Starlink

[Housedog]

Just wanted to check if anyone has had success with the Gen 3 Starlink yet. I am going to permanently install it on my 2024 LV35 and if there are any tips or tricks out there I could use!

[Judge]

I thought about selling my Gen 2 and buying the Gen 3 Regular Hardware but I decided against it. While the Gen 3 has a slightly wider field of view, you have to manually point it in the right direction because it no longer self-aligns. The In-Motion Hardware would be better but not at $2500. The Gen 3 also uses more power so when running off the inverter that means shorter battery life.


But while doing my research, I found this to be the best option in case you need to remove it from the roof to reposition it on the ground for better signal.

https://www.trioflatmount.com/shop/p/gen3flatmount


They offer a few other options as well....

https://www.trioflatmount.com/shop

[Bob Nodine]

I have a question about Starlink. We have never used Starlink but had satellite television for over 15 years. We were always losing the signal during a rain storm, usually in the middle of our favorite program. Can we expect Starlink to go out during storms?

We finally ditched satellite television because of continued price increases and all the equipment you had to deal with. Moved everything to streaming and absolutely love it. No more worrying about trees blocking the satellites when traveling. We know there are places that will not have cell service and that would be the advantage of Starlink. Just hate to go back to dealing with a satellite dish and the constant aiming and moving it around.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Bob Nodine

I have a question about Starlink. We have never used Starlink but had satellite television for over 15 years. We were always losing the signal during a rain storm, usually in the middle of our favorite program. Can we expect Starlink to go out during storms?

We finally ditched satellite television because of continued price increases and all the equipment you had to deal with. Moved everything to streaming and absolutely love it. No more worrying about trees blocking the satellites when traveling. We know there are places that will not have cell service and that would be the advantage of Starlink. Just hate to go back to dealing with a satellite dish and the constant aiming and moving it around.

I have used Starlink in a few storms and never had any major issues that I can recall.

Starlink's satellites are in a near-earth orbit...... 60 times closer than most traditional satellites..... which helps maintain bandwidth. I'm not going to say you will never have an issue... especially if a tropical storm / hurricane hits.... but in two years of use I have found it very reliable. The Dish also has a built-in heater that will melt snow and ice if you ae going to be in a colder climate.

On our 3-month trip to Alaska last year we had Internet and phone capabilities everywhere we went when we were in places with not cell or Internet service available. We were in a Caravan and before the end of the trip about 6 - 8 people had ordered Starlink after seeing us have connectivity everywhere.

People with satellite TV or XM were mostly out of luck in Alaska because we were so far north their satellite TV dishes were having to point almost parallel with the ground based on the TV satellite orbit.

Once you have a clear line of site and the dish is aligned, you don't have to move it again.

The Gen 1 and Gen 2 Dish have a built-in motor that automatically aligns the Dish. The Gen 3 Dish has to be aligned manually with the app.

[Housedog]

Thanks for all of the feedback!

I've got the Gen 2 at the cabin and it's much better in Alaska compared to the other satellite providers. That's why I went with the Gen 3 for the RV because of the flexibility of driving to and from Alaska to the lower 48. You do have to buy the mobile package for use while driving, but the ability to turn off the account while I'm at home in the summer will be priceless for me.

I ordered this for the mount since it had a 12V conversion built in. I think it's going to work well.

https://star-mountsystems.com/collec...ch-rv-products


I'll check back for more good intel! Thanks to all!

[Housedog]

I haven't noticed that Starlink has been blanked out from storms/weather at the cabin. In the summer my DirecTV does get satellite outages from even our smaller thunderstorms in Alaska, but I've never had a problem with the Starlink connectivity. We had a lot of snow this past winter and the performance during even some of the heavy snow fall days wasn't hindered that I noticed.

