So, there’s a lot of things to think about and research in regards to the Beta Site. One of which is communications. There is no landline out there, cell signal is non-existent, the only electricity is what you bring or generate, and as wonderful as that sounds, I would like a modicum of connectivity to the world, particularly the internet, for those long winters of being snowed in.
So, there’s really only one off-the-shelf solution that doesn’t involve packet radio or that sort of thing – Starlink. I was wondering who here has some experience with it and can perhaps give some input on it’s practicality and utility..esp. in an environment where you’re on your own for power. (Meaning, running Starlink off of a battery system.)
My needs are simple – email, browsing news websites, blogging, and a bit of Spotify music. I’m not planning on streaming videos or any of the heavy-bandwidth activities. So, you off-grid types who maintain a connection to the internet…whats the scoop?
And, while on the subject of Starlink for secret squirrels, I pass along this entertaining and interesting video:
We got starlink at the BOL so the wife can work from home. This lets us spend more time there.
Connection is solid, speeds are more than good enough for video streaming. Using wifi calling on the phone works as a replacement for the spotty cell service.
I haven’t got my cams online yet, but upstream should be good enough to monitor cams from home.
There is a bit of latency, so sites with a lot of requests (links, ads, chunks of content) might seem a bit less responsive. And the wife’s company VPN connection to company servers doesn’t always work because of the latency.
One tiny minus is that location detection has us in Dallas, not out in the country, and that location changes. Services that use your location (store locators or shipping estimators) to determine what to show you might need an extra step or two. Services that use your derived location to validate if you are a legit user, (netflix, roku, banking) might be more problematic. EVERY time we stream at the BOL, netflix complains that we might be sharing our password with people not in our household and makes us do a 2 part authorization.
I can’t speak to the solar/batteries yet, as that is still on my todo list, but our choices for data were dial up, hughes satellite, or starlink. No DSL, fiber, cable, or fixed wireless. No 5G from the cell companies.
We did without, and tried to use our phones with a cell booster/repeater and hotspot mode, but in the end, starlink was the only thing convenient and effective.
nick
Posting this via my Starlink now after over a year of use. Recently acquired a mini on a $5/month deal with the main system. Love them both – for a battery-system recommend the mini unless you really need the marginal improvement in performance. Optimal for you would be a mini, but on a static location subscription if they do them.
Mini’s run native on 12V – I picked up a lighter adapter for mine. Mini is a single unit system with router on board. Large home systems is three parts – antenna, router, 120V power supply adapter (to some non-12V – something like 36V. Both systems are working very well with the mesh-network they sell. And of course, you can install extenders/exterior systems tied to the mesh network – just not the other way around.
Heavy rains have had no effect at all. I am in desert so cannot comment on snow – they do have a snow melt function you can turn on if desired.
I previously had Dish satellite TV and CenturyLink internet systems (all that are available in my location) and was never happy. Much better now with fewer interruptions. My only issue has been incomplete automatic reboots after software upgrades which I suspect is a bad cable. Plenty of bandwidth for multiple video and audio streams in addition to high bandwidth work computer and my home computing needs. I have open sky access so YMMV. Current speed mid-business day is 84 Mbps down, 45 Mbps up, 55 ms latency – this is with a bad cable warning and shows the speed from the router to the internet. Rural, lower use areas get better service.
Mobile coverage is $165/month – static (home system, larger antenna is $120 + $5 for my mini-standby system in a box.) Just opened app and they are saying zero startup cost for home. Not the cheapest overall, but the flexibility is great.
The $5 mini deal provides nominal 0.5 MB speeds, with upgrades to full speed for $50/50GB or $165 unlimited as quoted above. Low speed works fine for phone wifi connections and slower downloads Look into the Veritas Vans full cover and mount for any mini you get – especially if using mobile or around trees.
Overall, recommended if you can afford it. Much better than other satellite internet systems of the past – my parents ran them and finally gave up completely and moved to just tethered cell support. If you have questions let me know and I’ll send contact info back channel.
Excellent info, much thanks!
However you decide to power this I suggest you check out this one for some ideas:
https://diysolarforum.com/
-You might ping a few solar panel mfgrs and see what deals they have on factory seconds. Otherwise a 430w panel will average $200./ea new.
