Same $199 hardware offer ($924 RRP) as from Starlink direct, but not restricted to rural addresses
Currently $599 direct from Starlink for non-rural addresses.
$139/mo for high-speed, low-latency internet country-wide.
Speeds in Australia currently range from 90-240 Mbps (may be lower during peak hours).
Downside is you may have to wrestle with Officeworks for returns within 30 days, where Starlink direct might be easier….
I mean sure, if all you can get is FTTN and you live along way from the node give it a go I guess.
Isn't that the target market for Starlink?
But it sure isn’t a long term alternative to the fibre upgrade NBN is slowly doing.
Are people actually expecting it to be an alternative to fibre NBN?
Idiots all the time call it the “NBN Killer”.
Who are they? What's the context? Are they referring to NBN fixed wireless/FTTN/Satellite?
@eug: Dude Telstra has even announced its pushing Starlink for Rural customers now.
It very much is a fixed NBN killer, because that's the only NBN option that is comparable being space bound.
@camshandez: Fixed wireless is pretty good. I find my connection to be highly reliable and consistent 70 down with low jitter and decent ping. Better overall than FTTN. The 5g upgrade to fixed wireless should be pretty good too. Fixed wireless is also half the price of starlink.
@Dsiee: I agree. Not that it's really meant to be replacing or competing with it (yet). Having used both NBN FW and Starlink, the latency and throughput has been better on Starlink, although I'll admit there are dropouts.
Where I'm using Starlink atm, I'm somewhat consistently getting 330Mbps down, whereas with NBN FW, I was getting around 50Mbps.
This is an alternative for rural users who currently use geostationary orbit satellite (e.g. SkyMuster NBN), that in ideal conditions tops out at 50Mb down, 600ms ping.
Compared to that, Starlink is way faster, with much better ping (~50ms). However, it is not perfect. E.g. It can suffer from inconsistent performance, particularly in heavy rain.
Starlink is not at all meant to be an alternative for fixed line customers (including FTTN).
Even Telstra agrees that Starlink is a better solution…
"Telstra partners with Elon Musk's Starlink for regional satellite services"
https://www.theage.com.au/technology/telstra-partners-with-e…
@netjock: Telstra have effectively thrown up the hands in desperation and concluded that "if you can beat them, join them".
There is absolutely no comparison between Skymuster and Starlink services, quality, and cost to the consumer.
@d123: Imo the NBN should transition into a similar thought pattern. I can't imagine the sky muster services are cheap to run. Maybe they could buy an exclusive license to it and subsidise it to make it more affordable for people on rural areas?
That said I'm all for them continuing to focus on fttp. And transitioning anyone on fixed wireless (who previously had copper) onto equiv fibre, even if done in conjunction with ausgrid/electrical distribution. If they've got grid connected electricity they should be able to get internet imo.
If anyone can make better net profit selling anything over anything they will.
FTFY.
Welcome to the world, where people do things for profit.
It isn’t meant to be a replacement for fibre. It’s an incredible option for people who can’t access quality fixed line internet and those who travel. Friends that are travelling the country in their van are currently in the middle of nowhere getting over 200Mbps down. Yet they don’t even have mobile coverage. And starlink is far better for people who can only get nbn satellite which is atrocious.
@PainToad: Have you actually spoken to anyone who has it or used it yourself? The latency is very reasonable too at about 40ms. And the upload is around 20-30Mbps. And again, it’s not designed for anyone who can get quality fixed line internet!
Edit: here’s a Speedtest from my friends in the middle of rural WA right now. 271/26 with 40 ms ping. https://ibb.co/G7fP4J4
@PainToad: You’re clearly trolling at this point. No one is saying it’s better than FTTH, cable or decent FTTN, literally no one. But there are plenty of situations, including some people on FTTN, where these starlink speeds and latency would be a god send.
Yup, my parents were about to sign it up as their wireless nbn was shocking, then it turned out nbn hadn’t actually turned on one of the towers…
Even right now, I’m 100/40 and nowhere near an exchange and I’m heavily thinking about this as a dedicated work setup (this for work, downgrade nbn to 50/20. Sure, I’ll probably get fibre by 2026 but it’d be worth the cost in the meantime for my sanity.
