I signed up for Starlink after being left without internet/phone service for three weeks after a storm this summer. I expected it was going to take a year to get the equipment but I got an email yesterday that my order was ready to ship.

Just looking for tips and tricks when my equipment gets here for set-up, etc.

I hired a guy to install mine because I wasn’t about to get up on steeply pitched roof. In stallation can be relatively easy IF you have an unobstructed view in the right direction. Once the antenna was installed and the cable run to the modem, I was up and running in 10 minutes.

I wonder about that as I know these need to face north. I also have a steel roof which means nothing can be drilled into it.

I might have to run a long cable as there are some trees on the north side of the house or do something similar to how the TV dish is attached to the house.

So for me, I will have to figure out how high the dish will need to be positioned or run a long cable past the trees.

Bear in mind the basic unit only come with75’ of cable and if you think the distance from antenna to modem will be more, you will need to purchase extra cable. Also it can be mounted on exterior walls as long as there is an unobstructed view north. It can be pole mounted in the yard, too but remember the cable length.

Ann, I'm familiar with the steel roofs, and as long as you use the appropriate rubber washer roofing screws, the thing can be mounted to the roof.

Here in AK the things are everywhere although I don't have one. I see them on the roof, on a pole, flat on the ground and on a wall.

The roof seems easiest. I think it's a tripod stand, so three sturdy roofing screws and you should be good. I guess we'll see how many up here get taken out by snow sliding off the roofs.

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
I wonder about that as I know these need to face north. I also have a steel roof which means nothing can be drilled into it.

I might have to run a long cable as there are some trees on the north side of the house or do something similar to how the TV dish is attached to the house.

So for me, I will have to figure out how high the dish will need to be positioned or run a long cable past the trees.

Go to the Starlink website and follow the directions for using your cellphone to find the right location for the dish. It’s pretty easy.

quote:

Originally posted by Cougarz:

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
I wonder about that as I know these need to face north. I also have a steel roof which means nothing can be drilled into it.

I might have to run a long cable as there are some trees on the north side of the house or do something similar to how the TV dish is attached to the house.

So for me, I will have to figure out how high the dish will need to be positioned or run a long cable past the trees.

Go to the Starlink website and follow the directions for using your cellphone to find the right location for the dish. It’s pretty easy.

I have been reading the info. Hoping everything goes smoothly! The equipment arrives early next month.

Timely thread Ann,

My son and I are heading to Zim in 12 days. He's one of the world's top 1% Amazon sellers and really can't be out of internet contact for more than a couple of days. When on safari, the last thing I want is to be connected to the world, but that's me and simply a price he pays for running his company.

SOOOOOO ... we purchased the Starlink Roam kit and activated the Global Service plan. Have it packed up in a 1610 Pelican case, french fitted to all the parts for protection. The Starlink area coverage map shows Dande Safari Area to have partial coverage but reports are that it's actually working outside the acknowledged coverage area, ie. Harare. Same for my house and deer lease. House and lease show outside the coverage area but it works fine in both locations.

I'll report back once we get home and let everyone know how it works over there.

Looking forward to that report, Todd. Hope you have a great hunt!

I can't wait to dump Viasat.

It was a great day when I called Hughesnet and told them to FO.

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Originally posted by jdollar:
It was a great day when I called Hughesnet and told them to FO.

Me too Jerry. I still remember that day as well.

Todd,
Do you think Starlink is likely to work in Jack Co.? Precisely on 281 north out of Jacksboro just past the 114 split off?

Hey Lane,

One of my houses currently under construction is in Runaway Bay. It would be pretty easy for me to bring my Starlink up to your place and test it out. My guess is it will work there just fine but we can test it if you want.

Let me know if you want to check it out this week, or after I get back toward the end of the month and we'll give it a go.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
Hey Lane,

One of my houses currently under construction is in Runaway Bay. It would be pretty easy for me to bring my Starlink up to your place and test it out. My guess is it will work there just fine but we can test it if you want.

Let me know if you want to check it out this week, or after I get back toward the end of the month and we'll give it a go.

Hi Todd,
That would be awesome! We’ll get in touch when you get back.

I have opened the box and will look at places to set this up later today.

I opened the app on my phone but am not sure which of the 'dish' selections I have. It looks like two of the four that are pictured. I did not find any paperwork to tell me which of these I have in the box.

The standard dish is about 10”x14”. With the app it’s easy to see which direction is best. Love my system….

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Todd,
Do you think Starlink is likely to work in Jack Co.? Precisely on 281 north out of Jacksboro just past the 114 split off?

Starlink will work anywhere there is an unobstructed view to the north fairly low on the horizon.

I'll try some ground positions tomorrow but am pretty sure the best spot will be my rooftop. Bad thing is it is steel.

Bear in mind that the dish only comes with 75’ of cable so this may limit where you can put it. Our router is placed in a closet on the second floor hallway directly below the antenna on the roof. Signal strength from there covers the whole house and part of the yard.

