Starlink or not-to Starlink

[Mr_Tomahawk]

Please keep this out of DC....

Looking into possibly making the leap into Starlink.

The reason; we have our primary residence....in addition we have a little shack at the lake that we spend the weekends at during the summer.

Our internet options at the lake [Pomme De Terre] are shit. And we previously paying for two separate Internet service, but obviously the weekend place we used sporadically.

I would LOVE to have something that I can just move between the two houses...

The Starlink Mini, I think, would work at the lake...but I am not sure if it is robust enough to handle our daily internet needs (two teenage boys, wife and I work from home, etc.).

And the "standard" Starlink setup does not appear it can moved as easily as the mini....so I come to CP asking for ideas so I am not paying for two services.

And have we signed this piece of shit yet?

[TripleThreat]

Might make more sense to look into what your phone company can offer you. I use my Hot Spot when I take long car rides roughly 6-7 hours to see family since I too work from home and have never had an issue bill wise... Not sure if it uses your DATA when utilizing the hot spot but if you're only going to the cabin during summers and only on weekends, seems very minimal...

TLDR: Use a hotspot off your phone when at the cabin, keep your regular internet at home.

[Zebedee DuBois]

Is the question at home about square foot coverage or data load coverage?

If it's about sq.ft. then some extender router like eero or similar might help.

But keep in mind, I have no idea what I'm talking about.

[Mr_Tomahawk]

As a T-Mobile customer….would a hotspot like this work at the cabin?


https://www.t-mobile.com/hotspot-iot...mobile-hotspot

I’d use standard Starlink at home since it would be permanent, and not need to move.

[threebag]

WWTBD???

[Mr_Tomahawk]

<3

[Mephistopheles Janx]

I have starlink on the farm.

It is fantastic for my purposes. I game on it and watch 4k tv/movies on it. A bit pricey per month for the speeds you get but when my only other viable option is 20mbps for $80 a month... I'll take it.

If you aren't daily driving the Starlink internet, and you have good reception on the T-Mobile network at your intended location, I would probably go with the mobile hotspot route from T-Mobile before sinking the money into the unit then the monthly fee on Starlink.

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by Mr_Tomahawk

You’re referring to the mini with the roam unlimited, right?

I think that will work for the lake…but I’m worried it won’t be enough to support my primary residence. I’m internet dumb, so maybe it will be more than enough.

Itll be plenty for primary use. You'll get between 30-100 MBPS. Here at my house we get 40 with Bright Speed and have multiple devices constantly going. TVs, computers, phones, laptops, etc. You'll probably get the higher end and Starlink is so much better than regular satellite internet.

[Bearcat]

I've never heard a bad thing about Starlink... I don't have it, but have used it a few times and never had issues with video chats, streaming, etc. I know several people who use it as their primary internet for work, whether it's from home or BFE in an RV and they love it.

[siberian khatru]

If it’s any help I just watched a Starlink launch from my back yard

[Dunerdr]

I wondered the same. We take the camper to the lake but wasn’t sure if the starlink would support the wife and son gaming every night.

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

I wondered the same. We take the camper to the lake but wasn’t sure if the starlink would support the wife and son gaming every night.

It would easily be enough. 50-100 Mbps is going to get you all you need.

https://nordvpn.com/blog/internet-speed-for-gaming/

What is a good internet speed for gaming?
Internet speed of 10-25 Mbps download and 5-10 Mbps upload suits most online gaming needs. The recommended internet speed for gaming depends on several factors, including the type of game, the platform, and the number of players involved.

However, if you’re a serious gamer or streamer, you may want to invest in higher speeds to ensure the best possible gaming experience. Remember — these figures apply to the gaming community.

The minimum internet connection speed for gaming:

Download speed — 3 Mbps
Upload speed — 0.5-1 Mbps
Ping rate — Less than 150 ms
The recommended internet connection speed for gaming:

Download speed — 15-25 Mbps
Upload speed — 5 Mbps
Ping rate — Less than 50 ms
If you're unclear about the status right now, you can test your internet speed and get more data.

Starlink has a map of download speeds, latency, and upload speed.

