I received Starlink web at residence. I want I knew these particulars first

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I just lately moved to a way more rural space, so getting Starlink arrange was one among my high priorities. My space is an web lifeless zone the place you would possibly get a little bit of 4G on a close-by hill, however that’s about it. No mobile for telephone calls, and the most effective I can hope from a landline connection is 3 Mbps. As a contemporary man with a contemporary household full of recent gadgets, I want quick web—so I readied Starlink even earlier than my youngsters’ beds.

It labored fairly nicely, too. At first I heard a bunch of buzzing noises that I used to be not anticipating, however that type of coil whine is outwardly fairly typical. A couple of minutes later, I used to be on-line!

Nevertheless it wasn’t all easy crusing. Having Starlink isn’t like having fiber web, and I bumped into a number of surprises alongside the way in which. Listed below are all of the issues I want I’d recognized earlier than getting Starlink at residence.

Starlink is healthier when it’s mounted

As quickly as I had Starlink working, I messaged my mates saying “Area web put in!” with the next picture:

<img decoding="async" data-wp-class--hide="state.isContentHidden" data-wp-class--show="state.isContentVisible" data-wp-init="callbacks.setButtonStyles" data-wp-on-async--click="actions.showLightbox" data-wp-on-async--load="callbacks.setButtonStyles" data-wp-on-async-window--resize="callbacks.setButtonStyles" src="https://b2c-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Starlink-internet-dish-in-original-cardboard-box-just-opened.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" alt="Starlink internet dish in original cardboard box just opened" class="wp-image-2874541" loading="lazy"/> Jon Martindale / Foundry

That’s proper. The Starlink dish is propped up within the cardboard field it got here in, sitting on some steps resulting in a garden that was by no means meant as its everlasting residence. It labored nicely sufficient for the primary evening—however that’s so long as I'd ever need it to be there.

Seems, Starlink performs greatest when the dish is mounted in a location that’s free from obstructions and oriented in a method that maintains a reference to as many Starlink satellites as doable. The Starlink app makes the entire course of fairly simple, with dynamically adjusting on-screen graphics that enable you to rotate the dish into its optimum dealing with. My ground-mounted efficiency was (clearly) unhealthy, so taking the time to get it into a greater place was worthwhile.

However I’m no handyman. I can construct a PC, certain, however hoofing up a ladder and drilling into crimson brick isn’t one thing I’m tremendous comfy doing—so I introduced in an area skilled TV antenna installer.

Inside a few hours, he had the dish mounted by my roof. Efficiency jumped from 50 Mbps to almost 200 Mbps downstream. An enormous enchancment with higher protection, much less likelihood of somebody simply wandering into my yard and stealing the dish, and no likelihood of my youngsters using their bikes over the cable. That’s a win-win-win.

…however Starlink will be ugly when mounted

Personally, I feel the Starlink dish seems to be fairly cool. Its a novel sight in comparison with all these rounded satellite tv for pc dishes that you simply’ve seemingly seen in city facilities over the past a number of a long time. It’s extra trendy.

<img decoding="async" data-wp-class--hide="state.isContentHidden" data-wp-class--show="state.isContentVisible" data-wp-init="callbacks.setButtonStyles" data-wp-on-async--click="actions.showLightbox" data-wp-on-async--load="callbacks.setButtonStyles" data-wp-on-async-window--resize="callbacks.setButtonStyles" src="https://b2c-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Starlink-internet-dish-mounted-by-roof-on-brick-wall.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" alt="Starlink internet dish mounted by roof on brick wall" class="wp-image-2874542" loading="lazy"/> Jon Martindale / Foundry

However the makeshift pipe-mount system I used? Eh, that leaves rather a lot to be desired. There are extra enticing first-party mounts you should buy at extra value, however an enormous pipe on an unpainted brace is cheaper. Sadly, my spouse is even much less of a fan.

It’s not like I’m going to be it a lot up there. But when the outside aesthetics of your house are vital to you, it’s in all probability value spending some extra time (and cash) than I did to get it mounted in a method that will get you nice efficiency whereas wanting good.

Starlink’s add velocity continues to be missing

One facet of fiber web that’s straightforward to miss is that it isn’t simply blazingly quick for downloads—you may get add speeds which might be usually as quick as your obtain speeds. That makes fast work when importing work paperwork, private images, YouTube movies, and extra.

