Starlink ordered… I feel it’s the only sensible option now..

[Onemanandhisdog]

I know your average thief may not be renowned for stopping and thinking, but the dish isn't much use on its own.
Each to their own but I would have a better day sitting in the shade with dishy and solar roasting in the sun even if I have to put both away some nights, depending on where I am that may not be necessary anyway.

 

[sueandjohn]

when you stopped it did you got a warning , basically saying they can’t guarantee a reconnection if the local area gets oversubscribed .

 

[Carpmart]

Searching for the magic flat roof mount doesn't make sense to me.
I've done the two bars on the roof with bolts sticking upwards, the standard Starlink mount goes on these with wingnuts and stays there unless I want to take it off and sit it on the grass or somewhere different.
I don't see the point of having it permanently mounted, when somewhere hot (and lets face it, there are times in this country it gets pretty hot these days) I want my van in the shade if possible, so putting dishy away from the van makes sense, in the same way I have 300w of solar on my roof and 400w of foldable solar I can deploy in the sun while I chill in the shade.
It would have to be a very clever motorised mount to suit my requirements and most of these are going to cost more than the kit did which is madness!
I get that some people want to be able to use it on the go, but given that this breaches terms and makes you liable to being booted out the dishy club I'll use 4g while moving.

Another tube/wingnut user… welcome to the club!

 

[zac]

....

 

[ceejayt]

Another tube/wingnut user… welcome to the club!

Unfortunately I don’t have anywhere to attach a tube, no ladder etc I just think these things should be easy. Especially the older I get

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[Onemanandhisdog]

Unfortunately I don’t have anywhere to attach a tube, no ladder etc I just think these things should be easy. Especially the older I get

If you haven't got anywhere to attach a tube then surely there is nowhere to flat mount dishy! I don't go up a ladder, just reach out one of the large roof lights and slot dishy straight in the original stand. It's horses for courses, mine is one of the cheapest solutions and gives maximum flexibility, as long as we are happy with our choice all's good.

 

[ceejayt]

Plenty of room for a flat mount, just don’t want to faff around Motorised roof mount perfect solution if someone does it in the U.K. Not looking to take it apart like people are doing in the videos. Want it to work like my old Oyster set up when I had it.
Just need someone in the U.K. to grasp the nettle which I am sure they will before too long as Starlink is going to be VERY popular I think

 

[Mr Mousy]

Here is my roof mounting solution…

Removed my existing 4g MiFi aerial from the roof, increased the diameter of the hole to 50mm.

Installed a Status Aerial mount with a Starlink Pole adapter fitted to it.

The pole of the mount comes into the van inside a wardrobe (where the mifi was fitted), installed a 240v plug in the wardrobe.

The dishy is fitted on the pole mount by reaching through the shower room roof light.

The Starlink cables pokes up through the Status aerial mount and is easy to connect to dishy. Thanks to zac for 3d printing a protective cover for the cable end/connector that will rattle around inside the pole while we are driving.

Turn on the inverter and it all comes to life.

I haven’t reduced the length of the data cable in case I want to use the floor mount if we are completely shaded.

I have a waterproof cap/bung for the mounting pole when dishy is not in use.

Costs were…

£12.50 Status Aerial mount from eBay (new from a private seller).
£30.00 Starlink Pole mount from eBay (new from a private seller).
£4.80 Two gang 2m extension lead from Amazon.
£8.59 35mm i/d stainless steel exhaust joint pipe cutdown to 48mm and split lengthways - eBay.
£0.00 Dawn’s GHD hair straighteners silicone heat protector (Dawn’s a generous genius) Mousy

Total about £55.

The last photo is of a dishy cover supplied with the pole mount. I’ve cut up a camping mat to protect dishy’ face when not in use. Carpmart

I am really pleased with the results. If the wi-fi range is poor in the wardrobe I’ll be shopping for a router mount from PaulandChrissy

Here are some photos…

 

[ceejayt]

Nice solution. I want that but without having to take the dish on and off . I reckon by the NEC show someone will have cracked it

 

[Carpmart]

Here is my roof mounting solution…

Removed my existing 4g MiFi aerial from the roof, increased the diameter of the hole to 50mm.

Installed a Status Aerial mount with a Starlink Pole adapter fitted to it.

The pole of the mount comes into the van inside a wardrobe (where the mifi was fitted), installed a 240v plug in the wardrobe.

The dishy is fitted on the pole mount by reaching through the shower room roof light.

The Starlink cables pokes up through the Status aerial mount and is easy to connect to dishy. Thanks to zac for 3d printing a protective cover for the cable end/connector that will rattle around inside the pole while we are driving.

Turn on the inverter and it all comes to life.

I haven’t reduced the length of the data cable in case I want to use the floor mount if we are completely shaded.

I have a waterproof cap/bung for the mounting pole when dishy is not in use.

