SpaceX Internet Satellite Network: Starlink

[jboy210]

I don't think the asymmetry is due to the cable. It could be better but most people don't need or want higher upload speeds so they configure it with lower upload speeds and higher download speeds. Higher upload speeds are tailored for commercial customers (at a price).

Could be. But family members on fiber nearby see symmetrical up/down speeds, for less money. I was thinking, but don't know, that it was a cable plant issue since this cable infrastructure is old, circa 1970/80s. It was state of the art back then, but a lot has changed since then.

I stop and ask the cable guy about fiber or at least symmetrical speeds every time I see them repairing someone's cable TV. They keep saying fiber is coming but they have no timelines.

 

[jerry33]

Could be. But family members on fiber nearby see symmetrical up/down speeds, for less money. I was thinking, but don't know, that it was a cable plant issue since this cable infrastructure is old, circa 1970/80s. It was state of the art back then, but a lot has changed since then.

I stop and ask the cable guy about fiber or at least symmetrical speeds every time I see them repairing someone's cable TV. They keep saying fiber is coming but they have no timelines.

Up and down appear similar. Not saying it's the same for everyone.

 

[hmcgregoraz]

Up and down appear similar. Not saying it's the same for everyone.
View attachment 1057338

Cable internet, ie DOCSIS, tends to be provisioned Async to better meet consumer demands. Cable internet tends to be oversubscribed like most consumer internet technologies.

DOCSIS 3.1 supports speeds up to 10Gbit down and 1-2Gbit up, and DOCSIS 4.0 supports speeds up to 10Gbit down and 6Gbit up. Many DOCSIS 3.1 and 4.0 cable modems have Ethernet port speeds of 2.5Gbit or 5Gbit, some as high as 10Gbit.

Fiber residential internet tends to use PON or passive optical networking.

GPON is normally 2.5Gbit down and 1.25Gbit up, and there can be anywhere from 1-128 customers on a port, sharing that bandwidth. The customer premises equipment, aka ONT for GPON tend to be provisioned with 1Gig up and down, or less, most GPON ONTs don't have Ethernet side port speeds over 1Gbit.

XGS-PON is normally 10Gbit down and 10Gbit up, and there can be anywhere from 1-128 customers on a port, sharing that bandwidth. The customer premises equipment, aka ONT for XGS-PON tend to be provisioned with up to 5Gig up and down, or less, most XGS-PON ONTs can have 1, 5 or even 10Gig ethernet ports.

Fiber providers tend to try and make them selves look "better" than Cable by offering symmetric speeds. Cable providers could offer it, but it does not take advantage of their available spectrum on the coax for what their customers want, so they market more on download speeds...

That being said, most cable providers offer horrible upload, especially on residential. My small business cable is 100 down, 20 up, and I don't feel like upgrading as to get any increase in up, I need to move all the way to 300 down, 30 up, and that would over double my bill. Personally 20Mbit up is my minimum threshold. 100Mbit down residential service is either 5 or 10Mbit up from Cox.

The bandwidth realities is that the average bandwidth consumption of consumers does not go up much with even a 10x of the download speed, once a decent minimum is hit (like 100Mbit). But many consumers are willing to shell out $ for "faster"

-Harry

 

[jboy210]

Up and down appear similar. Not saying it's the same for everyone.
View attachment 1057338

Yours is great. Here is what I see with top end cable coax

 

[jerry33]

Yours is great. Here is what I see with top end cable coax

View attachment 1057366

I should have said, mine is fibre. Sorry about that.

 

[jboy210]

I should have said, mine is fibre. Sorry about that.

I assumed that, and I am so envious.

 

[scaesare]

Hate to break up the terrestrial cable discussion, but that Starlink Mini offering could be compelling for a number of uses...

I'm moving into a new house currently under construction, and I believe the neighborhood is served by Comcursed Comcast, but it's unclear if/when that will be run to the new construction, as it's a one-off place in an existing heighborhood... so Starlink might be an option...

 

[hmcgregoraz]

I am probably moving to T-Mobile for Business 5G internet in September when my Cox contract runs out, less than half the cost.

That being said, I don't even trust being 100% on Cox, and have a T-Mobile for Business 5G backup internet plan right now ($15/month) that lets me use it up to 7 days/month.

I was considering getting a Cox residential plan as backup to the T-Mobile after September, but if the new mini starlink setup is at all competitive price wise, I would probably go with that for my backup.

-Harry

 

[jboy210]

Hate to break up the terrestrial cable discussion, but that Starlink Mini offering could be compelling for a number of uses...

I'm moving into a new house currently under construction, and I believe the neighborhood is served by Comcursed Comcast, but it's unclear if/when that will be run to the new construction, as it's a one-off place in an existing heighborhood... so Starlink might be an option...

If they have the cable TV Comcast boxes in the area, they can usually trench to your home pretty quickly. They when 1/4 mile for a relative of mine in a day or so. But it would be so much better if they had been putting fiber in the trench instead of coax.

 

[willow_hiller]

Starlink Mini unboxing with some additional specs:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1805356557380542500

 

[dhanson865]

 

[scaesare]

Any idea when this will be generally available? I'm moving in a couple of weeks and Starlink appears to be my best option...

 

[mongo]

Any idea when this will be generally available? I'm moving in a couple of weeks and Starlink appears to be my best option...

It shows as orderable for me (current subscriber). If you want it for residential, standard fixed location is lower cost per month.

 

[scaesare]

It shows as orderable for me (current subscriber). If you want it for residential, standard fixed location is lower cost per month.

Hmmm I don't see it as available for a new sub, however.... is it only supposed to be for a secondary location I wonder? This is all I see:

 

[mongo]

Hmmm I don't see it as available for a new sub, however.... is it only supposed to be for a secondary location I wonder? This is all I see:

View attachment 1059550

It shows for me as an antenna option under roam. Same $150 month but mini dish costs more (no $30/month option shown for my area).

 

[scaesare]

It shows for me as an antenna option under roam. Same $150 month but mini dish costs more (no $30/month option shown for my area).

Huh, interesting...

 

[mongo]

Huh, interesting...

Ok, I just received the email. I would order the mini dish for $599, and my account is flagged to get the $30/month bundled service price with my existing residential. The flagging may also be why I can see the mini at all. The email said to order by July 4th, and that the first 10,000 orders will ship immediately.

 

[scaesare]

Ok, I just received the email. I would order the mini dish for $599, and my account is flagged to get the $30/month bundled service price with my existing residential. The flagging may also be why I can see the mini at all. The email said to order by July 4th, and that the first 10,000 orders will ship immediately.

OK, so it sounds like this is an add-on... at least currently....

Thanks for the follow-up.

 

[mongo]

OK, so it sounds like this is an add-on... at least currently....

Thanks for the follow-up.

It also seems very regional based on existing capacity.

 

[scaesare]

It also seems very regional based on existing capacity.

Interesting you say that as it appears that the largest hole in the US coverage map happens to be very close to my new place ... that hole on the border of WV & VA is probably about 50-60 miles away: