Starlink: The Internet of the Future

Since we are going to be working remotely during this whole trip, one of the most important things we had to figure out was our internet connection. We both have to VPN in to our companies' networks to access the majority of our work, so we need to have fast internet for the majority of the time. We are okay with occasionally using internet cafes or shared workspaces, but that has to be the backup plan not our default.

Starlink Dish

Starlink is a low latency satellite internet service. Compared to traditional satellite internet, it has much faster response time and is much more robust about receiver dish positioning. While traditional satellite uses a geosynchronous satellite (i.e. the satellite does not move relative to the ground), Starlink uses a bunch of satellites that are constantly passing overhead. This means that the dish needs to be able to track the moving satellites, but due to the different orbits used the Starlink satellites are much closer to earth. Geosynchous orbit is over 22,000 miles above the surface, but Starlink satellites are just 340 miles away. This drastically shorter difference means a much shorter delay time. It's roughly the same difference between running the full length of a football and running 5 miles.

We have been on the wait-list for a Starlink residential package since January 2021. The hope was to receive this in time for the trip, and then use the portability option to manually update the address each time we were moving to a new location. Fortunately, we ended up with an even better solution. In late May, Starlink offered a new service specifically for RVs. We cancelled our residential order and got an RV one. It arrived within a week.

The differences between Starlink for RVs and the residential version are:

• RV service costs an extra $25 a month
• RV service can be setup at any location in the country, while residential is locked to the service address (RV service cannot be used while in motion)
• RV service gets less priority than residential service if the location is at capacity
• Residential service cannot be purchased in an area already at capacity
• The RV service can be paused or started on a monthly basis, while residential service can only be cancelled (and reopened if the area still has capacity)

Starlink Speed Test in rural Vermont

For us, the RV service was an obvious choice. During our trial week we set up the receiver. It only took about 2 minutes for it to track the satellites and begin providing service. The internet at Shawn's parents house is often under 1 Mbps, but Starlink was getting us 50-150 Mbps, with latency between 20-100 ms. This can nominally work anywhere in the US with a view of the sky. We are planning to use this as our main source of internet and supplement with WiFi or shared working spaces in the cases where we cannot get Starlink signal for some reason (e.g. a very tree covered campground).

Initial setup to track to the satellites

After our trip we plan to give the dish to Shawn's parents and they can use it for improved internet connection at their home.

Starlink in use for a work call