But it sure isn’t a long term alternative to the fibre upgrade NBN is slowly doing
Slowly is the key word for the fibre upgrade. Work has not started in many of the suburbs in the NBN list, and is not even scheduled to start yet. No-one seems to know when, or if, it will ever go ahead.
It well and truly is underway, I got connected to FTTP from FTTN. Although my FTTN speeds were good to begin with (it could hit 100/40 consistently).
@nomadspartan: That's great to hear. I think my area is dated for early 2024 (starting) so will likely be later on in the year it's done.
Fttp should've been the aim from the start. I'm hoping they'll start to increase the tiers to allow 100mbps as the standard rate for most houses. Right now for me at least the price difference isn't really justifiable. Even 100 is too slow. If it's anything decent, I'll upload things at the uni instead at 400-1000Mbps.
They upgrades are well underway, I was upgraded from FttN to FttP, and it was very easy to organise. They've upgraded a lot of people in my area that have requested faster speed plans.
Plenty of other areas are about to begin getting upgraded also looking at the list.
@SimAus007: It's great that the upgrades are underway in your area, but that's not the case in my area, and in many other areas. All my queries have produced a "dunno when" response.
It is, for people stuck on FTTN. I know someone on FTTN NBN in the outer suburbs of Adelaide who cannot get greater than 25MBps due to the length of the phone line.
I live in Sydney. Up until 6 months ago, I was stuck on FTTN. Couldn't get more than 40 Mbps, no matter how much I paid for it.
So yeah, worth it.
Yep. 48Mbps here. Apparently my suburb is on the schedule to be upgraded in 2025. It would have been done cheaper in 2019 if the Liberals hadn't (profanity) it.
i had ADSL 2+ back in the days, 5km from the exchange.
was fine with getting 1.5MBps lol and i even managed to do that playing COD MW2 bahahaha
It's such bullshit. We doubled our speed by replacing the cable that was in the house (it was split a lot) and getting an old Telstra tech to come out and he fixed some corroded telephone wire connections.
For people stuck on SkyMuster NBN, congested NBN Fixed Wireless, or little to no 3G/4G/5G, it sure is faster.
Faster than my fixed wireless NBN which is all I have access to from NBN.
The best alternative to Starlink for me would be a local ISP who can do 20/10 for $160 per month. NBN fixed wireless is available but practically unusable.
So yes, for many of us, this is much faster and/or cheaper than any equivalent service.
yeah this would still be faster then my wireless nbn, think the starlink drops out a fair bit though
Yup and the fan boys neglect to mention it can suffer from mini drop outs. Might be fine for most but if you are in the middle of a battlebit remastered game…
battlebit was last week mate
It's Dave the diver now
Silly question, but why would you need uninterrupted internet for Dave the Diver?
@tightm8: Dude don’t you remember ocean gate. They lost starlink signal due to micro drop on their Xbox controller
I've had mine for a couple of months and haven't had systemic or frequent dropouts. In fact, I can only recall one brief period (maybe 10mins) where it dropped signal for a few seconds a few times.
All in all I rate it highly, the only thing it doesn't do well is upload speed, so video calling + screen sharing (for work) tests it.
This coming from someone who has an extreme dislike for Elmo …
Hi mate, I am looking at this as we are limited to fixed wireless. I am very tempted.
Do you game at all? Okay ping - would you share your approx location?
Not OP but I've been on it for about 12 months now. When the hardware cost 900 odd bucks, thanks Obama.
I'm in outer suburban Melbourne where I only have fixed wireless and it was useless during peak times. I game most nights across a variety of FPS games and it's perfectly fine. Battlebit, Battlefield, Darktide, diablo etc. If I wanted to be a sweaty progamer in quake or something then sure, the additional 30ms of latency is going to be noticeable but for regular gaming it's perfectly playable. Even weather events, it doesn't shit the bed unless it's hail and cloud blanketed. Just ensure you have a clear line of sight to the southern sky, you can download the app and survey your current location to check this.
It's only downside is upload throughput if that's a concern. It generally caps out at 5-10mbit.
