Elon Musks Starlink

[OSIRUS]

Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet is coming to Australia and New Zealand. Here’s how much it will cost and how fast the speeds will be.







Also note there is predicted to be internet dropouts initially in beta and speeds between 50 & 150 & no data cap in beta

[macca]

I hope there's some drain holes in those dishes!

[Bigfella237]

It looks to me like the top is a flat surface/cover. He specifically mentions that it doesn't collect snow so you'd think it would be weatherproof too?

Andrew

[wotnot]

To use a Stargate quote, something about this "doesn't jive with my walkman" ... in as much as, didn't this all kick off under some auspices of being 'humanitarian', by bringing internet services to those parts of the world, that had no other internet connectivity options? I had thought, that much alone, would've made AU a very limited target and didn't expect to see it downunder any time soon, and yet here we are with starlink becoming a competitor to the NBN's sky-muster satellite plans?

Not that I'm at all one of those conspiracy theory nutters, but I can't help but think there's some ulterior motive behind this whole starlink network stuff, not least of which fuels that thought, being the appreciation of just what sort of surveillance network you could hoist of such a thing. Right now, seeing the pricings roll-out, my mind's having troubles rationalizing the apparent costs involved with deploying the network, versus how much it's going to earn through 'ISP subscriptions'...and it looks like the network will operate at some huge loss for many years, before it gets anywhere near 'breaking even'....

Something about it, just doesn't add up to me....but if for a moment I entertain the involvement of {ahem} 'silent partners', then it starts to make sense =)

[Uncle Fester]

To use a Stargate quote, something about this "doesn't jive with my walkman" ... in as much as, didn't this all kick off under some auspices of being 'humanitarian', by bringing internet services to those parts of the world, that had no other internet connectivity options?

That was my first thought too when I saw the monthly subscription cost which exceeds by far the monthly income in some of those parts of the world.
Google tried something like that too using balloons over Kenya I think and that just got shut down last month, obviously for economic reasons.

Anyhow I further thought, rubbish, Elon Musk is not a humanitarian. His products have always been targeted at the financially more better off, which has led him to be the world's most richest man at times(hard to keep up to date there).

He will get his investment back some way or another, I am quite sure. Possibly NBN co might even make some deal with him with so many struggling and complaining about the current NBN satellite functionality otherwise they might be abandoned.

So $149 could be quite attractive for those speeds and no cap for those who like to live off-grid without suffering technological deficiencies.
I think there is currently a tendency in that direction.

I admire the simplicity of the setup but it looks like it wouldn't last long in rough weather, dust, moisture and critters could get inside the gaps and clog things up but I trust his engineers have nutted that out. Are they aware of Gecko poo?

Musk knows where the money is and is good at convincing many that they need what he offers.
I still see him as the driver of our future and not necessarily in a bad way.

[hoe]

Latency is not bad, I get 19ms from Kal to Perth via fttn....

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[coalminer]

[jgm]

The gizmodo report is pretty simplistic. It is a typical journalistic approach from a "supposed" technology specialist. She only mentions latency in passing & then concentrates on "speed". The biggest issue with the NBN satellite system is LATENCY - 250ms compared with starlink's 20-40ms. For the "same speed" connection, starlink has >> NBN throughput.

[OSIRUS]

People are reporting to have it installed in the UK and the USA and Canada so far .....

And orders are being taken in Australia already too .... (how many other countries around the world are they taking orders for it ?)

if they get $139 AU and orders for $99 US etc etc etc ....just to get started .... they could rake in quite a few dollars world wide

also they are selling you the satellite equipment not renting it or providing it for free

[OSIRUS]

Starlink Teardown Dishy Destroyed

[Uncle Fester]

Wow!
Amazing design.
After viewing all this, $700 sounds really cheap.
Especially compared to a latest bloody Samsung or Apple phone(that basically do the same as their previous models).

RF is magic and only magicians really understand it's secrets, LOL.
632 antenna elements with phase shifting transceivers I would say is just pure hard work
Edit: Reading comments further down somebody claims there are 1465 elements.

Trash, you are our microwave expert, care to chime in on this?
Really only need to scroll roughly from minute 40 onwards.

[OSIRUS]

Starlink's secrets revealed as first Australian customers sign up ahead of launch later in 2021



from the above link:

"In August, a company called TIBRO Australia was granted a carrier license, allowing it to operate as a telecommunications provider in Australia.

Two months later, TIBRO — which spells "orbit" backwards — changed its name to Starlink Australia.

Then Starlink Australia secured radiocommunications licenses allowing it to send wireless signals."

[wotnot]

This was a good link ~ having worked with the (older) asynchronous satellite setups in the past, it answered the question I had --- where are the ground stations located? A: all in the US

M'kay, so a lateral thought might be, forget about reports/reviews on how good it works in CA/US locales, what's in like say...in the UK? I only found one such what I would call 'independent' vid on youtoob (and by that, I mean they didn't own a tesla and weren't part of 'muskevite' fanboi squad), hoping to get better connectivity as opposed to the BT offerings (which he reported as subject to continual dropouts), and he goes through the 'laymans' unboxing and hookup, only to end up with a faster connection....still prone to dropouts.

In fact, 3weeks have passed since said youtuber posted the v'clip, promising future update 'when he gets it setup better' or what-have-you...and as yet, no update...for reference -->

'For some reason' I'd always thought to implement something like this effectively, you'd need multiple ground station at locations all around the globe...or is that the plan for the future, and I'm just speaking out of turn as it were?

I'm getting quizzed by locals here-a-bouts, (justifiably) overly disappointed with the NBN SkyMuster sat setup, about whether or not they should think about signing up for ElonLink (bwaha) based on all the glowing reports and future promises - I have to remind them most reports are out of North America, and there's barely any subscribers, and I would call it prudent to take the stance of wait and see what happens, particularly here in AU, once it's up and running and widely adopted.

I would appreciate and hope that someone(s) here ends up doing this much -- reporting what it's actually like.

[hoe]

Starlink have approval from acma for 24 ground stations in au.

4 are currently operating during the beta phase....



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[OSIRUS]

3 Interesting SpaceX Starlink Features

[OSIRUS]

Starlink App Overview

[Uncle Fester]

3 Interesting SpaceX Starlink Features

He said Dishy can only operate between -30˚ and +40˚C.
That is no use here in Australia especially in our remote areas but even here on the coast my roof tiles can reach +60˚C.

[hoe]

He said Dishy can only operate between -30˚ and +40˚C.
That is no use here in Australia especially in our remote areas but even here on the coast my roof tiles can reach +60˚C.

Yes, definitely needs to be positioned out of direct sunlight and/or possibly some sort of sprinkler set up to keep it cool.

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[Uncle Fester]

If it is obscured from the sun then it can't see the satellites or only very few, not reliable.

It shouldn't be sold here without a microwave transparent dome with cooling fans.

[hoe]

Will the equipment handle all temperatures? Frost? Dew? High winds?
They have tested in all conditions and are confident it can handle extreme heat, rain, snow etc. The user terminal will receive upgrades over the course of the next few months to improve facilitating snow meltability as winter arrives and it can operate in temperatures as low as -30°C and exceeding 40°C. SpaceX has also tested the terminal at 45°C but the terminal is not certified to operate at this range. Additionally, the SpaceX representative also confirmed that the terminal is not designed to operate in high winds and should be brought indoors in such a circumstance.

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