====== Rethinking Starlink ======

Lately, we been hitting the same issue we always do. We can not seem to go where we want to go because of lack of cell / Internet Service. Right now we have two hotspots. One is on T-Mobile and the other is on Verizon. This provides us with a lot of coverage but it is not perfect.  
There are still a lot of areas where there is till no service. 

Which leads us back to the discussion on if we should get Starlink. There are some things that make Starlink a hard thing to even try. 

First of of course is the cost. Right now for RV it's about 135 USD per month. That's a steep fee per month and the one that makes it really hard to try. Still it might be worth it. And I know some people with regular house Internet that speed about that. When I cable Internet it was about 90 USD per month. So I would just be spending about 50 USD more per month. Also if we did it then I could reduce the cell bills by reducing the number of devices we have. Of course I would not do it right away, but it is something we could do after a few months of testing. 

Second is the power requirements. This is a tough one since we don't really know how much power it really pulls. The specs say 60 Watts but I've seen reports of about 40 Watts. The best mitigation I could think of is to add another battery and perhaps add some solar panels. Both of which is something I really want to do anyways. I would like to have about 1000 watts of panels and a lot more battery storage. 

Third is the equipment cost itself. Right now the dish and router cost about 600 USD. That's not a small thing to think about.  That's a major investment. Here is where we might get lucky. My brother has/had Starlink but in his area it was over taxed and didn't work well. So we might be able to get his equipment transferred to us and all he wants is for us to pay shipping. Which I can not imagine would be more than say 50 USD or so. My brother and I would just have to deal with the hassle of the transfer with Starlink. 

Speaking of overtax, that's the forth thing that we have to consider. If you look at the Starlink map you will see area where there is low availability or the need for more coverage. The map you will see depends on if it's fixed or an RV. Luckily many area that we will be are in the High availability areas. And the Low areas right now are slated for more coverage in 2023. I feel that even if we only got 5 Mbps down and up, we would do fine since that's all I normally get on the Cell hotspots and I have even worked with less. 

Finally there is how much open area do you need for the antenna. You need an area that clear of obstructions.  I have been using the Starlink app to figure out what we would need at places we have stop and for us what I have found so far is that the same open area we need for solar is what we will need for Starlink. That's not to say that there are not areas where we will need more, but so far where we have been for solar will work for Starlink as well. 

While there is still a lot of consider, I think that if my brother can transfer us the equipment, then I think we can try Starlink, since then we will only have the monthly fee to worry about. 

{{tag>Internet}}
{{tag>Starlink}}