-Stay away from lead acid batteries.
-LiFePO (Lithium Iron Phosphate), lighter, virtually no maintenance, becoming cheaper.
do the lithium batteries work in cold, montana gets a bit chilly
Outdoor rated LiFePO batteries have a built in heater to keep the battery at operating temperature. Indoor units have temperature limitations, but you can’t hurt them, the BMS (battery monitoring system) will shut it off.
In north locations it would be adviseable to have them in a protected indoor location anyway.
FWIW lead acid doesn’t perform very well in cold temperatures, either.
We have been running Starlink (not the mini) at our off-grid cabin for a couple of years now (as soon as it was available in NE WA). It runs great off of our Goal Zero portable solar system, and has allowed everything from video calls for work to streaming movies with no issues. It does pull a fair amount of power when operating (45-65 watts) so we just unplug it when not in use. The solar battery is good for 5 days or so, including running power tools, all cabin lighting, etc. without a recharge – but we can run the generator once in a while to extend that if needed. Expected a video call to drop when a big thunderstorm came through, but it was surprisingly stable. We have a lot of trees, so we set a post where the system told us we had line of sight, and just set it up there with a cable to the cabin. Definitely recommend if the cost doesn’t scare you away.
We got Starlink because we live in a tiny town with one crappy ISP and I work from home. It’s been solid and reliable.
We have the full sized one plugged in so I can’t comment on the power. We do want a battery pack to run it for a day or so but haven’t got to it yet.
I would also agree the amount of sky coverage they want is surprisingly a lot. I had to work to find a place for it (roof) in a normal residential neighborhood. They want dang near a totally unobstructed view of the sky from horizon to horizon.
This could be an issue in a wooded area. It ain’t gonna work in a dinky little clearing. Probably going to need a pole or mount to get it above the tree line.
I just moved to a remote area. Got Starlink, has worked great for the past month I have had it. Cost is the same as I was paying Comcast (cursed be their name). So far, cold, frost, rain, wind I have not had an issue.
There are a couple of other potential services besides Starlink. Hughesnet and Viasat are two of the others that come to mind quickly. I think Iridium can also do data, although I don’t know how fast, or at what cost,
I have the home edition, works well enough, just pricey.
See if you can get the RV version, I think it’s cheaper?
Is there a neighbor… nah, nevermind.
Long time reader, first or second time poster. I have Starlink. Been using it for over a year now. Rural property, my alternative option is CenturyLink. Since I’m not a masochist, I went ahead with Starlink.
Have had zero interruptions over 10 seconds except for that one outage a few months ago, due to a software problem with the Starlink network. Speed is amazing.
You do need a clear line of sight without trees directly overhead or super tall to the north. I’m in Oregon, some trees that show up on the ‘obstruction map’ but works great despite.
If you stay a customer for a year, it looks like they give you a Starlink mini kit for an extra five dollars a month. So that gives you free, low speed, Internet, anywhere you travel, or you can activate it for full bandwidth for an additional fee per month. Mine showed up a few weeks ago.
I didn’t have time to read the comments before I posted – been busy, but wanted to chime in since it’s something I can contribute. Take care.
Thought I just saw a blurb that said Starlink was going to come out with their corporate stock IPO, apparently Elon doesn’t have enough money. Might be a good investment.
I don’t think its necessarily that he doesnt have enough money personally, I think its that he needs money to do the things he’s always wanted to do like go to Mars…thats the whole reason for Tesla, Boring Company, and SpaceX.
Friend of mine owns a business providing equipment and supplies to the drilling industry. Up and down the hills of WV, PA, and OH nowhere close to civilization.
He mounted a Starlink in his personal work vehicle and has no trouble connecting even when at the most remote jobsite.
We got Starlink immediately following Hurricane Helene and it was a life saver as it took our fiber company 10 months to get us reconnected. The only reason we went back to them is that we were paying three times as much for Starlink as for fiber. We now have it and the Mini on their standby service for $5 a month
Other than the cost (we were paying $120 a month), I highly recommend it. Starlink performs as well or better than our old fiber service. We routinely got between 90 and 250 gigs per second which is more than enough to do all you want, including security cameras, of which we have three.
