Starlink

[Formatted]

Saw a video on installation and the recommendation was to leave the heater Off, as although it is only comes on when needed, the option used juice on standby.

I set a calendar reminder to turn it off 1st of April and turn it on 1st of November - the heating does help in heavy rain as well.

Starlink is running a program at the moment of £79 per month and £0 hardware fee, its their 'UK Rural Pricing' offer.

 

[chickens and wheat]

From my experience, that may be optimistic. Hold on to the Starlink until it’s actually up and working.

Agree I've had various people claiming to be connecting me to fibre or the last few years,
This new lot are the first to actually do a site survey, they are working locally a lot right now. A few neighbours have had ductings atleast installed , the other day they were busy in the village connecting fibre to houses.

But as said I won't be disconnecting skylink untill it's all up and running .

I'd be a lot more impatient about it if I was still struggling with the old terrible copper line internet

 

[LukeMcCullagh]

Been waiting for FTTP, so didn't renew BT contract so we would be free to switch providers.
Now the BT 'out of contract' rate is £70/month for sketchy max 20mbps FTTC.
Openreach dug in the conduit for Ultrafast FTTP in September, 40 metres from the house - "It should be available either last quarter '23 or first quarter '24".
Openreach now saying "no current plans for your area, but should be available before end December 2026", but we can do you 150mbps when it's connected for £37.95, and carry on paying £70 until then for max 20 meg
f**k that! Sacked them off today, got 30 days to install Starlink and upgrade the wifi network. The £18 BT disconnection fee sounds like a bargain.

Only problem now is finding a suitable location for the dish away from trees, that doesn't involve a 35' ladder.
Oh, and Starlink are offering new kit at £449, or refurbished hardware on their website for £199

They have it on offer at the moment so the new kit is 50% off.

 

[Hilly]

Our landline is terrible has been for decades picks up the electric fence no one knows why or who s it is even , lot of thr blame is shooting crows of the line apparently the line is full of shot not me ….. i wonder what issues fibre will encounter underground …..

 

[PSQ]

They have it on offer at the moment so the new kit is 50% off.

So it is, thats a recent change.
It turns out that Starlink is transitioning from supplying version 2 kits to version 3, hence why they're offloading the V2.
Version 2 has a self aligning dish, which is nice, but the router doesn't have an ethernet port (extra £30 something for an add on port).
V3 doesn't self align, but does come with a router with an ethernet port, and it isn't available in the UK yet (it is in the US).
V2 also only comes with a 50ft antenna cable, so for longer runs (like mine) you'll have to splash out on a 75' or 150' cable (£108 inc VAT), and you'll probably need a different dish mount. I went for the angled roof mount at £57.
Also worth noting, is that a lot of Ebay / online vendors are still listing V2 kits and accessories at full retail or well above, so compare prices on the Starlink online shop before you buy.

 

[steveR]

So it is, thats a recent change.
It turns out that Starlink is transitioning from supplying version 2 kits to version 3, hence why they're offloading the V2.
Version 2 has a self aligning dish, which is nice, but the router doesn't have an ethernet port (extra £30 something for an add on port).
V3 doesn't self align, but does come with a router with an ethernet port, and it isn't available in the UK yet (it is in the US).
V2 also only comes with a 50ft antenna cable, so for longer runs (like mine) you'll have to splash out on a 75' or 150' cable (£108 inc VAT), and you'll probably need a different dish mount. I went for the angled roof mount at £57.
Also worth noting, is that a lot of Ebay / online vendors are still listing V2 kits and accessories at full retail or well above, so compare prices on the Starlink online shop before you buy.

Yes, the short cable came as a shock to me. I ended up with the Router in a less than optimal spot and will have to backfeed from the add-on ethernet port to my LAN hub. I had a few issues with some conflicts if I left the Starlink router AND the original router hub (disconnected from copper) wifi running, so I do need to switch off the Starlink router wifi and try again. but not had the opportunity with 2 daughters WFH last week.

As you say, some STUPID prices being asked on fleabay!

I bought the Starlink pole mount* to go on my 5m steel pole, mounted on the gable end of the house. Zero interference of satellite view. What has surprised me though, is that the dish has settled in a predominantly Westerly facing direction, not North as I expected.

Loving the pirated stream of Rugby in HD with no glitches... almost worth the cost alone



* I tried a printed plastic unit off ebay which would not lock onto the pole on the dish! Free to a good home.... In theory, it should fit, but I was not willing to mess with files etc.