Missouri is at

95-241 Mbps download speed
13 - 25 Mbps upload speed
26-37 ms latency

Those numbers are supposedly from the 20th to 80th percentile of real user data.

Those numbers should also continue to get better and better. Hell look around reddit and you can find people posting there speeds from all over.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by TripleThreat

Might make more sense to look into what your phone company can offer you. I use my Hot Spot when I take long car rides roughly 6-7 hours to see family since I too work from home and have never had an issue bill wise... Not sure if it uses your DATA when utilizing the hot spot but if you're only going to the cabin during summers and only on weekends, seems very minimal...

TLDR: Use a hotspot off your phone when at the cabin, keep your regular internet at home.

Unfortunately, this really isn't viable. Hotspot data doesn't use your data plan. It's extra. Most of the big providers supply hotspot data as a discreet bucket - you pay for "unlimited data" and get 5/10/15GB of hotspot data on top of that. A couple days of Netflix will exhaust your hotspot data in a couple of days, if that.

The best option, assuming there's coverage, is a fixed wireless "home internet". Those usage plans are actually designed for home internet. Hotspots are for checking emails and stuff like that, not streaming.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Mr_Tomahawk

As a T-Mobile customer….would a hotspot like this work at the cabin?


https://www.t-mobile.com/hotspot-iot...mobile-hotspot

I’d use standard Starlink at home since it would be permanent, and not need to move.

That device will work but as I explained, it's all going to depend on the data plan.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

It would easily be enough. 50-100 Mbps is going to get you all you need.

https://nordvpn.com/blog/internet-speed-for-gaming/

What is a good internet speed for gaming?
Internet speed of 10-25 Mbps download and 5-10 Mbps upload suits most online gaming needs. The recommended internet speed for gaming depends on several factors, including the type of game, the platform, and the number of players involved.

However, if you’re a serious gamer or streamer, you may want to invest in higher speeds to ensure the best possible gaming experience. Remember — these figures apply to the gaming community.

The minimum internet connection speed for gaming:

Download speed — 3 Mbps
Upload speed — 0.5-1 Mbps
Ping rate — Less than 150 ms
The recommended internet connection speed for gaming:

Download speed — 15-25 Mbps
Upload speed — 5 Mbps
Ping rate — Less than 50 ms
If you're unclear about the status right now, you can test your internet speed and get more data.

Starlink has a map of download speeds, latency, and upload speed.

Missouri is at

95-241 Mbps download speed
13 - 25 Mbps upload speed
26-37 ms latency

Those numbers are supposedly from the 20th to 80th percentile of real user data.

Those numbers should also continue to get better and better. Hell look around reddit and you can find people posting there speeds from all over.

Sorry but "speed" doesn't have much to do with it. Speed is a misnomer anyway because it's just as much about capacity (bandwidth) as it is about speed and the primary culprit for online gaming issues is latency, not speed.

Satellite generally isn't great for real-time communication or interactive stuff because it suffers from the laws of physics. The network ingress is much further away from you than any terrestrial connection. Starlink is different (and better) because LEO satellites are closer to the earth, reducing that latency.

[BigRichard]

Originally Posted by Mr_Tomahawk

You’re referring to the mini with the roam unlimited, right?

I think that will work for the lake…but I’m worried it won’t be enough to support my primary residence. I’m internet dumb, so maybe it will be more than enough.

I have a starlink mini... it kinda depends. We are using it for when we use the RV. I am just getting the 50GB plan for $50. It works greats for what we need but I hear in our local area that at certain times the bandwidth is just shit. That is because my area is flooded with Starlinks after hurricane Helene.

Keep in mind, the Starlink mini is great for an RV because it is all encapsulated in that one small package but the wifi transmitter is very dumbed down. It doesn't cover a lot of area like the full size one does. If I was using it for my house I would probably have to use it as basically your "modem" and use some other equipment as your router/wifi.

Edit:
I tried playing some games that require low latency and it worked like shit. I was playing bf2042 and man... that was ****ing horrible. So if your kids play games that require low latency ehhh... I have not had good results but I am planning on trying it in other locations to see how it does. I heard you are supposed to be able to.