If you won’t be using it all the time, I recommend the Mini with a roaming plan. That will give you 50 GB a month for $50 and you can keep it in your car or truck and power it with the cigarette lighter. That will give you emergency communications in those areas without cell service or if the network is down.
Residential Lite here for 6 months. Quite satisfied with the performance. $80/month with free equipment, which is $25 cheaper than the fiber optic we replaced. Got it powered through a 2KWh “solar generator” LiFePO4 attached to various power sources. I haven’t ever noticed it being off since we got it.
I’m in FL. Neighbor had it when a hurricane hit. He was the only one around that still had internet. Drove over to his place to bum some Internet and figure out how to fix my generator. Worked well for streaming YouTube. It was powered off a portable generator and did just fine.
Randall at grunt proof YT reviews the mini, he lives out in the mountains, it’s worth a view.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrcvyCVG3cg
I think a few of the “off the grid” YouTubers use Starlink and they are uploading half hour videos regularly from places like Alaska, Idaho, etc. They are in wide use in the Ukraine war (the Russians are always droning the antennae). To defray the cost maybe you could do a YouTube channel about the beta site build out. Its a lot of work, though…cameras, filming, editing, uploading. I’d definitely watch them as might plenty of your readership. You get a couple of dollars per thousand views plus opportunities for sponsors (equipment, tools, etc). A lot of YouTubers I watch seem to get those power bank devices to try out (keep?) as long as they show them off in their videos.
I forgot to add. You can download their app (may require signal idk) and scan the sky to try to find potential mounting sites.
Off-grid here in the Western Arizona desert. After almost 2 years of cussing Hughesnet I moved to Starlink residential, they actually used GPS coordinates for me until an address was assigned. I am on a small solar system (1200 watts with battery backup) and have no power issues. The wi-fi calling is a blessing that saves me a 2 mile drive to a decent signal for verizon and have never had any lack of speed for my needs. Granted i mostly use it for online research but Google Earth and BLM mapping that would tax hughesnet are never a problem and completely without buffering. Monsoons and lightning storms have not been a problem and they were horrible on Hughes and storms in Florida no longer matter.
Kudos, brother, for living the dream. I’m not there yet but I’m on my way.
We were on the waiting list and ordered it within the first hour it was available in my area. UNREAL simplicity. Plug in like 3 or 4 things (including power supply) and it just plain works. I forget how many years of virtually flawless service we’ve had, but the only time I lose signal is when it is during a superheavy downpour (max loss of 5 minutes) which occur here (southern appalachians) maybe 2-3x a year during summer. Fantastic speeds- and I imagine even better speeds out west where users are more thinly distributed.
Cant comment on the power supply other than to say that if you supply it with power, it works.
And best of all, none of the cable company BS. None. Its worth twice the price on that alone. I really dont understand why everyone who can afford it doesnt use it.
I use Starlink at home. Solid connections, fast enough, power draw low enough that you could engineer a small solar power system to run it.
My concern would be security when you’re not there. Remove the antenna and store it in a secure place?
Here is a link to the power requirements to run a Starlink Mini. https://netizenpulse.com/posts/starlink-mini-power-requirements/
Looks less than 60 watts in in any condition and around 15 non operating. Normal operating is 30 – 40 watts. Pretty light for what it does. The comments above about needing clear (free of trees) line of sight are accurate.
Transitioning to Starlink mini to replace cable (house), cellular router in the RV. It works sitting up on the house roof resting on the gutter, works on the RV dashboard (class A) in motion, works mounted to the roof rack on the car on a road trip. Dropping $200 expense in cable and cell data for $160 unlimited mobile anywhere. Runs 110v house and 12 volt in the vehicles. Excellent mobile internet.
Have had the starlink high performance on our rv for a year. The connection is rock solid even going down the road at 70 mph. I came across a web site called must have mobile that sells a conversion kit to make the high performance run off of a 12v system. We did that with our rv because of the conversion loss for running through and inverter and running on 110. The mini is probably the better way to go on a limited power supply. We have 400 ah of Lifepo4 batteries that are charging through the alternator when we travel and through shore power when we stop for the night. We have never fully drained the batteries even after 8hrs of driving while running the starlink, our 12v fridge, and one roof air conditioner all off the batteries. The high performance and the mini are both good. We went with the hp because of campgrounds with heavy tree coverage the hp has a much wider angle of view of the sky so never had a prob with tree coverage. Hope that helps…We love ours because cell coverage sucks in a lot of rural or mountain areas.