 

[PSQ]

Yes, the short cable came as a shock to me. I ended up with the Router in a less than optimal spot and will have to backfeed from the add-on ethernet port to my LAN hub. I had a few issues with some conflicts if I left the Starlink router AND the original router hub (disconnected from copper) wifi running, so I do need to switch off the Starlink router wifi and try again. but not had the opportunity with 2 daughters WFH last week.

As you say, some STUPID prices being asked on fleabay!

I bought the Starlink pole mount to go on my 5m steel pole, mounted on the gable end of the house. Zero interference of satellite view. What has surprised me though, is that the dish has settled in a predominantly Westerly facing direction, not North as I expected.

I was very worried about obstructions as the house is bordered by big trees and sheds, but when sitting 20 foot up on the apex of the the old 'chicken shed' the app showed 0% obstruction, and that the dish would point almost due south.

Next job is to go to the 'big' Currys in the nearest city and pray that the 'tech' / sales person knows enough about 'mesh networks' to point me in the right direction.
From what I gather from 'tinternet, the stock Starlink router is quite poor, so many people choose to go into settings and set it to 'pass through' status, and use a different router altogether.
Then theres the question of whether you need a router with a mesh network, or if you just plug in the first node, and daisy chain them off from there?

The router is in the office in an extension at one end of the house, but the signal needs to go through a 3' sandstone wall to the body of the house, then through another 3' wall to the Victorian extension.
Obviously the best thing would be hardwired ethernet cable through the house, but I'm not in the mood for DIWhy and ripping up carpets.

And if anyone can advise on wirelessly extending wifi from the house to (I'm guessing) a wireless access point in the farmyard I'm all ears.

 

[Kidds]

My Starlink router is in the attic and deco mesh sends it around the house. I have two nodes(?) and one of those is in the attic too.
Works well.

 

[LukeMcCullagh]

I was very worried about obstructions as the house is bordered by big trees and sheds, but when sitting 20 foot up on the apex of the the old 'chicken shed' the app showed 0% obstruction, and that the dish would point almost due south.

Next job is to go to the 'big' Currys in the nearest city and pray that the 'tech' / sales person knows enough about 'mesh networks' to point me in the right direction.
From what I gather from 'tinternet, the stock Starlink router is quite poor, so many people choose to go into settings and set it to 'pass through' status, and use a different router altogether.
Then theres the question of whether you need a router with a mesh network, or if you just plug in the first node, and daisy chain them off from there?

The router is in the office in an extension at one end of the house, but the signal needs to go through a 3' sandstone wall to the body of the house, then through another 3' wall to the Victorian extension.
Obviously the best thing would be hardwired ethernet cable through the house, but I'm not in the mood for DIWhy and ripping up carpets.

And if anyone can advise on wirelessly extending wifi from the house to (I'm guessing) a wireless access point in the farmyard I'm all ears.

View attachment 1167954View attachment 1167956

For a Mesh network the Ubiquiti stuff is really good and if you get the U6+ they are really reasonably priced. They will come with PoE injectors that allow you to plug them into a socket and connect without issue. We install them at work and the coverage is amazing much better than the wall socket ones.

With that you will be able to set one close the the starlink router and then the Unifi system does the rest of the work you can set them all up on the phone app in less than 10 mins.

 

[LukeMcCullagh]

The other advantage of using ubiquiti is if you then want to expand it or beam it to other buildings they have bridging kits you can just install and beam it out and all controlled under the same app.

This guy does a video series on it.

 

[steveR]

I was very worried about obstructions as the house is bordered by big trees and sheds, but when sitting 20 foot up on the apex of the the old 'chicken shed' the app showed 0% obstruction, and that the dish would point almost due south.

Next job is to go to the 'big' Currys in the nearest city and pray that the 'tech' / sales person knows enough about 'mesh networks' to point me in the right direction.
From what I gather from 'tinternet, the stock Starlink router is quite poor, so many people choose to go into settings and set it to 'pass through' status, and use a different router altogether.
Then theres the question of whether you need a router with a mesh network, or if you just plug in the first node, and daisy chain them off from there?

The router is in the office in an extension at one end of the house, but the signal needs to go through a 3' sandstone wall to the body of the house, then through another 3' wall to the Victorian extension.
Obviously the best thing would be hardwired ethernet cable through the house, but I'm not in the mood for DIWhy and ripping up carpets.

And if anyone can advise on wirelessly extending wifi from the house to (I'm guessing) a wireless access point in the farmyard I'm all earsView attachment 1167956

My setup back of the House.

Starlink and the the powered (PoE) WAP. Brilliant bit of kit and on line of site, has nearly 400m range, but put up for yard and garden coverage, mainly for the cameras, although nice to have good wifi in the garden to watch Rugby