martin collins 1 Posted December 18, 2024 Share Posted December 18, 2024 We are fairly rural where we live and have suffered from poor broadband speeds and connection with BT over the last seven years, they have been called out several times to fix rodent damage to cables in a box outside our property but hanging internet and getting booted off happen on a regular basis. My wife works from home and has several Teams meetings and video calls with customers each day and getting kicked off the internet during these is very frustrating. Our deal with BT has now expired and we are reluctant to enter into another long term contract with the poor internet that we get here. My wife has suggested Starlink as an option as we are unlikely to get fibre cables installed in our area anytime soon, does anyone on the forum use Starlink, if so how have you found it so far? Or can anyone else suggest a useable alternative to solve the poor Broadband in rural areas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 - Moderator Posted December 18, 2024 Share Posted December 18, 2024 Would also be interested, We are in the same boat as you Martin. BT came out point blank when pushed as to when would fiber come our way, it was well sometime perhaps but not soon! We also have been paying for fast broadband [ yea right ha ha] and the price keeps going up even though one is in a contract with them. How is that? Having a Giraffe they are. No mobile signal either. Downside of living at a beautiful spot at the edge of the world. [Wales] 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted December 18, 2024 Share Posted December 18, 2024 The Ukrainians seem to think a lot of it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyinFlynn Posted December 18, 2024 Share Posted December 18, 2024 3 hours ago, Peter Jenkins said: The Ukrainians seem to think a lot of it! Apparently the Ruskies have an answer to starlink now......we will see I suppose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Muir Posted December 18, 2024 Share Posted December 18, 2024 A couple of neighbours have it. They need the net for work and we're rural with no chance of any more than 8mps until 2028 if we're lucky. Works very well apparently. Very fast downloads. Expensive though at over £70 per month and you need a motorised dish to track the satellites so needs careful setting up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin collins 1 Posted December 18, 2024 Author Share Posted December 18, 2024 As our contract with BT is out we are currently paying about that to BT John, ok it includes our land line but the only calls we get on that these days are scam ones, everyone else calls our mobiles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyinFlynn Posted December 19, 2024 Share Posted December 19, 2024 ......so what is with Starlink pricing?..... is there a much higher concentration of LEO satellites over the UK?.... do you get more for your nearly double the cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve too Posted December 19, 2024 Share Posted December 19, 2024 Can you get a decent 3/4G mobile phone connection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Bradly Posted December 19, 2024 Share Posted December 19, 2024 Starlink works very well. Yes is expensive compared to fibre or other fixed connections, but if it is your only option, then it isn't expensive is it? Note the dish is not motorised, and is very simple from the point of the user, they can even be considered portable. (The receiving antennae are steerable, but this is done electronically, not by a motor that you as the end user have to be concerned about) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted December 19, 2024 Share Posted December 19, 2024 1 hour ago, Dale Bradly said: Starlink works very well. Yes is expensive compared to fibre or other fixed connections, but if it is your only option, then it isn't expensive is it? Note the dish is not motorised, and is very simple from the point of the user, they can even be considered portable. (The receiving antennae are steerable, but this is done electronically, not by a motor that you as the end user have to be concerned about) If the antenna (dish?) is steerable automatically then it is motorised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickw Posted December 19, 2024 Share Posted December 19, 2024 56 minutes ago, Geoff S said: If the antenna (dish?) is steerable automatically then it is motorised. Their blurb seems to suggest that the dish is fixed, but the dual antennas are "focused" electronically. Dick "The new Standard dish lacks a built-in pole and motors. Therefore, it needs to be manually adjusted during the initial installation using the Starlink app. After the initial setup, the presence of motors is not an advantage, as both antennas work electronically and do not require constant movement to track satellites." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted December 19, 2024 Share Posted December 19, 2024 Whats the Starlink upload speed like in practise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted December 19, 2024 Share Posted December 19, 2024 I've no experience but I recall that there is a 13 page thread on the (full size) Flyer Magazine forum, albeit a few years old but it may give some useful ideas & opinions. 3 years ago one user quoted: "I have run a couple of quick speed tests and I am getting ~210Mbps down over wi-fi, and ~302Mbps down wired, and ~10-13Mbps up over both. This is with using my Unifi USG, and not the Starlink router. Happy Dayz!" https://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=118143 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted December 19, 2024 Share Posted December 19, 2024 The Flyer thread ends with the problem of cats liking to sit on the warm dish in cold weather! 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyinFlynn Posted December 20, 2024 Share Posted December 20, 2024 18 hours ago, John Lee said: The Flyer thread ends with the problem of cats liking to sit on the warm dish in cold weather! Listening to the catellites? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Walsh Posted December 20, 2024 Share Posted December 20, 2024 4 hours ago, FlyinFlynn said: Listening to the catellites? By my reckoning that's 5 megakits per second download speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilC57 Posted December 20, 2024 Share Posted December 20, 2024 (edited) On 19/12/2024 at 12:12, Dickw said: Their blurb seems to suggest that the dish is fixed, but the dual antennas are "focused" electronically. Dick "The new Standard dish lacks a built-in pole and motors. Therefore, it needs to be manually adjusted during the initial installation using the Starlink app. After the initial setup, the presence of motors is not an advantage, as both antennas work electronically and do not require constant movement to track satellites." Sounds like a phased array antenna. More commonly used to electronically steer a radar beam in systems where the scanner remains static, and only the beam moves. But working in reverse here to electronically steer the sensitivity of the receiving antenna. Think RAF Fylingdales Edited December 20, 2024 by EvilC57 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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