Starlink UK

[Sparkeur]

Normally anything satellite based has fairly high latency, anyone know what the ping might be like?

You're right - that's because those satellites are about 30,000km away - so around 500ms is normal. The Starlink satellites are only 1000km. Users in the USA are reporting a latency of around 29-41ms. Starlink suggest that as more ground stations are opened and satellites launched, this could (remember FSD!) come down to 19ms and better.

 

[Adopado]

I'm really interested in this, live out in the sticks can just occasionally get 3G on a good day with the wind behind it, broadband can do 10mb if I'm lucky etc etc.
But I would want fixed IP (preferably v4, but could change over with quite a bit of work) and low latency (ping)
Normally anything satellite based has fairly high latency, anyone know what the ping might be like?

Low latency would be crucial. We gave up on our Tooway system for that reason. Ours was not measured in milliseconds.... a sand filled hour glass would have been sufficient!

 

[GRiLLA]

I'm really interested in this, live out in the sticks can just occasionally get 3G on a good day with the wind behind it, broadband can do 10mb if I'm lucky etc etc.
But I would want fixed IP (preferably v4, but could change over with quite a bit of work) and low latency (ping)
Normally anything satellite based has fairly high latency, anyone know what the ping might be like?

Starlink's ping is currently variable based on the number of satellites above you, but it will keep getting better as more rockets take more satellites. The best seen so far has been 20ms which is frankly incredible, but at other times it seems to be 30-40ms.

It's entirely unlike previous satellite broadband because it's so low. A previous geostationary satellite is 35000km up, Starlink is currently about 540-570 km up. That's a lot nearer at the speed of radio waves, combine that with modern protocols and downlinks and it's just going to be fast

 

[pgkevet]

I'm really interested in this, live out in the sticks can just occasionally get 3G on a good day with the wind behind it, broadband can do 10mb if I'm lucky etc etc.
But I would want fixed IP (preferably v4, but could change over with quite a bit of work) and low latency (ping)
Normally anything satellite based has fairly high latency, anyone know what the ping might be like?

I'm in the sticks too...but surrounded by trees on 3 sides and a ridge to the north right behind the house. Unless the satellites are going to pass directly overhead then no chance. Broadband here is 5-6mb/s. fortunatly I'm retired so no working from home cos uploads are a joke.

 

[KennethS]

I just wanted to reply to my own post with this;

View attachment 638126

Congratulations! Keep us posted when it ships. I have placed a reservation order so the waiting has begun and I'm hoping to see others getting delivery as the beta rollout progresses.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I'm in the sticks too...but surrounded by trees on 3 sides and a ridge to the north right behind the house. Unless the satellites are going to pass directly overhead then no chance. Broadband here is 5-6mb/s. fortunatly I'm retired so no working from home cos uploads are a joke.

Have you checked the app?

Ultimately satellites will be relatively overhead. The reason Starlink says "Northern sky" now was because of the initial target latitudes of its launches, and because it's not equatorial.

 

[Zakalwe]

Musk has made it clear in interviews (see below) about 5G and internet that Starlink is not primarily for 'city or suburb dwellers' as they tend to have good internet links and would anyway have difficulty with obstructions. It is aimed at users, who live in the countryside, desert, Amazon rain forest, Taiga, Tundra or any of the other millions of sq miles on Earth that are a headache for traditional internet suppliers to provide service. I live in the countryside and have no problem getting a clear field of view to the sky. I've ordered my kit and look forward to going from .5mbps to upwards of 100mbps.

<tinfoil hat time>
He doesn't want to spook the incumbent telcos too early. It's telling that SpaceX have applied for licences to carry voice traffic and to provide VoIP over the service.
<tinfoil hat time>

The Starlink sats themselves are also packing a lot of computing power.Each launch puts another 4,000 Linux nodes in orbit. SpaceX is now the world's largest satellite operator....will they also become the first cloud computing platform in orbit? I'd wager that there's a lot of High Frequency Traders very keen to get their software platforms hosted up there......they'd make a killing by shaving milliseconds of transaction times. Can you imagine the killer competitive edge they'd have by running their algorithms in orbit and beaming the trades when they are directly over the main stock exchanges?

