Starlink. Trying to decide.

[Fragle]

I thought I'd ask in a separate thread as some of the other threads are long and have become quite technical with what some have changed with Starlink etc.

Having just returned from 90 days touring Europe and with the limits on data, spending time searching for wifi hotspots to watch football/F1, poor free site wifi and in some cases even poorer paid wifi. I am now looking forward to next years trip and one improvement we would like to make is a better internet connection without all the trouble of data limits, sims, signal.

We are looking at just paying for the months we are away to keep the cost reasonable and are thinking by the time you have bought various sims and messed about starting stopping canceling etc we might as well just go for it.

We are not looking to fix to the roof permanently or have it on 24/7. Just as and when we want it.

We have noticed a couple of you tube channels have now gone down this route but they have yet to report back on the benefits or not of Starlink. But as we are not going until April there is no rush.

So my question is simple. Do you have the basic Starlink roam and just use what they sent in the box? Does it work?

 

[Swifter]

Would highly recommend. We have ours there ready for when we can’t get a good data signal from the external 4G antenna .
Got a good deal on the equipment . I am wondering if they might run a promotional price around the Christmas holidays .

 

[ceejayt]

Absolutely excellent easy to use tech. Just works and not that expensive given you can turn it on and off as needed.

 

[Peter and Julie]

So long as you can afford it you won't be disappointed. No data limits so we use ours for gaming, Tv, phones, (grandson) 30gb a day used easy, speeds over the 100mb most of the time. I'm not putting ours on the roof permanently, as if parked under a tree or two it might be too much of an obstruction. I have put it on the roof when on a smallish sized pitch just on its stand. portable enough straight out of the box, unbelievably easy to set up (plug it in). One of the best buys I've done for the van.

 

[Fragle]

Would highly recommend. We have ours there ready for when we can’t get a good data signal from the external 4G antenna .
Got a good deal on the equipment . I am wondering if they might run a promotional price around the Christmas holidays .

Thanks.

A discount on the equipment is what we will be waiting for. Hopefully around Xmas would be perfect.

Do you stop start the plan monthly? If so any issues?

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[ceejayt]

Thanks.

A discount on the equipment is what we will be waiting for. Hopefully around Xmas would be perfect.

Do you stop start the plan monthly? If so any issues?

Simply done from the app. It has been really well thought out.

 

[Speve]

To Balance out what has been said we use a motorhome WiFi set up with a class seven Huawei router and when traveling in Europe a 400gb Tiekom data sim that costs £35 per month and you can hibernate the card as and when you require it works really well and you can use 200gb roaming

 

[Fragle]

So long as you can afford it you won't be disappointed. No data limits so we use ours for gaming, (grandson) 30gb a day used easy, speeds over the 100mb most of the time. I'm not putting ours on the roof as if parked under a tree or two it might be too much of an obstruction. I have put it on the roof when on a smallish sized pitch just on its stand. portable enough straight out of the box, unbelievably easy to set up (plug it in). One of the best buys I've done for the van.

Is it really that expensive though?
Being away for 90 days we have found the whole holiday very cheap and by the time we have chased wifi or paid for rubbish wifi on a site bought extra sims etc.
I can then reduce the sim data required on the phones so our cost will reduce there as well.

So although it will be more expensive £255 for 3 months unlimited data. But not having to buy sims or pay for wifi or think about usage.

 

[Peter and Julie]

Is it really that expensive though?
Being away for 90 days we have found the whole holiday very cheap and by the time we have chased wifi or paid for rubbish wifi on a site bought extra sims etc.
I can then reduce the sim data required on the phones so our cost will reduce there as well.

So although it will be more expensive £255 for 3 months unlimited data. But not having to buy sims or pay for wifi or think about usage.

For the ease of use, no capped data, I work from van when away, It's worth it! As others will tell you it's easy to turn off subscription when not using it for a couple of months. Can't recommend it enough. Think it arrived with 14 days data to try it out before subscription stated (not sure). I bought mine in France so took the 350euro offer there as was 450 in the UK ?

 

[Fragle]

To Balance out what has been said we use a motorhome WiFi set up with a class seven Huawei router and when traveling in Europe a 400gb Tiekom data sim that costs £35 per month and you can hibernate the card as and when you require it works really well and you can use 200gb roaming

It's not ruled out.

We have the 4g motorhome wifi on the van already but other than using my phone sim in it we have not really used it

For the ease of use, no capped data, I work from van when away, It's worth it! As others will tell you it's easy to turn off subscription when not using it for a couple of months. Can't recommend it enough.

I think it's the uncapped data that appeals.

I don't really want to be thinking after 3 weeks about data.

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[Speve]

It's not ruled out.

We have the 4g motorhome wifi on the van already but other than using my phone sim in it we have not really used it

If you have the WiFi set up give Tiekom a try even £40 per Month for a sim is half the £85 star link want you could buy two sims and still be better off? and then you have to buy the equipment from starlink

 

[Fragle]

If you have the WiFi set up give Tiekom a try even £40 per Month for a sim is half the £85 star link want you could buy two sims and still be better off? and then you have to buy the equipment from starlink

That is true. How about coverage? Speeds?

 

[Peter and Julie]

It's not ruled out.

We have the 4g motorhome wifi on the van already but other than using my phone sim in it we have not really used it

I think it's the uncapped data that appeals.

I don't really want to be thinking after 3 weeks about data.

