Starlink Mini

[chorky]

Does anyone know of any SAR insurance plans? You know like how Garmin has SAR 100 for 35/yr which supposedly covers things like emergency evac including rotary flights. I'm wondering if I could cancel my Garmin, which has been having issues lately, and opt for starlink with full internet instead of just messages. Although you don't get the 'emergency' button.....


Edit - looks like global rescue has options at a pretty steep price. About $360/yr but that covers around the globe, so any trips to Canada would be covered. Maybe,....because there is always a 'but'
https://www.globalrescue.com/person...UPgBoCuJsQAvD_BwE#1638265836823-d39efc87-87f3


Comparatively, the Garmin service only covers up to $100,000. Which is barely the coverage for a rotary medevac assuming your not too far out in the woods.

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[smlobx]

@chorky we use Global Rescue as we believe it to be the best available. We travel remotely in many places across the world. They even offer rescue or evacuation in many of the most dangerous countries in the world.

How much is your life worth?

 

[Robb0]

360 a year is not a bad price imo, depends how many trips you planning to do per year roughly. Rather be safe than sorry

 

[T-Rock]

It is spendy for those of us without a residential plan - $159/mo is a killer for me. I probably could live with the data limits as I only would use it occasionally, which is where the monthly cost is hard to justify. Personally I think that is a shame and a market segment they are tossing away. Lots of weekend overlanders who would use this to stay connected and watch videos or look up routes/fuel stations/grocery or other stores etc. while out an about. I would use it for that on off-road runs, overlanding and for some road trips.

 

[Zaptrac]

I'm sure I am not the only one here to receive this email. I was super excited at first. Until I saw the limited data plan. Still a cool option. Would be nice if they still offered unlimited data with this, I can easily use 300 gigs in a day with work alone.

Introducing Starlink Mini

You are invited for early access. Order by July 4th, 2024.

Starlink Mini is a compact, portable kit that can easily fit in a backpack, designed to provide high-speed, low-latency internet on the go. Starlink Mini includes a built-in WiFi router, lower power consumption, DC power input, and max download speeds over 100 Mbps*. See Starlink Mini specifications here. You are invited to purchase the Starlink Mini Kit for $599 and bundle the Mini Roam service with your existing Residential service plan for an additional $30/mo. Our goal is to reduce the price of Starlink, especially for those around the world where connectivity has been unaffordable or completely unavailable. But in regions with high usage, where Starlink Mini places additional demand on the satellite network, we are offering a limited number of the Starlink Mini Kits to start for $599. The Mini Roam service is an additional $30/mo for 50GB of Mobile data that can be used anywhere in the United States ($1/GB for additional data). You must continue your Residential service on your current Starlink to use Mini Roam service. This invitation is only valid for one order on this account

What I find interesting though is Starlink contradicts themselves with their plan details saying the mini plan has no data cap
What is the "Mini" service plan?
(Currently only available in select markets)
Starlink "Mini" Service is a more affordable service plan that is designed for Personal, Family, or Household-use at a fixed, land-based location in select markets. It can be used only with the Starlink Mini Kit. Users will have an unlimited amount of deprioritized data each month with no long-term contracts or commitments.
This service plan includes unlimited deprioritized data with slower speeds compared to our Standard offering.
With the Starlink "Mini" Service Plan:

• There are no data caps and no speed caps
• Speeds should range from 50 - 100 Mbps (as compared to 150 - 250 Mbps for the Standard service plan, see specific Standard download speeds here)
• In-motion and ocean use is not allowed
• Pause Service feature is not supported
• Ability to opt-in to purchase Priority or Mobile Priority Data is not supported
• Users can only upgrade to Mobile Regional, and no other service plans
• To sign up for Starlink "Mini" Service please visit www.starlink.com/residential, enter a valid address for a country where Starlink Mini is live, and select "Mini" for hardware. Note: You cannot transfer your Starlink Mini Kit to customers outside of your country.

It is a pretty nifty idea though. Maybe I can get in touch with customer care and get an answer on the data cap before the July 4th expiration.



@WILDHOBO Tagging you just because I know you use yours extensively and though you would be interested to hear about this.

Required to have a residential plan and not allowed to use it while in motion or at sea. Yeah this is instantly dead for me

 

[Trebuchet57]

I like the idea of the mini but I just upgraded to the gen 3 and the speed is impressive. The size of the dish is not huge and power consumption would lend itself to be used with the inverter on the Gladiator.

 

[chorky]

I ended up ordering the starlink mini

I will say customer support from them is not great. 6 messages in, with at least 4 replies for each one, and they still cannot answer my question. Fortunately my service has only ever had one hiccup for maybe 20 minutes and thus I never have had to contact them regarding any issues.

And now I am glad I did do this order. I think Starlink screwed up pretty bad last few weeks. When they initially started this "mini' plan, the appeal of it to me was cheap (infrequent use), a super small satellite, and one that contained the router internal to it. It can be powered directly from USB-C, or via an included 110v adapter. So you could plug it directly into the dash usb-c charger of the gladiator instead of being required to utilize an inverter as with the normal satellite. So electrical efficiency use increases.

The problem for me was revolving around the plan. It was not well depicted, and customer service is completely incompetent in understanding my question. My question was "if I realize that 50gb of data per month is not enough, can I cancel the 'mini roam' plan, and utilize the Starlink Mini to reactivate a new standard roam plan at $150/mo". For some reason they just can't get it and keep telling me "yes you can opt in to more data for $1/gb". Which is not the question....

Anyway, what further complicated this question for me is that, just a few days ago, if you went to starlink roam plan options, you could actually purchase the mini satellite to be used with the $150/mo roam plan. This made me confused as to the benefit of the 'mini' plan other than it being cheaper for of course 'limited' data. However, as I now look at their website tracking my shipment, I see that the Starlink Mini can no longer be ordered along side the standard $150/mo roam plan.