 

[pgkevet]

Have you checked the app?

Ultimately satellites will be relatively overhead. The reason Starlink says "Northern sky" now was because of the initial target latitudes of its launches, and because it's not equatorial.

I've looked at maps of satellite trajectory realtime. At present they are almost overhead but west-east track spacing would be an issue with trees etc. Perhaps if they add to the numbers it may become possible.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

For those that have put down the £89, did you get an email afterwards? Or setup an account username/password?

 

[Silicon Desert]

It's an interesting thread to watch. Wife says I am the ultimate early adopter, but in this case I won't be signing up for a long time due to cost. I'm not the target audience anyway, at least not right now. I love to see technology advance, but one of my friends is upset about this stuff (astronomer). It will be fun to see how this all turns out.
Did I miss something in this thread? I don't see comments about customer service. Heaven forbid if it will be like getting someone from Tesla on the phone

 

[ACarneiro]

I’d like to believe the Tesla Customer (lack of) Service ethos isn’t a feature of ALL of Elon’s projects

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Watching this with interest now, as I'd guess we're pretty much the initial target market, out in the sticks with pretty awful broadband, because of the length of copper line. The much lower latency would seem to make this a far better option that existing satellite broadband. The price isn't bad either, if the performance is as good as claimed. Be really interesting to see how early adopters get on.

 

[KennethS]

For those that have put down the £89, did you get an email afterwards? Or setup an account username/password?

Yes, email confirmation came soon after making the £89 reservation payment. I then was able to setup a password for my user account — not that it is much use until the equipment is shipped to me.

 

[pgkevet]

I’d like to believe the Tesla Customer (lack of) Service ethos isn’t a feature of ALL of Elon’s projects

I'd be more impressed if Starlink managed to recognise my address or Plus code...

 

[ACarneiro]

Watching this with interest now, as I'd guess we're pretty much the initial target market, out in the sticks with pretty awful broadband, because of the length of copper line. The much lower latency would seem to make this a far better option that existing satellite broadband. The price isn't bad either, if the performance is as good as claimed. Be really interesting to see how early adopters get on.

Why not give it a go?

 

[Sparkeur]

For those that have put down the £89, did you get an email afterwards? Or setup an account username/password?

Yes, two emails. One to acknowledge payment and the second to set up my account with username and password. My account shows my deposit and has allowed me to download the app to my phone. However, the app is not functioning yet. Much like with my M3, I guess it will start working when the order is confirmed.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Why not give it a go?

As far as Tesla developments are concerned, I now view them with an abundance of caution, more so given their apparent inability to test software properly. I'll wait for the reviews from those braver souls than I that are prepared to be beta testers!

 

[phil4]

Watched an interesting vid on it last night, the summary was that you could easily plumb it into your existing network/wifi as a WAN source (you ditch the starlink router, and plug straight into the power brick).

The only downside was at present they use CG NAT, so you'll not be able to get a static IP (If you don't know what one is, you probably won't need it). Unfortunately that rules it out for me at the moment.

 

[ACarneiro]

As far as Tesla developments are concerned, I now view them with an abundance of caution, more so given their apparent inability to test software properly. I'll wait for the reviews from those braver souls than I that are prepared to be beta testers!

The obvious reply is that Starlink is not Tesla. Other than sharing the same CEO, my understating is that they’re as much related as Tesla and Airbus.

 

[ACarneiro]

Watched an interesting vid on it last night, the summary was that you could easily plumb it into your existing network/wifi as a WAN source (you ditch the starlink router, and plug straight into the power brick).

The only downside was at present they use CG NAT, so you'll not be able to get a static IP (If you don't know what one is, you probably won't need it). Unfortunately that rules it out for me at the moment.

Didn’t realise that.
Yes, CG-NAT would be an instant disqualifier for me as well (fortunately I am well served for connectivity where I live so it matters not to me anyway)