Costs were…

£12.50 Status Aerial mount from eBay (new from a private seller).
£30.00 Starlink Pole mount from eBay (new from a private seller).
£4.80 Two gang 2m extension lead from Amazon.
£8.59 35mm i/d stainless steel exhaust joint pipe cutdown to 48mm and split lengthways - eBay.
£0.00 Dawn’s GHD hair straighteners silicone heat protector (Dawn’s a generous genius) Mousy

Total about £55.

The last photo is of a dishy cover supplied with the pole mount. I’ve cut up a camping mat to protect dishy’ face when not in use. Carpmart

I am really pleased with the results. If the wi-fi range is poor in the wardrobe I’ll be shopping for a router mount from PaulandChrissy

Here are some photos…

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Nice work Martin and very elegantly executed!

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[MisterB]

I bought 2 starlinks, in order to use one at our statics we currently have in France, when I say statics, as a family we have three all next to each other and that may be about to change
I fitted it shortly after I arrived about two weeks ago and have been more than impressed with it so far OTHER than the range of the router.
I'm struggling to pick up a decent signal from the router around 20m away, I knew the router wasn't particularly great but I am very disappointed.
My solution was to bring back into the setup two Motorhome WiFi setups that I used previously. One mounted at the furthest point or each caravan that doesn't have the starlink router in.
I have also placed the starlink router in a UPVC shed, central to all three statics in case the aluminium structure of the vans was contributing.
Signal strength to each now is enough to stream HD TV at the same time but the real benefit is the number of phones, I pads, laptops all connected and working, mostly at the same time. At £85 per month it's well worth it just for the convenience, though I am now looking for a decent router instead of the starlink one.

Any recommendations please?

PS just for use in a motorhome or house setting, the standard router seems to be fine so far.

 

[Lenny HB]

though I am now looking for a decent router instead of the starlink one.

If it is just the wifi range why not just fit a Mesh system.

 

[MisterB]

If it is just the wifi range why not just fit a Mesh system.

We actually all get a decent signal as it is, via motorhome WiFi so not sure if a mesh system would give us much more, but as I haven't really looked into them it's an option for me to consider, even if we move the vans somewhere else, so thanks

 

[zac]

I bought 2 starlinks, in order to use one at our statics we currently have in France, when I say statics, as a family we have three all next to each other and that may be about to change
I fitted it shortly after I arrived about two weeks ago and have been more than impressed with it so far OTHER than the range of the router.
I'm struggling to pick up a decent signal from the router around 20m away, I knew the router wasn't particularly great but I am very disappointed.
My solution was to bring back into the setup two Motorhome WiFi setups that I used previously. One mounted at the furthest point or each caravan that doesn't have the starlink router in.
I have also placed the starlink router in a UPVC shed, central to all three statics in case the aluminium structure of the vans was contributing.
Signal strength to each now is enough to stream HD TV at the same time but the real benefit is the number of phones, I pads, laptops all connected and working, mostly at the same time. At £85 per month it's well worth it just for the convenience, though I am now looking for a decent router instead of the starlink one.

Any recommendations please?

PS just for use in a motorhome or house setting, the standard router seems to be fine so far.

My setup i think might be different to your as i won't be using the starlink router, this is the one i have purchased and will use Here this will also run on 12v 1a and gives one of the best wifi signals for coverage at long distance not that our Motorhome is long but this will be at the very back in a cupboard of our 8.5m MH and at a good price.

 

[Gromett]

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[MisterB]

I watched that video a few days ago. It looks like a simple, less stressful option and potentially means the mount doesn't need to be as deep. I expect a few more designs of mounts will be developed as time progresses.
The one that surprises me is that no one is offering an adapter (yet) from the cables to RJ45, rather than having to cut cables ...

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

Give it 6 months.

 

[Onemanandhisdog]

While I'm not the least bit interested in flat mounting on the roof, the portability of that solution is very appealing, but given it's power usage and the physical size of the battery he is using I doubt you would have very long !

 

[bigtwin]

The one that surprises me is that no one is offering an adapter (yet) from the cables to RJ45, rather than having to cut cables ...

I thought that I’d seen options for that; perhaps on one of the FB groups.

This is some text that I previously saved from somewhere:

”I use a Teltonika router that runs on 48 Volts, so I didn't have to put in a new 12-volt power for running off the mains.
This is the adapter and POE injector (I see they are not in stock at present). There are a few alternatives if you trawl the Internet:

1. A POE injector for Starlink (they have to be about 150W),
2. A Starlink cable to Ethernet Adapter.

I used the plug-in adapter as I didn't fancy cutting the existing Starlink cable, as some have reported issues with this with bad connections and earthing issues. It's very easy to adapt as everything is in the dish on 192.168.1.1 - and the Starlink external box is just a WiFi AP and power supply.
It is a dual power 12 volt and mains box, using a small step up for the 12, and a small switched mode for the mains (the unlabeled boxes below). You can easily add an ethernet connector to the van, but I just connect to the WiFi from my internal router.
I'm still not convinced that there is enough power to run on full motor and snow mode - but you can disable the heating, and it seems to idle at about 40 to 60 watts on 12 volts. When I finally get it in another box and looking smart, I'll take another picture or two, but at the moment I'm just using it on mains hookups”

Not sure if that helps.

