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Everyone's talking about Starlink these days. I get it. It's cool and exciting. Why wouldn't you want to be able to stream at high speed from anywhere? But there's some stuff they won't tell you. I'll tell you though, although I don't think you'll like it.

Starlink is more expensive than you think

Starlink advertises itself as costing about $150 a month. Now, that's probably more than you're paying for home internet already. (By the way, if you're paying more than $50 a month for high-speed internet, you need to check this out.) If you're in a really rural area, though, you might consider that to be a bargain since you probably can't get high speed at any price.

They don't tell you that the $150 plan probably won't keep you happy for long. First of all, speeds are good but not great. Typically you'll get about 25Mbps during peak times, which is enough to stream on one TV and that's about it. Second, although it's advertised as unlimited, you'll have issues once you get to 1TB per month. That sound like a lot of capacity, but it's not. Once you've downloaded that much, your internet speed will drop to about the same as dial-up, or you'll have to purchase additional data as you go.

I tested out in a real world situation to try to figure out how much data an average person would use. As one person using internet for 3 hours a day, that equated to about 25GB a day. I didn't use the service to back up my computer, just really for routine movie and TV watching. That's 750GB per month, and I didn't really use it all day like I would for weekends. I'm just one guy streaming from popular streaming services.

Honestly that was a lot more data than I expected and it really opened my eyes to how much you'll pay.

Starlink for businesses is even more expensive

Starlink for businesses is a little more flexible, but the costs are a lot higher. Their business tier is 6TB per month which sounds like a lot but remember you could have a lot of employees who move large attachments, do video conferencing and more. That top tier costs… wait for it… $1500 per month. That gets to be a pretty big number pretty soon. Internet is super important for business, but that's a very large burden to put on yourself.

And don't even get me started on RV and marine

Starlink rolled out their RV and marine services this year and while they are great, they're also absurdly expensive. You will pay up to $2,500 for the equipment up front. If you're in an RV, expect to pay $200 a month for speeds about the same as 2000s-era DSL. It gets worse if you're looking at a boat. You'll pay up to $5,000 a month for marine service.

If you were thinking you could maybe get the RV service or the residential service and use it on your boat, think again. Starlink limits their RV service and residential service to land only. They'll be able to detect that you're away from the marina and, honestly, they'll just shut you off.

There are better ways that cost way less and work way better.

Here's the bottom line. You don't need to spend that much to get what you want. And I'm going to show you how.

Start with a cell phone signal booster

This is the best kept secret in mobile and marine. It's weBoost's Drive Reach cell phone signal booster. This little device is a one time purchase and it eliminates all the problems associated with using cell service on a boat or in an RV. It will fill your inside space with strong cell service, even if you're up to 10 miles offshore. And that means you can leverage the cell service you have instead of paying more for Starlink.

Now, if you're going to stream a lot, you will need something with its own data plan, and you'll want something that can give you Wi-Fi instead of tethering to your phone. That's where this device comes in.



What you see above is the SIMTELL digital cellular router system. It turns cell service into Wi-Fi, and uses its own data plan so that you don't have to worry about tethering. The data plans are generous and you will get the fastest cellular internet available. It uses eSIM technology to check which of the major carriers is the fastest, and automatically switches.

Or, think about satellite TV

If you're looking for a live TV solution, consider satellite television instead of internet. You'll get hundreds of channels of live entertainment so maybe you won't even want to stream. Satellite for boats and RVs is mature, solid technology and it works. The service is a lot less than you'll pay for Starlink and you get a ton of great programs. It's just an option to consider.

There's one more thing to think about.

Starlink is an up and coming technology. If you've had it for a little while you've probably already thrown away all your equipment at least once. Chances are you will again. How many times are you willing to pay $600 – $2000 for equipment before it gets old? Once the Starlink equipment is obsolete you have no choice but to upgrade. Compare that to cellular internet which is very likely to work with the equipment you buy today for a decade or more.

Did I convince you?

I hope I was able to show you that Starlink isn't the value that everyone thinks it is. It's evolving, and I think there will be a time when it is the best choice. That time isn't today. Today you owe it to yourself to look at the best option available now. In most cases, that's satellite TV, cellular signal boosters, cellular routers… or a combination of all of them. But I get it. This is unfamiliar territory.

Luckily you have a "friend in the business." Call Signal Connect to find out more about entertainment and connectivity options that really make sense. We don't run overseas call centers. We staff our Detroit-area office with certified experts who are available to you with just a phone call, text, or email. Try us! Call 888-233-7563, use the chat button at lower right, or fill out the form below. Remember, Starlink may sound like an excellent solution, but in the end it's sky-high prices and uncertainty, at least today.


The post STARLINK: Here's what they won't tell you appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.

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