Starlink

Lazybones · June 16, 2020, 11:15:01 AM

They have a sign up page for news and availability alerts
https://www.starlink.com/

Due to the position of the initial satellites CANADA is actually expected to be in the initial coverage area.

Some good info:
https://www.canadasatellite.ca/StarLink-Satellite-Internet-Constellation.htm

How fast will Starlink internet be? (note this will change over time depending on ground stations / number of sats and number of users in an area)
So far, testing shows speeds of 620 Mbps with a latency of 30 to 60 milliseconds.

SpaceX is applying for a BITS licence in canada so it can be an ISP, if you have time you can submit a comment to the CRTC if you are for or against it..

https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/CommentForm/Default-Defaut.aspx?lang=e&EN=202002799&ET=B&S=O&PA=T&PT=A&PST=A&FN=

Melbosa · June 16, 2020, 03:51:29 PM

Yeah I'm very interested in this for Rural Clients of mine.... and maybe even myself if it is bidirectional

.

Lazybones · June 16, 2020, 04:22:15 PM

Quote from: Melbosa on June 16, 2020, 03:51:29 PMYeah I'm very interested in this for Rural Clients of mine.... and maybe even myself if it is bidirectional .

I think there was a follow up from Elon that worst case is something like 100/20 in busy areas. Which is still not bad.

Tom · June 17, 2020, 11:04:09 AM

He also said it's not for urban areas in general for the first while. The current network design doesn't have the (final?) fancy satelite to satelite laser mesh, so the theoretical total network bandwidth is way lower than his inital claims.

Tom · February 03, 2021, 05:24:23 PM

Well this just happened
You cannot view this attachment.

Lazybones · February 03, 2021, 05:29:39 PM

Quote from: Tom on February 03, 2021, 05:24:23 PMWell this just happened
You cannot view this attachment.

Contrats!

What made you sign up? Thought you had gotten shaw to fix your wired performance issues.

Tom · February 03, 2021, 05:35:01 PM

Quote from: Lazybones on February 03, 2021, 05:29:39 PM
Quote from: Tom on February 03, 2021, 05:24:23 PMWell this just happened
You cannot view this attachment.

Contrats!

What made you sign up? Thought you had gotten shaw to fix your wired performance issues.

Yeah they fixed it years ago for the most part. I just really wanted to try it and see how it goes. And having two connections can be useful. But hey if it eventually ends up being better than shaw I might just drop shaw.

Thorin · February 03, 2021, 06:16:17 PM

Cool! I thought they weren't offering it to anyone from Red Deer up yet?

Tom · February 03, 2021, 06:55:41 PM

Quote from: Thorin on February 03, 2021, 06:16:17 PMCool! I thought they weren't offering it to anyone from Red Deer up yet?

they probably just started. I have them my location by lat/long so it's not like I somehow snuck through.

Also it says the delivery may take a few weeks so that may be calculated into things? By then more satellites will have had time to move into their orbits.

Mr. Analog · February 03, 2021, 07:46:01 PM

Nice!

Lazybones · February 03, 2021, 10:08:05 PM

Starlink is currently limited by the density of orbits and location of ground stations which they have been rapidly deploying.

At the moment they don't interlink the sats so you have to be within range of a base station so the sat can see both you and the station.

Tom · February 04, 2021, 07:54:55 AM

Quote from: Lazybones on February 03, 2021, 10:08:05 PMStarlink is currently limited by the density of orbits and location of ground stations which they have been rapidly deploying.

At the moment they don't interlink the sats so you have to be within range of a base station so the sat can see both you and the station.

Except if you're in the far north like Alaska. A few of the more recent sats have laser links. But most of the current satelites don't have them. They claim they haven't been able to cost effectively manufacture the hardware for them in bulk yet.

Thorin · February 04, 2021, 09:56:39 AM

So with the number of satellites they're putting up, are you able to point your dish at more than one of them, in case one stops working for some reason?

... I have so much to learn about StarLink and details about the tech.

Lazybones · February 04, 2021, 10:18:46 AM

Quote from: Thorin on February 04, 2021, 09:56:39 AMSo with the number of satellites they're putting up, are you able to point your dish at more than one of them, in case one stops working for some reason?

... I have so much to learn about StarLink and details about the tech.

Should go check out one of the many videos.. These Sat's are ALWASY moving. The dish has a built in motor, partially self points it if a dish is lost in a low density area of the swarm it could cause a drop but only for short periods of time

Tom · February 04, 2021, 08:45:55 PM

The dish is what's called a phased array antenna and it's able to track multiple satellites simultaneously with the help of the motorized mount.

The current constellation orbits somewhere around 550km. This means they move /fast/. They want to have a bunch at even lower orbits to improve performance further.

It's all a bunch of fancy new experimental tech and I have to admit I got a little case of FOMO. When I got the email I almost ignored it.