Starlink is awesome. We live in a rural setting and have had a local ISP for years, we were on Starlink wait list for about 9 months, received it last week and I installed the receiver on our roof. Our download/upload speeds are between 3.7 and 4.4 times faster than previous provider (varies). Well worth the trouble and expense.

With my trees on the north side of the property (big oak country) I believe the roof top is going to be my best bet. It's metal so this will take some thought on a bracket that won't ruin the roofing. From there I will have to hire someone to do all that.

I do not think any of the options for bracketing listed on Starlink website would work on my house. I've been researching some aftermarket items but have not decided on anything yet.

I hired a local IT company who also installs Starlink. I ain’t about to get up on my steeply pitched roof. The entire process took about 1 1/2 hours plus 1 hour of travel time. Cost $220. Money well spent and he set it up and walked me through the operation.

quote:

It's metal so this will take some thought on a bracket that won't ruin the roofing. From there I will have to hire someone to do all that.

Unfortunately, we dong have big oak trees, but rooftop mounting was our best option. A bracket that mounts to the fascia (if your roof has gables) is a good option, we bought one from Starlink but decided to mount on ridge line, so I made a simple bracket out of 1/8” x 3” bar stock, easily done and I was dumb enough to scale our roof to install. About halfway up I figured I’m too damn old to do this sort of thing, but hardheaded enough to finish what I started. I won’t do it again, j dollar is obviously smarter than I am, I’ll do what he did if anything else has to be done and hire someone.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
I hired a local IT company who also installs Starlink. I ain’t about to get up on my steeply pitched roof. The entire process took about 1 1/2 hours plus 1 hour of travel time. Cost $220. Money well spent and he set it up and walked me through the operation.

Being so rural there is next to no choices for a trained contractor to install. I have a neighbor guy who would be able to do this but need to buy the right mounting bracket. My house gables face east/west which complicate things. I also have a steel roof and am not excited about screwing a support base into that.

I have sent a help request to Starlink to ask about the long arm gable mount and a few other options. I will for sure need to order the longer cable.

I was just in Mozambique with our South African friends at their beach camp. They brought along starlink and between that and an old single cylinder diesel generator , we got to enjoy the Rugby World Cup in the evening with a perfect video feed.

I bet the long arm gable mount will work, I was concerned about orientation as well but the device orients itself and will turn more than 90 degrees, no issues for us.

Today I finalized my decision and bought an aftermarket long arm mount. This is the one I settled on: Winegard DS3000A Universal 38-inch Mount

With Universal Antenna Mount Adapter

And this Proxicast Starlink Antenna Adapter

I also bought, from Starlink, the longer cable and the wall grommet kit.

In all, spendy, but I should be set once all the items arrive and I can get it installed. I'll take it all with me if I ever move.

We just got back from remote Zimbabwe where we used our Starlink Global Roam unit. It worked great. We had a few very short interruptions but I think we had a bit of a tree limb obstruction where we set up the dish. I had purchased the 150' extended cable and it turned out to be necessary for Pedza camp in the Dande Safari Area. Anything shorter and we would have been out of luck.

Pedza camp does have a camp WIFI but it's a bit limited. The Starlink was more than fast enough that multiple people could view YouTube videos at the same time.

The Pelican 1610 case protected it as check baggage.

Alrighty, my Starlink is up and running. Appears to be functioning flawlessly.

Will tell Viasat to kiss my ass first thing tomorrow.

An update. My cell phone connectivity is also flawless since putting Starlink in. The wifi is great.

quote:

I also have a steel roof which means nothing can be drilled into it.

Should be no problem for someone who knows what he's doing.

Grizz

Ours is great, too. Except the router went out, had a new one in 2 days and Starlink credited a month’s charges

Ann,

We waited from September of last year until September of this year to get our Starlink. It seems rural Kentucky is more remote than Zimbabwe. We went from 2-5 MBPS on Hughes satellite with a 100 MB cap to 80-90 MBPS and unlimited capacity on Starlink but best of all, no outages.

Starlink just emailed me an offer for a higher speed, updated router but I don't see the need to spend $599 for more speed, I'm happy with my service as it is.

Frank, stick with what you have then. I probably have the more spendy system since I basically just installed mine.

Funny thing. I keep getting emails from Viasat asking why I cancelled. Assholes.

Absolute game changer for us,,we live remote so our landline is a radio phone. We stared with dial up,,on to Starband,Hughesnet,Exceede and finally on to Starlink!!! Super easy install,,it started working instanely and not a seconds problem in almost a year!! Starlink cell phones next year too,,,,,,,,

BIG ice storm here today and I still have internet. I believe the starlink has a heater?

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
BIG ice storm here today and I still have internet. I believe the starlink has a heater?

It does in fact have a built in heater.

That heater works! Complete ice out everywhere. I had to put chains on my boots to chore.