Ian

 

[MisterB]

its the number 2 item that i was thinking of, it does seem a bit of overkill for what is basically a connector?

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[Kim H]

Check vodas add-ons...ee have similar to above but if you then add on 10.00 per.month roaming extra addon..you get roaming EU and use all the data like you would at home. Also works is USA

Where can I find this addon, I have looked on the app and website. We have our European data limited to 25Gb all I can find are 8 and 15 day roaming passes which don't work for us as we already have EU roaming.

 

[Tombola]

Where can I find this addon, I have looked on the app and website. We have our European data limited to 25Gb all I can find are 8 and 15 day roaming passes which don't work for us as we already have EU roaming.

who are you with
EE https://ee.co.uk/help/mobile/roaming/roam-abroad-pass
I have it in my EE app, not sure about Vodas app.

Voda https://www.techadvisor.com/article/732029/vodafone-uk-roaming-2023.html

 

[Ridgeway]

What’s the average speeds people are getting from their Starlink, upload, download and latency ?

Might be worth getting one for home (still on phone line connection as out in the sticks)

 

[Carpmart]

What’s the average speeds people are getting from their Starlink, upload, download and latency ?

Might be worth getting one for home (still on phone line connection as out in the sticks)

Morning… it will be a massive improvement over what you are using at the moment.

Down between 120-230
Up 10-25
Latency 35 - 55ms

Tried in at least eight different locations now..

 

[Adtan]

I have Starlink mobile last speed test below

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[zac]

Converted part of mine the weekend. I have removed the motors and mounted it in the case I printed. Before I move it to the motorhome I wanted to convert it to 12v but that failed. It works on 230v with original router with the cables recrimped but not on 12v with the mod I followed.(Overlanders) I tried 2 step up convertors one was 12v-48v 150watts and the other the same but 384watts. Tried 2 different POE injectors which had reviews saying it works but nothing. Convertor def outputting 48v as tested with multimeter. Now going to just use it 230v until the dishy conversion arrives as not messing about with this option anymore. With the dish on my decking inside the case it was pulling 150mb which is pretty good. Will move out to the motorhome this week as want to have it ready for our Wales trip end of the following week. Just need to run a 230v socket to back cupboard now as don't have one in there.

 

[scotjimland]

Well I have a BT sim (now EE and my wife has that) both do not charge for data in Europe

You must be on an old contract.. I've had a BT sim for years as has my wife and daughter.. when they changed to EE I was put on new contract that does not have free roaming.. it now costs £15 per month up front, or £2.50 per day

 

[MisterB]

Converted part of mine the weekend. I have removed the motors and mounted it in the case I printed. Before I move it to the motorhome I wanted to convert it to 12v but that failed. It works on 230v with original router with the cables recrimped but not on 12v with the mod I followed.(Overlanders) I tried 2 step up convertors one was 12v-48v 150watts and the other the same but 384watts. Tried 2 different POE injectors which had reviews saying it works but nothing. Convertor def outputting 48v as tested with multimeter. Now going to just use it 230v until the dishy conversion arrives as not messing about with this option anymore. With the dish on my decking inside the case it was pulling 150mb which is pretty good. Will move out to the motorhome this week as want to have it ready for our Wales trip end of the following week. Just need to run a 230v socket to back cupboard now as don't have one in there.

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Could it have been an issue with the soldered connections to the starlink route?

Is the issue with the 12v supply? Apparently it needs to be a regulated 12v supply as the voltage direct from your leisure battery could be anything from 11v - 14v?

The roof mount looks good ....

 

[zac]

Could it have been an issue with the soldered connections to the starlink route?

Is the issue with the 12v supply? Apparently it needs to be a regulated 12v supply as the voltage direct from your leisure battery could be anything from 11v - 14v?

The roof mount looks good ....

there are no soldered connections, its literally just a cut of the cable where the motor was and reconnected using RJ45 crimps to then join the long lead with the short lead then again crimped at the other end. I then crimped another RJ45 on the router lead to connect the 2 together and that works via 230v. The 12v supply was coming from a battery that i had lying around (12.8v reading small ups battery) but i did not regulate it but it was still outputting 48v at the convertor end so i assumed this was ok?

there was another youtube video where they did exactly the same ie used a small battery which they had working with no regulated supply, i had exactly the same parts as they were linked in that video and it still would not power the dishy. Works perfectly on the 230v side though with the crimped connections so that would assume they are ok as that would not work otherwise (that's my thinking anyway)

here's the diagram aside from my router at the end is a tp-link not a Mofi

 

[MisterB]

i am assuming the crimped (rj45) connections are all ok and in the correct orientation?

i soldered my connections, see earlier in this thread, and mine works absolutely fine and didnt involve cutting any cables. my next step is to roof mount Dishy, but i
am conscious of needing a substantial perspex cover for potential hail damage (however unlikely!) - i have considered a temp one, though i am coming to the conclusion that if the hail is big enough to damage dishy, then its going to cause far more damage to my motorhome !!!

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