[ducksface]

Two years of gen 2 starlink.
Snow average of 72 inches, somtimes 30 inches on the ground, biblical rain, 60mph winds. Temps from -10°f to 111° f in the shade, 6550ft altitude, ungodly uv at times.(yup, it's paradise)

My starlink is held down with concrete pavers on our roof. The Starlink router lives OUTDOORS facing the south in full sun. The router reaches 300feet through 100 dense trees to service my garage. The signal degrades by a lot but it's still enough to run a 4k tv at 30 to 60 meg.

My 6g router and five boosters throughout the property are hooked to the starlink router and I have maybe 85 ish things hooked to it, cameras and monitors and echo switches and tv's. All wind up at that starlink router.

Starlink seldom even blinks.
Maybe 3 acumulatived seconds every month.
But, I am a mile closer to the satellite than most of you

I won't do gen 3 until I'm forced.

Below is my current speed on wifi on the phone I'm typing this on.

[ducksface]

Went into the app to get these screens.

[Bob Nodine]

Originally Posted by Judge

I have used Starlink in a few storms and never had any major issues that I can recall.

Starlink's satellites are in a near-earth orbit...... 60 times closer than most traditional satellites..... which helps maintain bandwidth. I'm not going to say you will never have an issue... especially if a tropical storm / hurricane hits.... but in two years of use I have found it very reliable. The Dish also has a built-in heater that will melt snow and ice if you ae going to be in a colder climate.

On our 3-month trip to Alaska last year we had Internet and phone capabilities everywhere we went when we were in places with not cell or Internet service available. We were in a Caravan and before the end of the trip about 6 - 8 people had ordered Starlink after seeing us have connectivity everywhere.

People with satellite TV or XM were mostly out of luck in Alaska because we were so far north their satellite TV dishes were having to point almost parallel with the ground based on the TV satellite orbit.

Once you have a clear line of site and the dish is aligned, you don't have to move it again.

The Gen 1 and Gen 2 Dish have a built-in motor that automatically aligns the Dish. The Gen 3 Dish has to be aligned manually with the app.

Thanks Judge, good to see you back posting.

Looks like Starlink is very reliable. From your comments I would be inclined to go with Gen 1 or Gen 2.

Starlink is now on my list after installing some Renogy batteries.

[Bob Nodine]

Originally Posted by Housedog

I haven't noticed that Starlink has been blanked out from storms/weather at the cabin. In the summer my DirecTV does get satellite outages from even our smaller thunderstorms in Alaska, but I've never had a problem with the Starlink connectivity. We had a lot of snow this past winter and the performance during even some of the heavy snow fall days wasn't hindered that I noticed.

Good to know. Thanks for your feedback.

[Bob Nodine]

Originally Posted by ducksface

Two years of gen 2 starlink.
Snow average of 72 inches, somtimes 30 inches on the ground, biblical rain, 60mph winds. Temps from -10°f to 111° f in the shade, 6550ft altitude, ungodly uv at times.(yup, it's paradise)

My starlink is held down with concrete pavers on our roof. The Starlink router lives OUTDOORS facing the south in full sun. The router reaches 300feet through 100 dense trees to service my garage. The signal degrades by a lot but it's still enough to run a 4k tv at 30 to 60 meg.

My 6g router and five boosters throughout the property are hooked to the starlink router and I have maybe 85 ish things hooked to it, cameras and monitors and echo switches and tv's. All wind up at that starlink router.

Starlink seldom even blinks.
Maybe 3 acumulatived seconds every month.
But, I am a mile closer to the satellite than most of you

I won't do gen 3 until I'm forced.

Below is my current speed on wifi on the phone I'm typing this on.

We have been to Williams, AZ twice and I expect you are far out of town. Seems Starlink would be your only real option for internet service.

[Scubawise]

Huge solar storm impacting Starlink satellites, 'degraded service' reported: Musk
Musk warned early Saturday that Starlink satellites were under a lot of pressure as the powerful storm crashes into Earth

[ducksface]

Here's my starlink outages and the solar storm/aurora

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by ducksface

Here's my starlink outages and the solar storm/aurora

Interesting

[Bob Nodine]

Originally Posted by Bob Nodine

Thanks Judge, good to see you back posting.