A little north of Canberra.
Ping is usually around 25ms, but can spike up to ~40. I've not done any real gaming in this location, but have previously on a variety of connections and wouldn't consider Starlink to be ideal for gaming, but should be manageable for most things.
Are you Russian for hating Elon so much lolz ..
Yeah, definitely should be faster, but yes, you will have to contend with brief dropouts.
My speeds on Starlink seem to range from 190Mbps to 330Mbps, whereas my old NBN FW was peaking at 50Mbps.
Do you need to subscribe now as you purchase.. or do you buy the hardware and then sign up later ie can I hold this for bit first? Because via starlinks site you sign up and they start billing after it arrives then you can suspended etc .. I just want to get a couple now for use later.
I'm quite keen to know this also. If I don't have to use it within a certain time, I'd be happy to keep it until my future use case comes up.
This also makes for a cool coffee table to prank guests with when it realigns with their coffee cup on it.
The officeworks site suggests you can buy this kit and then sign up to the Roam subscription, for a campervan etc - is that the case?
i believe roaming is monthly extra on top of the monthly plan. will only work on the pause not while you are actually moving as far as i know.
Unles you plump for the more expensive gear I think:
IN-MOTION USE
The Flat High Performance Starlink allows users to enjoy high-speed, low-latency internet while in motion.
With a wide field of view and enhanced GPS capabilities, the Flat High Performance Starlink can connect to more satellites, allowing for consistent connectivity on the go.
The hardware is designed for a permanent installation on your vehicle and is resilient in harsh environments.
Currently available for order and use in select markets.
Yep roam plan allows you to use it anywhere around the country and pause the plan. It’s charged at a higher monthly rate though. $174 per month. Mobility is the plan that allows it to be used while in a moving vehicle. It’s $399 a month and the hardware is $3740.
@Orrelljet: Yeh, would have to really want to use it while driving. Guessing only celebrities in their tour RVs etc will be going for that plan lol. https://www.starlink.com/mobility
@dwhes: Or a family with four kids all demanding Netflix or otherwise wondering “ are we there yet?”.
@dwhes: It'd be great to have for a few days when camping or whatever but I don't think I'd wanna have to pay for a month at a time. If it was like $6-10/day or something for a bit of internet in an area without I'd probably be fine with it.
Otherwise it's just heaps pricey for that use case.
This is confusing as well. Essentially it's saying you can activate it on a Roam subscription instead of residential and then you save $400 on hardware?
Yes, the hardware is the same, it's just whatever plan you pick when you activate the kit.
You're getting the kit for $199 instead of $924 $599.
Reason rrp of 924 down to 199? Review of starlink is quite bad in Australia.
You're probably reading the wrong reviews. ;)
The people I know using it absolutely love it. They average 100-200Mbps. And have internet anywhere in the country while they’re travelling in their van. The latency is very reasonable too. Also fantastic for people who can’t get fixed line NBN. Given how poor nbn satellite is, and to a degree, nbn fixed wireless.
I saw youtube video of a guy that mounted it on a huge pole/tower, because the trees around his cabin interfered with the link.
As someone who has been testing it in our company I can tell you that you are wrong.
Perhaps lots of capacity left on the satellites.
It's improved a lot, I reviewed it back in pre-release beta and whilst it was fast it had dropouts long enough to quit video streams when switching between satellites.
Last half of 2022, we installed it again, same roof, flawless. Absolutely phenomenal improvement over the skymuster network.
P.s. Telstra has also announced its pushing Starlink as the rural option
Can you activate roam on this?
Sure can. Exactly what I’ll be enabling and then pausing it until we need it for travelling.
Directly from the Officeworks page:
Two service plans available: Residential & Roam.
Residential: for use at a fixed location, may not be available in all areas.
Roam: for use at any location where Starlink has coverage, immediately available.
Is this the best hardware for travelling though or is there a version that's designed for that?
The hardware for roam and residential is exactly the same. There is a much higher grade hardware and plan if you’re wanting to use whilst driving. That’s called the mobility plan. It’s $399 a month and the hardware is $3740 https://www.starlink.com/mobility
@Horacio: Yeah I wouldn't even use that if I had a caravan. The regular one has a travel mode or something if I remember correctly that locks it in a safe position for when in motion (doesn't allow it to be used) a bit like a thermomix.
