Do I Need Starlink in my RV?
Starlink seems to be what everyone is talking about, but there’s still some confusion out there about what it does, and if you actually need it.
Remember Iridium?
If you’re old, like me, you remember back in the late 1990’s, some really smart guys from Motorola launched a constellation of satellites called the Iridium Satellite Constelation The promise was that mobile phones could make and receive calls from anywhere in the world. No cell towers, no dropped calls. Find yourself on top of Mount Everest or in the depths of the Amazon jungle, you could make a call.
Although there are still Iridium satellites in orbit, the idea of telephone communications via Iridium was a complete commercial failure.
The Birth of Starlink
Enter Elon Musk with money and ideas. He boldly decided that the same satellite constellation concept could be used for internet connectivity. Starlink was born. Starlink is a constellation of small satellites in low earth orbit that allows a person to access the internet from (almost) anywhere. All you need is a small antenna that communicates with the satellite constellation and a clear view of the sky.
What Does Starlink Do?
At the time of this writing, Starlink is similar to the older Iridium constellation in that it’s a one trick pony. It connects you with the internet. Just like an ISP in your home might do. There is no phone service (caveat - read below) and it doesn’t give you television channels (caveat - read below). You get access to the internet. That’s it.
Is Starlink Access Good?
Well now there’s a can of worms. The answer to that question lies in another question - what do you need it to do?
In my opinion - yes, Starlink is good internet access. It’s fast (mostly), it’s reliable and as long as you can get a clear view of the sky, it works great.
Now - the caveats. What do you need it to do? Are you doing general web browsing, checking your work email, maybe watching some streaming videos? Starlink is going to work great for you no matter what.
Where you get into problems with Starlink is when you need more consistent internet speeds. Are you working remotely and need a VoIP (voice-over-ip) phone for work? You might see issues. Are you a big time gamer? You’re going to have problems at certain times. Yes, it can work, and there are ways to minimize possible issues, but you need to be aware of potential slowdowns.
When Is Starlink Access Slow?
Assuming I’m speaking to a group of RVers here who, if you get Starlink or already have it, have the basic Starlink Roam Unlimited package that runs (currently) $165 a month. That allows you to move your Starlink antenna anywhere in the country - unlike the home package that ties it to one location.
Part of the down side of that package is that Starlink can choose to deprioritize your traffic on their network. Your 150 Mbps speeds that were working great this morning, are now creeping along at 7-8Mbps and you can barely get a web page to load let alone stream any videos. You can add an option on to your account so your traffic is not deprioritized, but that’s an extra cost on an already somewhat pricy package.
When Will Starlink Traffic be Deprioritized?
There’s no hard and fast rule for knowing when this might happen. I’ve seen it happen most of the time in the evenings. Especially if you’re parked in a pretty popular area and there are a bunch of other RVs with Starlink antennas out. Everyone gets home, turns on the TV, and starts watching streaming shows and BAM! Starlink throttles everyone’s bandwidth back.
It can also happen when you’re in a generally busy area with a number of residential users of Starlink. They get priority over your traffic.
Is There a Way to Prioritize My Traffic
Starlink is owned by Elon Musk. The richest man in the world. Is there a way to prioritize your traffic? Absolutely. Pay more money. Currently, the cost to add 50Gb of priority data to a roaming plan is $250 a month. Adding 1Tb of data is $1000 a month.
If you’re in a business situation where that pays off, it’s definitely worthwhile. But the reality is, most consumers don’t need that kind of data priority. However, it’s good to know. If you have Starlink and suddenly, your streaming video starts and stops or shows in low resolution. That’s exactly the problem - Starlink has deprioritized your data.
What About Phone and TV Channels?
If you’re already familiar with services like DirectTV that offer you both internet access and a lineup of television channels, you’re probably wondering how one gets TV if you have Starlink. The answer is streaming. I personally have a Roku device in my RV connected to my TV that I can stream video in different apps. Amazon Fire TV is also an option as well as AppleTV and probably more that I’m not remembering right now.
Every major content provider out there has an app for the various streamig devices. Between Paramount, Hulu, Netflix and HBOMax, you should have plenty of options for watching TV. There’s also Sling, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV (yes - even if you’re not using their device) and a whole lot more apps. I’d recommend that you look at their channel lineup and see what you want to watch and sign up for that service. If you feel the need in the future to add more services, you can always do that. Most of them offer free trials as well.
One Big Huge Gotcha
OK - you bit the bullet and you got Starlink. Plus you’re gonna start streaming now (yay!), but you want to make sure you have live TV channels so you can catch local sports, or the news, or whatever. So you went ahead and got Hulu with Live TV, or YouTube TV, or Sling or whatever service it is that you decided to get.
Most of those services track your location. There are several ways they can do it and all of them suck - especially for those of us in the RV space. With Starlink, your location is never the same. And all of those TV providers will assume that your location has changed every time you open the app. A message will pop up on the screen that says “We notice you changed your home location. Would you like us to update it to give you local channels?” You say “yes” and it works great.
The big problem is - they only allow you to change your home location a certain number of times each year. Usually between 2 and 5 depending on the service. If you’re full time in your RV, you probably move more than 2 times each year. After you reach the limit of moves, the streaming service will no longer give you any live tv channels. Hoping to watch the NFL playoffs? Sorry - outta luck.
Some of you techies might be saying “OH - no problem - my router does VPN.” If you’re using a VPN, they know. I know for a fact that Hulu says “It looks like you’re using a VPN for your access. Live TV is not available as long as your VPN is active.”. Yep. Sucks.
The Bottom Line with Starlink
My opinion - despite the gotchas that I’ve outlined here - Starlink has been great for me. I work on the road all the time. I’m not doing voice or lots of Zoom calls or anything critical like that. So I’m able to deal with some of the slow downs and such that Starlink has. I also have a backup T-Mobile account that I can go to if things get really bad.
The bottom line - if you need (or want) to have solid internet access on the road in your RV, bit the bullet and get yourself a Starlink setup. You’ll be glad you did. And if you want help determining the best way to set things up in your rig, let us know and we’d be glad to help.
