Starlink Mini
 

I've just got one of these devices, having been using Starlink at home for a year or so. The mini dish fits easily into my carry on bag and I've tested it with an Anker battery pack. According to reviews, it works well through sunroofs and glass (I'm not planning on holding it next to an aircraft window) but I wondered about the usefulness of taking it on my trips. All hotels now have reasonable wifi and I don't tend to be sitting outdoors very much. In car might be the most useful place for it, particulalrly where cellular signals are bad, but am I just trying to find a problem for this solution?

I've been hearing about the mini a lot recently and was wondering if they might be serviceable on a cruise balcony? I'm not a fan of paying $400-$600 or so for the two of us on a 15+ day cruise. We have some mid status perks that give us a limited amount of WiFi per cruise, however I always end up paying for the upgrade to 24/7 connections. I haven't heard of the cruise lines prohibiting the practice, but I assume it may not be long until they find an excuse to ban them. I don't think the service is marine based yet anyway, as they have a special category of marine service I think, which is much pricier I believe.

Maybe by next spring this could be an option to consider.

I stumbled upon Starlink not by virtue of its owner/operator but rather b/c a family acquaintance has started using it. So, I jumped over to "his" site to see what its all about, costs, etc. I 100% agree that, in general, it seems to be a solution in search of a problem. On a cruise with exorbitant wifi costs, ok maybe (but I anecdotally recall many of the cruise lines advertising free wifi as part of the cruise package). Out in the middle of nowhere, ok maybe (indeed, this is why family acquaintance has started using it). But, really? It seems to be of limited value in many cases where either cell phone (or femto cell) signal is strong and or there's "free" wifi. Obviously, this is just my opinion. It sounds like certain people need it in life threatening situations. But, again, I'm a pass.

Perhaps if you’re living somewhere where the ISP doesn’t offer 25Mbps (some rural areas, fringe buildings in a town the ISP doesn’t want to wire up / upgrade), the single ISP option is just bad, you want a backup option in case of a service cut / natural disaster, or you just want to carry it with you for whatever reason (expense of other options, more ‘secure’ connection vs local ISP in foreign country, usage in remote areas, etc), it could make sense.

And they are looking at the possibility of direct phone connectivity soon.

For the majority of people though, probably not.

I know a family who lives in a rural UK not-spot, who uses Starlink. One advantage is that the equipment is mobile, so it can go with their camper van.

For those who don't cruise often or at all, their "Free WiFi" is generally part of a bundled package. It typically is a limited number of minutes, and/or a lower speed tier also. For instance, I recently booked a 10 day Alaskan cruise with Norwegian for next spring. The perk package included all beverages less than $15, 2 specialty dinners at the on board steakhouse, Italian restaurant, etc. and 150 minutes of the basic WiFi per passenger. I always book full time WiFi for my cruises, regardless of the cruise line. This provides WiFi calling to and from the US, weather & stock market info, email, texting, and of course forum connections. Even with the included minutes as a sort of trade in upgrade, our full time highest tier WiFi is an additional $600. Princess cruises is much more reasonable at about $10 per person per day. Also, the speeds with their current service can be anywhere from 1-5Mbps at best with slowdowns at peak times, such as in the evening. I understand the StarLink service can be suspended, but I don't know the details of that. It could make sense to use StarLink when it's available on the open ocean while relaxing on my balcony at sea, and using the included WiFi while about the ship. Ship WiFi service must be a huge cash cow for the cruise lines, so I would not be surprised if they claim personal service creates interference to their own systems if it becomes popular.

Thanks for the clarification. When I was reading posts above I was going 'WoW'. Not only you are stuck in the middle of nowhere for god knows how long, they gauge you by charging you for the wifi. I never knew that. That's my 129th reason for not going on a cruse :)
My wife likes them and for the past decade she's trying to convince me to go on one with her. Not gonna happen.

Just be careful, many cruise lines prohibit (or confiscate) radio telecommunication equipment like satellite phones/dishes, amateur radios

https://www.carnival.com/help?topicid=1202

Oh stahhhp. I've been on two cruises. They are fun if you want a low-effort vacation. It's like a beach resort but the resort moves around. I've only gone on Celebrity, but their wifi is a flat $20/day if you buy it on sale beforehand. They use Starlink and it worked fine for streaming and whatever else I threw at it. I bring a little travel router to share the subscription while we're in our room, and then we transfer the subscription to our phones if we leave the room.

I agree that buying a certain number of minutes of wifi is both archaic and annoying, however.

Considering the new iPhones connect to satellite, I wonder does that mean... ;)

That would be me. Eish! I thought navigating various travel-with-children-with-only-one-parent rules were tough to navigate. I'd hate to be dealing w/ cruise ship rules on what electronic devices you can or cannot bring onboard. That's a world I've never been in (much less security checks of checked and carry on luggage when boarding the ship).

Do you need to change the Starlink plan? I know they have a home plan and a roaming plan.

Also note that the roaming plan is explicitly not for use while on the move, it’s for moving to different places and then using it when stationary. They have a much more expensive plan for use on the move in the ocean (targeted at cruise ships and yachts).

Also be careful traveling with a Starlink mini, satellite comms gear is contraband without a specific permit in quite a few countries (including Cuba, India, Sri Lanka and China).

I have a couple of Starlinks we use for for remote field work and film sets. The ones we have in the US (on the RV plan, so you can turn service on and off as needed) can’t be taken to international locations, even if it's an area they service. I tried to bring one to Brazil, which has Starlink everywhere, but they (Starlink) wouldn't let my service work down there or even allow me to pay for temporary service.

You also can’t "sneak" them into areas that aren’t allowed because Starlink knows exactly where you are and whether the grid you’re in is permitted.

T-Mobile is currently in the process of connecting with some users of Android phones for testing the StarLink service for emergency communication. They had a cattle call registration in the recent past, and apparently got a huge turnout of volunteers for the trial. I signed up, but so far I have not heard of any iPhone users (I use a 16 Pro Max) being selected for the pilot program. The progress amongst users and hopefuls is a daily topic on Reddit-T-Mobile If you want to check the daily chatter.

I got a SMS from T-Mobile recently effectively rejecting my request to join the trial (I signed up to the list a month or so ago) - "T-Mobile: Thanks for your interest in T-Mobile Starlink beta. To ensure the best possible experience and service reliability, we're optimizing T-Mobile Starlink beta for newer smartphones (majority released in the last two years). More devices will be optimized over time so please stay tuned.". I have an iPhone 15 Pro, but I guess they're looking for newer.

I got the same email and I have a 16 PRO--so wondering if it was just a generic response to everyone who applied.

My understanding is that the first group of people will be recent model Samsung users, and that the iPhone update shipping this week supports T-Mobile Starlink.

As someone who lives in the Tahoe basin, I love the Starlink mini in my Tesla. It works great throughout the glass, and means no dead zones. Also means WiFi when we go camping. Still
surprised at how fast.

I also have a 16 pro and received the same message.

Starlink is fantastic when the grid goes down. We were using Starlinks along with antennas mounted on aerostats after Hurricane Ian trashed the place. All landlines/CATV operators were wrecked. Even 2+ years later, still no landline service here. Starlink was just plug & play.

At $120 USD/mo, the price isn't that much more than what the cable cos charge in some areas. Compared to INMARSAT, it's absolutely wonderful and dirt cheap. I have an Inmarsat phone, but haven't used it since Starlink became available. Inmarsat's $95/mo for 150 mins or 150 texts. If I plop down a Starlink, numerous people can be simultaneously making phone calls, sending video/photos, etc, for MUCH less.