<img decoding="async" data-wp-class--hide="state.isContentHidden" data-wp-class--show="state.isContentVisible" data-wp-init="callbacks.setButtonStyles" data-wp-on-async--click="actions.showLightbox" data-wp-on-async--load="callbacks.setButtonStyles" data-wp-on-async-window--resize="callbacks.setButtonStyles" src="https://b2c-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Starlink-internet-speed-test-download-and-upload-results-screenshot.jpg?quality=50&strip=all&w=1200" alt="Starlink internet speed test download and upload results screenshot" class="wp-image-2874543" loading="lazy"/> Jon Martindale / Foundry

As I stated at the beginning, although, Starlink isn’t fiber. I’m getting round 150 Mbps common obtain speeds with peaks as much as 300 Mbps, however my add speeds are decidedly slower. I’ve seen some folks put up screenshots of fifty Mbps uploads, however I’ve but to see mine break 30 Mbps. As a rule, it’s nearer to fifteen Mbps.

To be honest, 15 Mbps is lots for sending images over messaging apps and streaming my webcam throughout Discord D&D periods, however it’s much more noticeable after I’m making an attempt to ship lengthy movies to family and friends. And I don’t suppose I’d get far making an attempt to livestream my gaming on Twitch at something over 1080p with this type of web.

Starlink’s router is underwhelming

This would possibly sound like a humblebrag, however the bundled Starlink Gen 3 router—a tri-band Wi-Fi 6 router with a claimed protection of simply over 3,000 sq. ft—wasn’t sufficient for my new home. Fact is, my place is about half of that, but I nonetheless had hassle getting sign all over the place on account of partitions, obstructions, and different sources of interference.

Might I've place the Starlink router in a greater spot for higher protection? Yeah, perhaps. And there’s even a mesh system I may’ve employed if I used to be married to Starlink’s {hardware}.

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However, thankfully, I've a a lot better TP-Hyperlink Archer GE800 Wi-Fi 7 router, so I didn’t have to hassle. It’s full overkill for a civilian gamer like myself, however it does supply incredible protection in my wonky-walled residence, and I already know my method round it from the previous 12 months of devoted operation. (Lean extra about why it is best to get your personal router.)

Props to Starlink for making the bridging course of tremendous easy, although. Simply plug them in, swap the router to bypass mode within the app, a fast router reboot, and it was good to go in lower than 10 minutes.

There’s no planning for a world outage

Two days after I received my Starlink dish mounted, my service went down. My spouse had simply left the home and closed the door the very second my PC connection dropped, so I assumed it was her fault. Perhaps she knocked the mount free by slamming the door too exhausting?

However because it seems, it wasn’t something so innocuous. In reality, all the world Starlink community had gone down.

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I managed to textual content just a few mates from my board recreation group to see if they might ship me recommendations on learn how to get it working once more. They despatched me screengrabs from Reddit, Twitter, DownDetector. It confirmed that it wasn’t simply my router or my dish. Certainly, all of Starlink was down.

Apparently one thing like this has occurred just a few instances earlier than, however I even have mates who’ve had Starlink for years who declare there’s by no means been any outages so far as they know. So I’m not anticipating this to occur once more anytime quickly, however tech is tech and it may fail. Even the magic of house web can cease working every so often.

Your folks will choose you for Starlink

Since November 2024, folks world wide have been protesting towards Elon Musk and those that help him. Many Tesla house owners have added stickers to their automobiles, promising that their Teslas had been purchased earlier than the CEO went loopy, all to fend off potential assaults.

It hasn’t gotten that unhealthy for Starlink, however I do should put up with mates who ask if I couldn’t have discovered one other technique to get on-line. Certainly, if I may have, I'd have! However whereas Amazon is engaged on Mission Kuiper, its personal low-Earth-orbit community of broadband satellites, that’s nonetheless years away from being absolutely operational and will take even longer to catch as much as Starlink. Plus, so far as billionaire CEOs go, it’s extra a lateral transfer than something to go from Musk to Bezos.

There are different suppliers with geostationary satellites which may have bandwidth, however the latency is poor. Eutelsat may be a reliable possibility for me sooner or later, however not but. Finally, the efficiency and viability of Starlink trumps my very own misgivings about supporting a Musk-related firm. Till that modifications, I’ll should swallow my pleasure and the condescension of some mates.

Starlink: Unbelievable tech, flawed execution

There’s no denying it: Starlink feels just like the type of Jetsons-era future tech that has at all times captivated me. It simply works, it’s practically flawless, and it doesn’t have many actual opponents. It’s actually cool that I get super-fast, low-latency web in a spot that’s in any other case barely on-line.

However I want I’d paid extra for a better-looking, less-obvious mounting system. I want I’d had a greater backup resolution in place simply in case it went down. I want it wasn’t tied to probably the most odious CEOs on the planet.

For now, it’s the most effective resolution accessible and a pleasure to make use of. It’s exhausting to not see the way it could possibly be even higher, although.