Forgot to mention also with the roam plan…if you are not intending on using it for a couple of months you can pause it and not pay the monthly fee all year. We pause ours all winter when we are not traveling and restart it in the spring through fall. Nice feature.
CZ,
I can validate how well Starlink works. I have lived in the boondocks for nearly thirty years. During that time one hat I wore was the startup and head of the data analytics shop for my pilot union. I had to have connectivity and so I started out with multiple modems in custom built boxes to connect to several phone lines at once. That evolved to the first satellite system, “dial return”. You connected via a modem to dial out and request a web page and the reply would come down via satellite. It was an absurdly cumbersome and hard to network, but it was all we had in those days. I have subsequently used every brand and type of satellite internet and even helped to fund a wireless internet service provider to use radios on water towers and the likes. Of all of them, hands down, Starlink is the most reliable and fastest for your also very rural setup. It has built in anti-ice capability, It is pointed nearly straight up so a storm 50 miles away is not going to block your dish’s view of the satellite. Local power interruptions are not going to turn the provider off (the lights never go out at Musk’s place). As I previously mentioned, I have used every type of geostationary satellite (GEO) in high Earth orbit that has ever offered service of this type. Those satellites are so high up there is just horrible latency. Until Musk came along they all used something called “fair access policy” where they throttled (FAP’d) you after you downloaded some predetermined amount of data. Musk and Starlink innovated lots of improvements (heated dish), low Earth instead of high Earth orbit, no data caps, so little latency you won’t even notice it; the bottom line is Starlink is a winner. And yes, it will support cameras. We run 25, yes 25, cameras and it handles them just fine. It is admittedly hard to get “to” the cameras from offsite, but the cameras can stream to a server. Said a different way, when I was using the services of our local WISP we had a static public IP address and it was super easy to get to our cameras. With standard residential Starlink using Carrier-Grade Network Address Translation (CGNAT) it is harder to get direct access to them, but it is still doable, just ask for help if you need it. Using the newer lithium iron batteries and solar panels you will be able to run a lot, you will just have to strike a balance on cost and utility reliability. Amateur radio is 12v, Mr. Google says “expect around 4.5A at 13.8V (63W) for Gen 3, but up to 12A (144W) at 12V during snowmelt” for Starlink, routers tend to run at 12v and many cameras are actually 5v. You can use a 12v to 5v step down converter (https://a.co/d/18mhQDQ) to address that. To the degree you put all that gear downstream of a battery setup, using batteries and a charger/maintainer, voltage sags and spikes (very common in the country); you will insulate them from locking up while you are away where it is difficult to reset them. But, remote access reset switch technology does exist. If you have even one bar on a cell phone Amazon carries a rebranded Wilson Electronics booster that will get you amazing results. Make sure you get the one with a yagi antenna so that you can point it directly at the distant cell tower. Mount it and the powered amplifier at least 20′ feet apart (30’+ is better) and you will marvel at your newfound cellular coverage inside your structure. Best of luck!
Recently returned from working on the North Slope in Alaska 2 hours from Prudhoe Bay. Starlink is the only internet worth having up there, there’s other service available via microwave links but the latency and throughput are epically terrible.
If it can perform from up there with acceptable latency and throughput then Montana should be no problem
Starlink doesn’t have any special electrical needs. It’s natively DC although the voltage and watts will vary by what unit you get. You can get a DC to DC conversion unit to modify your battery system voltage to whatever you need to run it directly, which you should be doing with almost everything. Electronics and LEDs are natively DC. You can get refrigerators, freezers, fans, heat pump systems, etc that are DC. Running an inverter system changing everything to AC and then especially back to DC again is going to require a 10%+ larger battery bank and solar array because that’s the efficiency penalty.
It should not hamper your decision, but you might wish to take into account Russia or China (or North Korea, barely possibly) deliberately inducing a Kessler Syndrome incident to shut down Starlink “on accident”.
Kurt