Awesome deal. Been wanting to get it from starlink direct but not in a rural location for the lower price. Will pick up one for our caravan and just put it on roam mode and pause the plan.
What happens when you just put it on roam mode and pause the plan?
You don’t get charged anything until you enable the plan again. Can turn it on and off again on a monthly basis as needed. It’s just a higher rate though, $174 a month as needed. Instead of residential which is $139 ongoing.
Do you know if its a full month charged every time you switch it on? I'd be tempted as a backup to NBN, but not if i get charged $174 for a day or two outage…
Yeh it is unfortunately. It’s not pro rated.
That's what I thought, but it looks like it's (now?) pro-rata. The pro-rata line wasn't on that page a few months ago when I last checked.
What I understand from that is if your billing cycle is the 1st of the month and you activate it on the 15th, you should be charged about $89 for service from the 15th - 31st even if you only need it for one day. But if you activate it on the 30th, you'd be charged $11.22 for the 30th and 31st. Is that how it works in practice?
@eug: The language is odd - seems maybe you do ok when you start midway through a month (or 'billing cycle') and pay only for the day remaining that month, but if you stop partway through a cycle you pay for the whole cycle anyway. Anyone with experience of this?
@Horacio: @Horacio yeh that’s how it reads to me too. So coming out of a pause is likely to be the only real benefit if you happen to do so towards the end of the billing cycle and then pause it again before the next month starts and charges you in full.
This is not the roam hardware tho. This is for residential.
It's the same 'Standard Hardware Kit' for residential, whether you're on the 'Standard' plan (Standard service for residential customers at one location), or the Mobile plan (Use Starlink at any location on land in your continent with best effort service. Pause and un-pause at any time. All services will be best effort and are not permitted for use on the ocean).
Roam uses 12V primary power. Residential 240V
@Atomik17: Roam is the same 'Standard Kit' as sold by Officeworks, Starlink direct etc….
The Standard Starlink is best for residential users and every day internet applications. Your Starlink Kit includes everything you need to connect to the internet in minutes. Learn more.
@b3au: Does that mean the kit can use 12V or would I need an inverter or something to run it? Like both power adaptors in the kit
@lancesta: Inverter I guess. I wonder what the average current draw is.. this forum probably not the best place to get all the deets though
@Horacio: actually the specs are on their site - 50-70w iirc. I wonder if the price will soon drop on the more expensive receivers that don't have to motion track the satellites
Does that mean the kit can use 12V or would I need an inverter or something to run it?
You'll need an inverter. You can convert it to run off 12V but it's a little technical.
There's some power usage info in this post from a previous deal.
Does that mean the kit can use 12V or would I need an inverter or something to run it?
I don't have one so I'm only guessing here, but I assume it feeds in 240V, meaning you'd need an inverter to convert your 12V to 240V, then the device probably has a rectifier in it to step it back down to 12V again, making the whole process a waste of effort 😁
@1st-Amendment: The dish runs on 48V so at least it's not too big a waste of time. The router probably runs on 12V though. It'll definitely be more efficient if you remove one level of conversion.
@eug: When hiking through the mountains I might focus on the EPIRB over taking a starlink kit + inverter then lol.
Obviously just a joke but it'd be sick if it could've run of a cell, it'd make it a somewhat feasible addition for some events, particularly if there's a large group involved. But I don't hike so I wouldn't know.
That said if it was 12V and was a daily deal it'd also be useful for the yearly family camping trip but this kinda outprices even that.
Incorrect, you’re thinking of starlink mobility. Which is the plan and hardware for using in a moving vehicle. Roam just allows you to use it anywhere in the country and pause as needed, at a higher monthly fee. The roam and residential hardware is the same. And the plan is just chosen in the app. https://www.starlinkhardware.com/starlink-rv-vs-starlink-res…
Correct. I mistaken it.
hi zuck
Only Mark Zuckerberg would say something like that
Do we get rate limited?