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SpaceX Internet Satellite Network: Starlink

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100 Gbps laser optical links are very very impressive. It helps a ton that they are in a vacuum, but still, each satellite is moving at 25,000 km/hr or so. I do wonder if their intra satellite links are just from one satellite to the next one in the same plane (in which case, the satellites should be more or less stationary relative to each other), or whether that picture above is at all accurate and they can communicate with satellites that are moving relative to each other.

And is 8,000 the current number of active lasers, or the number they'll have at some build out point?

So many questions...
 
100 Gbps laser optical links are very very impressive. It helps a ton that they are in a vacuum, but still, each satellite is moving at 25,000 km/hr or so. I do wonder if their intra satellite links are just from one satellite to the next one in the same plane (in which case, the satellites should be more or less stationary relative to each other), or whether that picture above is at all accurate and they can communicate with satellites that are moving relative to each other.

And is 8,000 the current number of active lasers, or the number they'll have at some build out point?

So many questions...
Between planes also otherwise planes must always be over a ground station.
Multiple links per sat (around 5k sats)
High density would be 4 links per sat for adjacent in-plane and adjacent plane links. Likely ways to optimize beyond that though.
 
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I do not understand the “pew pew!” reference in the Starlink tweet. Is that supposed to be the written equivalent of a sound effect?

And why did Elon put the word “lasers” in quotes? I thought they were actual lasers.
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I do not understand the “pew pew!” reference in the Starlink tweet. Is that supposed to be the written equivalent of a sound effect?

And why did Elon put the word “lasers” in quotes? I thought they were actual lasers.
He's just being silly. Yes, pew, pew is the sound effect that some sci fi shows use for laser beams. And the quotes are making fun that while these are indeed lasers, they aren't military grade weapons.
 
And the quotes are making fun that while these are indeed lasers, they aren't military grade weapons.
As @Buckminster pointed out, the quotes were a reference to Doctor Evil from the Austin Powers movies. Here's the video of the bit. Notice that the meme uses a frame where Doctor Evil air quotes "ozone layer", not "laser". The phrase "frickin laser beams" comes from yet another scene. So the meme is a real mishmash.

 
It's why I've typically disabled the AP on vendor premise equipment like cable-modems, FIOS gateways, etc... when I'm using my own

What about disabling the star link AP and then not being able to connect directly to the starlink?. I use my own router switch and APs and disabled the starlink AP and router function so as to avoid problems from competing routers and APs, but now the app won't connect directly to the starlink the way it would through its own WiFi AP.
 
What about disabling the star link AP and then not being able to connect directly to the starlink?. I use my own router switch and APs and disabled the starlink AP and router function so as to avoid problems from competing routers and APs, but now the app won't connect directly to the starlink the way it would through its own WiFi AP.
Strange... App shows offline?
I'm not in bridge, but can connect via 3rd party access point. Network tab is router, obstructions abd stuff should be served by Dishy.
 
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Trying to understand.... I don't have Starlink, so going off my professional network experience, and that of home stuff I've dealt with:

What about disabling the star link AP and then not being able to connect directly to the starlink?.

What does "connect to the starlink" mean? Starlink can refer to the company, the service, or the antenna (also called "Dishy"). The item providing connectivity to your devices is the Starlink Router. Do you mean unable to connect to/manage the Starlink router/AP? Connection to the Starlink service to get to the internet?


I use my own router switch and APs and disabled the starlink AP and router function so as to avoid problems from competing routers and APs,

Disabled what portion of the Starlink router? As it needs to talk to the Sats, this portion of the Starlink device must be enabled (I assume it's referred to as a "router", although not necessarily accurate).. Or did you just disable the WiFi routing function?


but now the app won't connect directly to the starlink the way it would through its own WiFi AP.

Again I don't know what "connect directly to the starlink" means. See questions above.
 
Trying to understand.... I don't have Starlink, so going off my professional network experience, and that of home stuff I've dealt with:



What does "connect to the starlink" mean? Starlink can refer to the company, the service, or the antenna (also called "Dishy"). The item providing connectivity to your devices is the Starlink Router. Do you mean unable to connect to/manage the Starlink router/AP? Connection to the Starlink service to get to the internet?




Disabled what portion of the Starlink router? As it needs to talk to the Sats, this portion of the Starlink device must be enabled (I assume it's referred to as a "router", although not necessarily accurate).. Or did you just disable the WiFi routing function?