Looks like Starlink is very reliable. From your comments I would be inclined to go with Gen 1 or Gen 2.

Starlink is now on my list after installing some Renogy batteries.

Well looks like Gen 2 is not available anymore and was discontinued in Jan. Guess we are stuck with the Gen 3. Seems it may not be as good as the Gen 2 for boondocking because of the increase power consumption.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Bob Nodine

Well looks like Gen 2 is not available anymore and was discontinued in Jan. Guess we are stuck with the Gen 3. Seems it may not be as good as the Gen 2 for boondocking because of the increase power consumption.

You may want to reach out to Starlink. I thought I remember them offering refurbished equipment. Maybe they had a warranty claim on a Gen 2, repaired it and then offer it for resale with the 1-year warranty.

You can also check eBay. There are a couple available at a decent price.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...en+2&_osacat=0


This one offers "returns" so you have some assurance if you get it and it is not working properly you can return it for a refund.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/17637246141...Bk9SR9ralsLtYw

[Bob Nodine]

Originally Posted by Judge

You may want to reach out to Starlink. I thought I remember them offering refurbished equipment. Maybe they had a warranty claim on a Gen 2, repaired it and then offer it for resale with the 1-year warranty.

You can also check eBay. There are a couple available at a decent price.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...en+2&_osacat=0


This one offers "returns" so you have some assurance if you get it and it is not working properly you can return it for a refund.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/17637246141...Bk9SR9ralsLtYw

Thanks Judge.

[Housedog]

We finished up the install of the Starlink with the Starmount Systems mount. We used toggle bolts to secure it to the roof and ran the electrics straight down to the house battery. Copious amounts of sealant was used in the bolt/wire holes and I’m hoping the seal will hold. The only “hard” part was removing the refrigerator and finding out how poorly the Thor folks made the frame housing the fridge. We strengthened that as well. The extra solar package that came with it is keeping up nicely so far since the batteries are remaining fully charged since it sits outside the cabin and has not been used since the install.

I haven’t had it on the road yet, but noticed a slight degradation (on the Starlink speed test) in the performance since it’s flat mounted. We connected the three DIRECTV steaming tv’s to it and there seems to be no problems with it so far on the Kenai peninsula. I’ll update the post in September when I make my way to the lower 48!

[Bob Nodine]

Originally Posted by Housedog

We finished up the install of the Starlink with the Starmount Systems mount. We used toggle bolts to secure it to the roof and ran the electrics straight down to the house battery. Copious amounts of sealant was used in the bolt/wire holes and I’m hoping the seal will hold. The only “hard” part was removing the refrigerator and finding out how poorly the Thor folks made the frame housing the fridge. We strengthened that as well. The extra solar package that came with it is keeping up nicely so far since the batteries are remaining fully charged since it sits outside the cabin and has not been used since the install.

I haven’t had it on the road yet, but noticed a slight degradation (on the Starlink speed test) in the performance since it’s flat mounted. We connected the three DIRECTV steaming tv’s to it and there seems to be no problems with it so far on the Kenai peninsula. I’ll update the post in September when I make my way to the lower 48!

Is that the in-motion flat antenna or a modified Gen 3?

[Housedog]

It’s the Gen 3 Starlink. With the Starmount there is no need to modify the Starlink antenna. It drops tightly right into the mount. Gen 2 has to be modified I guess.

I saw where Starlink now recommends the high performance flat mount with the priority in motion data plan. When I bought the Gen 3 for the RV it was also a recommended package. Why it isn’t now, I have no clue. So I’m hoping when I test it in a quick multi day trip soon it’ll work out out okay.

I also called Starmount after seeing the lack of recommending Gen 3 for priority mobile, and they said they use the Gen 3 with their Starmount and have been up to speeds of 85 MPH and he told me it worked just fine.

Fingers crossed

I’ll keep ya posted.