Starlink raised their price to $150.00

[O C Diver]

I think a great deal depends on where you cruise. I invested in Starlink for my time in Lake Superior. Of the 6 weeks I spend there, there are probably about 3 weeks without internet and being able to phone the wife. If not for that, I would probably have stayed with cell phone internet access.

Ted

 

[ksanders]

This thread makes me laugh. I remember dial-up internet. I remember cellphone service with limited minutes. I remember internet access on cellphones with limited gigs of data and slow down and upload speeds. I remember being in areas where there wasn't any cell service (that was last summer). I remember when everything cost 15% less (that was a year ago).

In the relative cost of cruising, a <15% increase is a deal. Wished the price of diesel had only gone up 15% in the last 12 months.

Ted

Yea, I paid over $2,000 a month for my KVH VSAT service at 6 mbps.

Statlink raising their price by $15 isn't even on my radar.

But... cruisers will complain about the pressure of the free water on the dingy dock.

 

[Juggerknot]

Just got a notice starlink is raising there portable price from $135 to $150 per month effective April.I paused my service until summer.

It's the Zelensky tax, you are just doing your part for "democracy"

 

[danderer]

More changes per https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/starlink-for-rvs-is-now-starlink-roam/:

• Starlink for RVs has been rebranded to Starlink Roam.
• Starlink Roam is available with Regional (same continent) coverage for $150/mo, the price that Starlink for RVs was recently increased to.
• Starlink Roam is now available with Global coverage for $200/mo.
• The Starlink FAQ now explicitly defines Starlink Roam as being geo-fenced for use "on land", potentially indicating that SpaceX intends to cut off boaters who have been using these plans on the water.
• The Starlink Flat HP system that supports in-motion usage is not eligible to be used with Global service, only Regional.

 

[tpbrady]

I guess it depends by what they mean by on land. I guess there is a database where you can determine what’s land and what’s water. If it is a strict interpretation that roaming systems can’t be used on inland or coastal waters, Starlink is leaving money on the table. If the practical application is how portability used to work then everything should be ok on boats except the price went up.

If anyone is currently on the water with a Starlink on a roaming account please sound off.

Tom

 

[O C Diver]

I guess it depends by what they mean by on land. I guess there is a database where you can determine what’s land and what’s water. If it is a strict interpretation that roaming systems can’t be used on inland or coastal waters, Starlink is leaving money on the table. If the practical application is how portability used to work then everything should be ok on boats except the price went up.

If anyone is currently on the water with a Starlink on a roaming account please sound off.

Tom

I guess it depends on what you call on water. Mine was on today while sitting in my boat slip, without issue.

My guess is that the line probably comes in play at around 20 miles or more offshore. Clearly they want to up sell commercial users who will use a lot of data (commercial fishing boat with 6 or 8 crew). Really don't think they're going after the small recreational cruiser using minimal service. While they can certainly geofence the perimeter of the coast, it seems to me that they're more interested in going after high volume users such as the commercial fishing boats and small charter operators.

Ted

 

[sjisailor]

This is merely an uninformed guess, but my expectation would be that near coastal usage would count as "land" while open water of more than a few miles would not. That would align with their availability map https://www.starlink.com/map

But I suppose they could use GPS to enforce a hard limit at land's edge. That would certainly set my interest to zero.

 

[Fletcher500]

For the price, nothing else comes close so I figured it was worth the gamble in regards to ocean use and what they end up allowing in the future.

I have the HP Flat and started on the install today, including the wire run from the arch down to the Saloon.

Our use case is at the dock, up and down the central and so cal coast but also at the Channel Islands offshore CA. From their map it appears they are still allowing it in those areas. Time will tell.

 

[O C Diver]

Having read the new Starlink Roam material, my interpretation is that for near coastal and inland travel, this won't be an issue.

They expressly state that RV roam with the Dishy that many of us have bought, is prohibited from use while underway. But the penalty (if caught) is the voiding of the warranty on Dishy (like drilling the hole in the back of Dishy didn't void the warranty).

My interpretation is that for most of us, it's no significant change and using it while underway voids the warranty. For those doing offshore and passage making, expect to pay more.

Ted

 

[mvweebles]

No change in Mexico. Still $1300 pesos/mo for RV (current exchange $72 USD). I have paused Starlink as I now have decent WiFi from the marina here due to the upgrades I made to Pepwave and Antenna. So even $72/mo is too much for passive use. Active use while cruising would be fine.

Obviously with Musk, more changes to come.

Peter

 

[MV CELESTIA]

This is merely an uninformed guess, but my expectation would be that near coastal usage would count as "land" while open water of more than a few miles would not. That would align with their availability map https://www.starlink.com/map

But I suppose they could use GPS to enforce a hard limit at land's edge. That would certainly set my interest to zero.

My guess as well is that they cannot geofence accurately along the coast. In particular the PNW. Too many islands that would be eliminated from land use by hugging the continental coastline. But anything possible I guess. Hope it doesn’t get to that.

 

[mvweebles]

Given Space-X cracked the code on satellite internet for the masses, I doubt high-precision geofencing presents much of a technical barrier.

There's no way any marketing depart would expect recreational marine users would to go from $150/mo to $5000/mo. Profile of use is similar to RV. I do expect the plans to evolve to lower cap on usage with $/GB on overage. Right now, Starlink is the only real option so there are few barriers to raising rates, especially with a fairly juicy demographic such as recreational boaters.

Peter

 

[tpbrady]

Peter,

It’s such a small demographic, it’s probably not worth the IT resources to design back office systems to identify it. The main question as I see it is what speed gate do they establish to determine if a terminal is in motion. If prior conjecture that the speed gate was 10 mph and that stays then use on a boat shouldn’t be a problem. If they lower it to 1 or 2 mph that might be a problem if on anchor. I would be interested to see the first report of a roaming system being used in coastal waters while traveling at less than 10 mph. I have a friend in Ketchikan who has installed some Starlink’s on fishing boats. I hope to get a report from him soon.

Tom