Starlink - Anyone get it yet?

micks_address

Starlink installation today. Giving it 24 hours to settle in. Initial speed test was only 30 Mbps.. it's up closer to 200 now.. going to run it in bypass mode with my Netgear mesh..

micks_address

First real day of living with Starlink. 2 working at home with multiple zoom video calls etc. Haven't had any issues.

Few random speed tests average around 150mbps I'd say. Have seen few over 200.

coolaboola1357

I work from home everyday with a few zoom calls per day and my son does iPad gaming like Roblox etc. Would starlink be sutiable for this ?

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120604242#Comment_120604242

I can't see there being any issues. Wired if available might be the better option if higher speeds required/available. we stream 4,k netflix and prime etc Disney plus lots of Spotify streaming, YouTube and FIFA on ps5... No complaints yet.. the main disadvantage with starlink is the latency is maybe 5 times more than fast wired broadband..so instead of 10ms, you get 50ms.. no issues for most things but if you do a lot of online gaming it may be sub optimal.. lower latency equals fast potential game response times

coolaboola1357

Thanks. Currently we have 10mb dsl with lots of interference on the line and multiple connection drops per day.

We don't do serious gaming, my son just plays things like Roblox and Minecraft

Am going to give it a go, has to be better than what we have

coolaboola1357

Is starlink affected by clouds ?

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120607498#Comment_120607498

no.... wouldnt be much use here if it was!

ItHurtsWhenIP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120607498#Comment_120607498

When I had the geo-satellite years ago, a shower of rain would drop the connection. 🙄

Back when I first got Starlink and had poorish coverage, a heavy hail shower would cause the connection to drop briefly, but any hail shower in the last few months hasn't bothered it.

You will need a good view of the sky though, particularly to the south. Download the app, go to where you plan to place the dish and use the "check for obstructions" option. It should give you a good idea of how clear your view is.

Eleusis

You can't online game in REALLY heavy rain. On the old round dish anyway. Not sure if square one is better

micks_address

Impressive speeds on starlink this evening.. I wonder if the extra satellites are making a positive impact? They seem to be launching more every couple of days

https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-launch-group-6-3

bennyineire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120613731#Comment_120613731

Yep I'm rarely getting anything lower than 150 even at peak times

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120615811#Comment_120615811

i know im not the intended customer for starlink.. but apart from virgin the max i can get via a phone line is 100mb so its possibly a better option for us.. virgin beats it speed/cost etc. i will keep virgin for a few more weeks and probably cancel then.. see how starlink behaves for a while

ItHurtsWhenIP

Here's three in a row speedtests:

I'll run some more this evening (if I remember 🧐)

ItHurtsWhenIP

And another set just run now at 6:00pm:

digiman

Is there any plans to improve the upload speeds?

ItHurtsWhenIP

And now the 9pm results are in:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120617593#Comment_120617593

I can't answer your question, but I looked back through my results history and it seems that up to August last year I was typically getting 20-30+ up, an occasional 40+ and even one 52Mbps! Since last September though the results are all in the 10-20 range.

Edit to add: My download speeds have generally been around the 200Mbps mark, with an occasional low 100 result.

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120618172#Comment_120618172

Do speeds generally seem to improve after they launch new satellites or is that just in my head?

ItHurtsWhenIP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120618203#Comment_120618203

I think the additional satellites only improve the coverage. AFAIK It's the ground station capacity that counts for the speeds and contention.

This was my coverage 13 months ago:

This was my coverage a couple of weeks ago:

I wouldn't think there is huge demand for Starlink in Ireland and we've got two ground stations here so we're probably very well served. The mainland UK seem to have about 7 stations, with a bunch more marked as "License Pending" according to www.starlink.sx - Which also tells me that there seems to be typically 12-15 satellites in range of me at any one time. Last year I think it was like 6-9 in range. That's what I'm basing my assertions on.

ItHurtsWhenIP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120539294#Comment_120539294

I'd left the power monitoring on it now for 30 days and it used 37.08KWh, which averages out to 1.236KWh per day.

Just for clarity, this is on the round dish. The square dish may have a different power requirement.

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120625653#Comment_120625653

I have the rectangle dish and it seems to be using about 50 watts

ItHurtsWhenIP

I just looked at the meter and it went from 36w to 60w to 45w over the course of about 60 seconds.

When I first plugged in the meter last month, the reading was similarly variable, ranging from 30w-80w over the couple of minutes that I was looking at it. That's why I felt a more long term reading may be more informative.

micks_address

ive noticed a few things like adverts notifications dont come through when im connected to starlink on my phone via my netgear mesh.. if i drop to mobile reception they come through..

bennyc

Just got my Starlink this afternoon, based in Sligo. First impressions are mixed, the router itself is pretty disappointing with poor range and I didn't realise there was no ethernet port off the router. Not overly concerned about that as I have a Deco P9 system but it looks like I will pay another €40 for the ethernet adapter as I am not sure if I can bridge to the DECO via wifi and run the deco in AP mode.

Speed wise my first D/L was over 230MB but was then sitting around 60 for a few hours and now hitting 190, I will give it a few days to settle down and see then. I am coming from a 4G router getting anything from 10mb to 100mb depending on time etc so it worked but this could be a real game changer if its consistent.

Eleusis

You could try making a big deal about the extra cost of Ethernet adaptor and you didn't know this. They might send for free. I did this when I got a replacement dish sent out and they just sent it for free. They also sent the update pipe adaptor for free too. It would be worth a try except it takes days to get a reply.

thomas 123

Took the plunge today, excited!

micks_address

i know others will say its never going to be as good as wired with lower latency and can't go much faster than 200mbps download but honestly we had 1tb virgin and switched to starlink and no one in the house has batted an eyelid.. if i didnt tell them they wouldnt even notice.. apart from the dish.. two working from home on zoom etc most days and lots of streaming/social media.. i know people told me i was daft when i got 1tb virgin and it was overkill.. there's only so much speed you need really.. there are some use cases which need the lower latency but my son plays fifa and call of duty and he hasnt mentioned any issues.. one of the main reasons i went starlink was to have internet in a powercut.. ok how often do i get a powercut.. but we have backup battery storage so can run the internet and wifi for several hours from battery power.. virgin internet failed immediately last time we lost power

bennyc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120632259#Comment_120632259

OK so after a few days I am rarely getting over 60mb D/L more like 20- 50 most of a the time, I am in Sligo, I wonder if being to the north is making a difference as I don't see any satellites above Galway on the tracker map. At this point its actually just slightly better then my 4g and TBH to only difference is the gaming experience is better with Starlink. I was in the UK last week and its now being advertised for £99 so I would say we will see that proce drop here soon. I am considering sending it back as my €20 4g is doing the job so cant justify a €45 increase for better gaming.

thomas 123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120656569#Comment_120656569

Have you moved the receiver around a bit and is it totally unobstructed?

Are you down in a hole or near mountains or hills?

Asking for myself as I am fairly close to you!

thomas 123

Star link Arrived today - not bad considering I only ordered on the 24th!

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120657018#Comment_120657018

cool let us know how you get on - are you going to wall mount it? just remember the cable at the dish end has a straight connector and easy to remove versus the one at the router end.. ive seen some people on youtube drilling an inch hole to get the wider connector through the wall..