So I think they screwed up pretty big. In terms of making mistakes on their website, making people think they can straight up buy the mini satellite and also not providing accurate information in the FAQ section about their plans. I think the intent is that the mini satellite is only offered with the mini plan, and that the standard roam plan will require the full size satellite. This is a total pull out of my butt guess. But it kinda falls inline with the experience I have had with customer service responses the last week.

Anyway, we'll see. I will test it out. Should be here this weekend, and hopefully I will see an option to switch to a full $150/mo roam plan (if I end up needing/wanting that).

 

[Sw00per]

What the f' do you do for work that you burn through 300 GB in a day?

Jeep P0__... fill in the blanks. HA!

 

[chorky]

Ha well that's funny. I finally got a correct answer back.

"
Chad,

I do apologize that your initial question was not addressed.

You are able to Cancel your Mini Roam service plan at any time. When reactivating the service on the Starlink Mini, at this time you will only be able to reactivate service with the Mini-Roam service plan or a Mobile-Priority service plan. At this time you can not reactivate your service on the Mini with the Standard or Mobile-Regional (Roam) service plan for the amount of USD$150/MONTH. So you will not be able to use this plan for the Mini.

Furthermore, as a reminder you will need to have your primary Standard Residential service plan active in order to have a Starlink Mini service plan. In other words, if you Cancel the Standard service plan in which your Mini is connected to, both your lines of service will end.

I hope that I helped better answer your questions.

Is there any other questions or concerns that I can address today?

I look forward to your response.

"


So they did screw up on their website. And for reference for now the mini satellite is ONLY available for use with the 'mini-roam' plan.

I do want to address something else. Another confusion I had was how this whole "adding $1/gb" deal works. Was it going to be a 'pre pay' kinda thing? Or a pay as you go. Customer support also could not answer that. Now that my mini is ordered, I see in my account there is a radio button for exceeding the 50gb cap. The picture speaks for itself. This is exactly what I had hoped for, to make things seamless. Now I just need to run some data transfer simulations to check network needs of personal computing like emails and things, vs some very minor work related GIS tasks in case I'm camping when a fire blows up. (Unfortunately I am tasked as a WFDSS driver, which really sucks....)

 

[WILDHOBO]

Ha well that's funny. I finally got a correct answer back.

"
Chad,

I do apologize that your initial question was not addressed.

You are able to Cancel your Mini Roam service plan at any time. When reactivating the service on the Starlink Mini, at this time you will only be able to reactivate service with the Mini-Roam service plan or a Mobile-Priority service plan. At this time you can not reactivate your service on the Mini with the Standard or Mobile-Regional (Roam) service plan for the amount of USD$150/MONTH. So you will not be able to use this plan for the Mini.

Furthermore, as a reminder you will need to have your primary Standard Residential service plan active in order to have a Starlink Mini service plan. In other words, if you Cancel the Standard service plan in which your Mini is connected to, both your lines of service will end.

I hope that I helped better answer your questions.

Is there any other questions or concerns that I can address today?

I look forward to your response.

"


So they did screw up on their website. And for reference for now the mini satellite is ONLY available for use with the 'mini-roam' plan.

I do want to address something else. Another confusion I had was how this whole "adding $1/gb" deal works. Was it going to be a 'pre pay' kinda thing? Or a pay as you go. Customer support also could not answer that. Now that my mini is ordered, I see in my account there is a radio button for exceeding the 50gb cap. The picture speaks for itself. This is exactly what I had hoped for, to make things seamless. Now I just need to run some data transfer simulations to check network needs of personal computing like emails and things, vs some very minor work related GIS tasks in case I'm camping when a fire blows up. (Unfortunately I am tasked as a WFDSS driver, which really sucks....)

Thanks for all the updates. Much appreciated.

 

[jav_eee]

The other question is if you need in motion use. The mini cannot be used with in-motion. Neither can the standard panel (supposedly) even with the standard $150/mo plan. You have to have the high performance panel $2,500 and one of the priority plans starting at $250/mo. I would much prefer in motion use for data uploads, but I do not want to pay that much money.

I think they have ways around the stationary stuff with aftermarket products. Don't they?

 

[chorky]

I think they have ways around the stationary stuff with aftermarket products. Don't they?

Good question. I honestly don't know how the 'in motion' deal works. I kinda have a feeling that somehow the in motion use is linked to your account where they keep track of what service and antenna you have. But I would like to try and see if it in fact does work. But I dont want to spend a thousand bucks on a special new mini mount only to have it not work. when at camp I see it much more effective to be able to be placed anywhere within the 50' cable length to get around trees and brush.

@WILDHOBO do you have to turn a radio button on or off in your account to activate or allow in motion use or is it automatic?

 

[WILDHOBO]

Good question. I honestly don't know how the 'in motion' deal works. I kinda have a feeling that somehow the in motion use is linked to your account where they keep track of what service and antenna you have. But I would like to try and see if it in fact does work. But I dont want to spend a thousand bucks on a special new mini mount only to have it not work. when at camp I see it much more effective to be able to be placed anywhere within the 50' cable length to get around trees and brush.

@WILDHOBO do you have to turn a radio button on or off in your account to activate or allow in motion use or is it automatic?

Automatic. It works at interstate speeds. It’s fantastic.

 

[chorky]

Starlink Mini arrived today. Here is a first look.

I will be positing more on my build thread.

 

[antwon412]

I would love to get one of these, but the monthly plan turns me off completely.

I could stomach the 500 bucks for the device. But 150 bucks a month with only 50 gigs of data is unusable.

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