Again I don't know what "connect directly to the starlink" means. See questions above.
It's like setting a cable modem/ AP to bridge where the modem itself still has settings.

There's Dishy and there is the router which is also the power injector for Dishy.
You can set the router to bridge/ pass-through mode with wifi access point off so it is ownly power to Dishy and no other active network functions (3rd party router connects via wired adapter).
Normally, this should result in the App still having control over Dishy stow, melt, obstruction info, and such.

Oh, @bhzmark, is the Dishy IP/port blocked on your Access Point since it's on the wan side? (realizing it must be there as gateway)...
You should be able to access Dishy via browser at 192.168.100.1 (default), may need (direct?) wired connection.
 
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It's like setting a cable modem/ AP to bridge where the modem itself still has settings.

There's Dishy and there is the router which is also the power injector for Dishy.
You can set the router to bridge/ pass-through mode with wifi access point off so it is ownly power to Dishy and no other active network functions (3rd party router connects via wired adapter).
Normally, this should result in the App still having control over Dishy stow, melt, obstruction info, and such.

Oh, @bhzmark, is the Dishy IP/port blocked on your Access Point since it's on the wan side? (realizing it must be there as gateway)...
You should be able to access Dishy via browser at 192.168.100.1 (default), may need (direct?) wired connection.
OK, so you can put it in bridge mode cool. So the unit should still maintain an IP address on it's internal ethernet interface in order to connect to and manage it.

Is that what you mean @bhzmark by not being able to connect to "the starlink"? You can't get at the modem management interface?

If so, and you CAN still access the internet, then @mongo 's question/suggestion is likely...

A traceroute to 192.168.100.1 might help determine the issue.
 
OK, so you can put it in bridge mode cool. So the unit should still maintain an IP address on it's internal ethernet interface in order to connect to and manage it.

Is that what you mean @bhzmark by not being able to connect to "the starlink"? You can't get at the modem management interface?

If so, and you CAN still access the internet, then @mongo 's question/suggestion is likely...

A traceroute to 192.168.100.1 might help determine the issue.
Dishy is the modem
Router is power injecting Access Point
System can run without Router if you put DC power on the right pairs.
The app pulls data from both Dishy and Router, it's not served by the router itself (as far as I can tell).
100.1 Web interface gives only Dishy stuff (no networking options)
 
Dishy is the modem
Router is power injecting Access Point
System can run without Router if you put DC power on the right pairs.
The app pulls data from both Dishy and Router, it's not served by the router itself (as far as I can tell).
100.1 Web interface gives only Dishy stuff (no networking options)
Ah, no local administrative web portal. That's different.

So what does "not being able to connect to the starlink" mean @bhzmark ?
 
Oh, @bhzmark, is the Dishy IP/port blocked on your Access Point since it's on the wan side? (realizing it must be there as gateway)...
You should be able to access Dishy via browser at 192.168.100.1 (default), may need (direct?) wired connection.

So what does "not being able to connect to the starlink" mean @bhzmark ?

When I first setup Starlink I left the Starlink router and AP on, but didn't use either and fed the WAN port on my Ubiquiti DM-Pro and onward from there to many APs etc. I had my Ubiquiti SSID broadcasting, as well as the Starlink SSID. It all worked fine, although theoretically there was a potential problem with running an additional router (Starlink) upstream of the main one. With the Starlink app I could connect to the Starlink SSID and have full functionality of the Starlink App to run direct Starlink speed tests and some other things I'm forgetting.

When I upgraded to the Business dish with a new Starlink router/AP box, I disabled the router/AP part because of the theoretical problem of having two routers. I used to do this with other ISPs: disable the router part of the cable/fiber modem because I used my own router. I could still 192.168.what.ever into the modem.

Starlink now serves the WAN port on my Ubiquiti DM-Pro just fine, but now the Starlink app on my phone can't connect "direct" to the Dishy and Starlink Router box -- it has to go through my local network. So it won't give me the Starlink Speed test It says "Connect directly to your Starlink network to run a Starlink speed test." But since I disconnected the STarlink router, that also turns off the STarlink SSID so there is no way to connect "directly" to the Starlink router. It still gives Statistics and Obstructions map, but the "network."

And the 192.168.100.1 is a good idea but it doesn't work -- just dead no response and doesn't get me into the Starlink Modem/dormant router.

By the way, I recommend Ubiquiti stuff as it gives you good cool info like below, as well as the main thing: feeding a bunch of coordinated APs over a large house, and now load balancing if you have an additional ISP.

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