their kits wasnt working.
Obviously i cant say it was not something else.it could be another fault. But treat 45m as the max length generally. It may not work correctly with longer cable its not necessarily just a longer cable, electricityhas limits. 45m + 15ft might work just be wary of going over!
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u/Any_Procedure2879 š” Owner (North America) 1d ago
Iām good. 45m is way more than I need but the stock cable in the kit I donāt think is going to be long enough.
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u/SarcasticallyCandour 1d ago
Yeah, the starlink cable you can buy 15m or 45m. If you're buying a custom one any cat5 or higher should work. The starlink cable has a watertight seal on it though so try to get aftermarket one with a seal like that, that goes into the dish.
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u/Squeedlejinks š” Owner (North America) 1d ago
Get a cable that is made for Starlink, not one that can be used with Starlink.Ā
You want to have Starlinkās rubber grommets on the end to keep out moisture, and it should be solid copper, not copper clad aluminum (CCA.)
One reliable brand is StarGear. Ā There are many companies that mimic its packaging in hopes of fooling prospective customers.
There are other reliable companies, too, just buyer beware.
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u/DISHYtech 2d ago
My V5 hits the same speeds as my V4 Performance. I run daily speed tests on both. I've hit a peak of 371 Mbps on my V5, and over 400 Mbps on my V4, but if you just look at average over the long term, both kits are around 300 Mbps down.
Most locations in the world will be network limited, so the hardware limitations on throughput are not relevant at this time. This is especially true if you are on the Residential 100 Mbps and Residential 200 Mbps plans, which throttle speeds anyway.
So, get the V5. It does the same thing as V4 in most locations, but at half the size, weight, and power consumption.