Posted on 03/24/2021 6:04:14 AM PDT by srmanuel
You are now hooked up via Star Link.
They're Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, so they circle the Earth, not parked over one spot on Earth like geosynchronous satellites.
And at the very low orbital altitude they're in, they take one hour and thirty-nine minutes to make one orbit of the Earth.
Since they're orbiting the Earth every hour-and-a-half, may as well put them to work everywhere there's demand for internet and a place to put a ground station.
Australia and New Zealand are well within the field of view of the StarLink satellites. What was missing is the ground infrastructure needed to support the network. Sounds like they have something in place now.
I received an email that our area is now eligible for SL. Currently on Rise Broadband 50/5 Mbps terrestrial wireless, which we moved to last year and off of the ridiculous 10/1 DSL we had previously. Rise has provided good stable service even during bad weather, so I’m hesitant to move to SL’s beta. Maybe next year.
Tech Ping
The potential market for Starlink in the United States is not very big compared to the fiber connections. BUT, the satellites servicing the USA can be used on the rest of the planet too! The Starlink market in the world is about proportional to the land area. Multiply the money earned in the USA by about 30, to get an idea of the world wide market size for the basic Starlink service. Astounding! That is going to be some IPO! And it is going to happen soon!
Where, in TX, are you...if you don’t mind saying.
Who did you receive the notification email from? Your current provider?
TIA.
Skeptical. This is what they said about Globalstar in the late 90’s. Terrestrial infrastructure claimed 90+% of that market and destroyed the Globalstar business model.
“Skeptical.”
Then don’t buy in to the IPO. You can watch from the sidelines.
I will. I am set for my retirement. Dont need to take those kinds of risks.
Skynet becomes aware.......
It’s the machines Sarah. They feel no pain. No remorse. They will never stop until you are dead...
Ha!
Star Link will 5 G your day.
No need to worry until they start selling wet interfaces for your cell phone.
The big difference is the microsats that make up Starlink are small and cheap enough that you can launch dozens of them on a regular Falcon. GlobalStar didn’t have that - they were using standard sized satellites. Iridium under Motorola used smaller satellites (and the successor company uses even smaller ones) but they can only throw ten of them up at a time on a Falcon 9. A Falcon 9 routinely carries *sixty* Starlink satellites to orbit. Iridium has 66 satellites in their constellation - Starlink has over 1000 in orbit right now. Unlike everyone else’s satellites, Starlinks are mass produced, bringing the cost way down. They’re also only about 500lbs and the size of a living room table.
1. Go to www.starlink.com
2. Enter your address. You'll see an entry box for this on the home page above.
3. A new page opens. For me at my location in GA, it said availability in mid to late 2021. I don't know if this is a typo and meaning 2022 or if it's available now.
4. Costs.
Hardware $499
Startup Fee. $50
Monthly. $99
Joking aside, Starlink isn’t using 5G connectivity. They’re not even vaguely the same frequencies.
This is early 2021, not mid or late 2021. Getting a bit ahead of yourself there? :P
It will take a few years to know. Its about the business model more than the tech. What assumption of the market share has the business model been built upon, and is that realistic? Will other land providers be able to deliver same or better service at less cost? Historically, the answer has been yes, except in remote regions. Problem is the majority of viable customers are not in remote regions. But I will watch with interest.
And these costs are supposed to get the internet to the poor?
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