Portability is the other, The van is based in France but we went down to the Spanish border where Starlink picked up Spain Sats. No reconfiguration needed or swapping sims. I have a Corialis (French Telco) plan for 150Gb sim at 15.99e per month. That would have disappeared in 5 days, we were there for 5 weeks. That will be cancelled when we go back next week after Starlink performance.

 

[Fragle]

Portability is the other, The van is based in France but we went down to the Spanish border where Starlink picked up Spain Sats. No reconfiguration needed or swapping sims. I have a Corialis (French Telco) plan for 150Gb sim at 15.99e per month. That would have disappeared in 5 days, we were there for 5 weeks. That will be cancelled when we go back next week after Starlink performance.

I'm assuming this is the £450 kit Not the £2500.

This year we did France Spain Portugal.

Next year we will do very similar April/May. Then June July and Aug Scotland/Ireland then Sept Oct Nov back in Europe. So it does seem a no brainer for us with that amount of travel, although you can get sims cheaper the ease of set up with Starlink no borders so to speak has great appeal.

 

[Peter and Julie]

I'm assuming this is the £450 kit Not the £2500.

This year we did France Spain Portugal.

Next year we will do very similar April/May. Then June July and Aug Scotland/Ireland then Sept Oct Nov back in Europe. So it does seem a no brainer for us with that amount of travel, although you can get sims cheaper the ease of set up with Starlink no borders so to speak has great appeal.

Yes Starlink standard roam.

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[zac]

Modified mine so it's now permanently fixed to my motorhome roof and flat. I tested it in Wales recently and was getting over 150mb down with no issues because of the modification.

For me I cannot be bothered to having to keep getting the dish out and feeding cables through roof vents so wanted a method where I can just turn up and switch on.

It is expensive but worth it for me as I stop it when not going to use it and start it back to again when I know I am travelling ( service that is).

As mentioned before everyone will have different needs as one solution does not work for all.

This is mine fitted

 

[Fragle]

Modified mine so it's now permanently fixed to my motorhome roof and flat. I tested it in Wales recently and was getting over 150mb down with no issues because of the modification.

For me I cannot be bothered to having to keep getting the dish out and feeding cables through roof vents so wanted a method where I can just turn up and switch on.

It is expensive but worth it for me as I stop it when not going to use it and start it back to again when I know I am travelling ( service that is).

As mentioned before everyone will have different needs as one solution does not work for all.

This is mine fitted

View attachment 808571

Is that just the standard dish? I seen they do a more expensive one to fix to van.

I understand the permanently fixed solution but will start with the flex first and see how we do. Also considering changing van in the near future if we can so will be pointless until we commit to a van

 

[zac]

Mine is the standard one just modified so it's now flat. There are only 4 brackets that sikaflex to the roof which would easily be removed if transferring to a new vehicle. Would never spend 2.5k on the mobile one that's a lot of money to waste and from my testing this does the same.

 

[Realist]

It’s a no brainier, get the roam version yes I know it’s £85 a month but when your not using it you can pause the subscription.

I have two, one at home the other one is with my wobble box.

Money well spent and worth every penny.

 

[Tombola]

No brainer if you can afford the up front cost.
So simple to.set up and use.

You can even use it as your home WiFi if required too so can offset that cost

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[Carpmart]

Jump in, the water is loverly and warm.

Fragle all your questions are covered in the Starlink thread…

Starlink ordered… I feel it’s the only sensible option now..

Now that the Camino (Tiekom) service has had its day and the continued roaming data challenges, as well as crappy data service in the UK, I’ve had enough of pratting around as I just want always on, full service broadband wherever I am. So, the solution (I hope) is a Starlink Roam order was...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Yes some people are adapting their installations, but it’s hardly a technical thread, it is all about using a Starlink instead of mobile data.

There are some really good and simple solutions for temporary roof mounts if you look through the thread

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

If you have the WiFi set up give Tiekom a try even £40 per Month for a sim is half the £85 star link want you could buy two sims and still be better off? and then you have to buy the equipment from starlink

One crucial thing missing from your defence of 3G/4G - you need a signal!
I'm reading and replying to this using my Starlink in a valley where there is no 3G/4G signal.
Bought during the £99 offer, so less than a class 7 router and 4G aerial I would imagine.

 

[Fragle]

One crucial thing missing from your defence of 3G/4G - you need a signal!
I'm reading and replying to this using my Starlink in a valley where there is no 3G/4G signal.
Bought during the £99 offer, so less than a class 7 router and 4G aerial I would imagine.

£99. Let’s hope they do that again

 

[zac]

£99. Let’s hope they do that again

Only ever seen them do that once but it may happen.

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

£99. Let’s hope they do that again

Definitely.
It's let me work from somewhere i can only usually visit at the weekends.

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[Fragle]

Definitely.
It's let me work from somewhere i can only usually visit at the weekends.

They did do a €200 deal in July for France I believe. There’s hope.

 

[Ernesto]

Can I just check …..the guys on this thread with Starlink, have you modified it to work on 12v or left it with 240v and run it off an inverter ?

 

[Peter and Julie]

Still on plug in 240v for me as on hookup mostly!

 

[Fragle]

Can I just check …..the guys on this thread with Starlink, have you modified it to work on 12v or left it with 240v and run it off an inverter ?

My plan is to upgrade to lithium and inverter so won’t convert to 12v.
It won’t be on all the time for me so don’t want to mess around with it

 

[Kups]

Just using 240v at the moment but have a lithium 110ah battery so may buy a cheap 75 w Halfords inverter for off grid. Our mh has both mains and 12volt sockets together in the under bed locker so ideally located if needed.

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