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

[Carpmart]

Been posted already, they started offering refurbs just before xmas, its a pretty good price considering there is not much that they can do to refurb one so most are going to look like new.

I’m always behind the curve!

In other news, I’ve noticed a significant improvement (with appreciably lower power consumption) since doing my 12v conversion and swapping out the router, which I’m really pleased about!

Also, the increased signal propagation at decent speed, over the standard router is genuinely a game changer.

 

[Bustup15]

I saw an advert for UK rental @ £10/month last week

 

[Carpmart]

I saw an advert for UK rental @ £10/month last week

Saw that too… removes one of the entry hurdles, but IMHO, for many people, the £85 per month is the real barrier for adoption….

We love it and find it reasonable VFM based on the service we get.

 

[HillRunner]

Great new deal out I saw on BookFace.

I got one of the refurbs a little before Xmas. It is a pretty good deal but .... It took 3 attempts before I got one that was acceptable.
Starlink were good about replacements but there is still the hassle of the returns process.
The main problem was with bits of the hydrophobic coating being scratched off. I also had a problem with the cable that had been rubbed and distorted because it had been packed incorrectly. The one that I finally accepted did have a tiny corner of the coating scratched but it wasn't a big problem.

 

[GMLS]

I know he is not everyone's cup of tea but bits of this might be useful to some;

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[zac]

I know he is not everyone's cup of tea but bits of this might be useful to some;

Utter rubbish what he is saying in this, having it flat mounted does not hinder speed or reliability, it does not slow it down and having people like spreading false information is just wrong. It does not constantly track satellites as once it stops it then does not move at all unless you turn it off and back on again, nothing can be done about it i get that as they don't listen but people need to be careful what they believe as most will base their actions on video's like this as you will see by the comments left. I started to watch it but then turned it off once he started saying things that were just not true as no need to continue from that point.
If you prefer not to flat mount it and keep it mobile then of course that's your choice but not to then start spreading false information, i have seen this a lot lately from youtubers and i suppose its how they make them popular and make their money. Very few youtubers left now that actually tell it how it is
Also how the heck has he got a figure of £700+ to flat mount it and convert it to 12v that's ridiculous, i guess he could be referring to the USA options but why would you do that when there are far cheaper options out there.

 

[Tombola]

having it flat mounted does not hinder speed or reliability

not in the sense that if you orientate it then flat mount it permanently static then no, it has virtually no impact.
if you flat mount it on a van and then move around the country in your van, then you can suffer variance.

I thought that was a good little tip regarding the wifi extender, as I have suffered by using the starlink router and the mesh, even 4 metres away between 2 static caravans, showed virtually no improvement.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B4ZSR2PX/?tag=mhf04-21

 

[zac]

not in the sense that if you orientate it then flat mount it permanently then no, it has virtually no impact.
if you flat mount it on a van and then move around the country in your van, then you can suffer variance

The only time it will hinder is if it cannot see the sky ie obstructed. Moving around makes no difference if it can still see the sky. Ive just done 24 days in Spain doing exactly that and never had a time where it never worked if sky is unobstructed. mine is flat mounted permanently of course.

 

[Tombola]

The only time it will hinder is if it cannot see the sky ie obstructed. Moving around makes no difference if it can still see the sky. Ive just done 24 days in Spain doing exactly that and never had a time where it never worked if sky is unobstructed.

so did I, just in uk though, and had issues, so de mounted it and am back to sticking out on each stop. Worked but slower and I need speed.

Just quoting what Ive read and used.

 

[zac]

Just quoting what Ive read and used.

Same I am afraid.

Before that we took a trip up to the Welsh border and again worked perfectly.

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[Tombola]

I think thats just it...variables,
the speed i need seems more consistent if I let it do its thing, I didnt go overboard with the flat mount, so wasnt no biggie.

I think maybe the newer dish, will probably perform more consistently, but for me im happy doing the Hokey Cokey dish in out, in out shake it all about till then..

 

[zac]

I think thats just it...variables,
the speed i need seems more consistent if I let it do its thing, I didnt go overboard with the flat mount, so wasnt no biggie.

I think maybe the newer dish, will probably perform more consistently, but for me im happy doing the Hokey Cokey dish in out, in out shake it all about till then..

lol, i think we are all going to be different as there are a lot of other factors. All my testing although flat mounted are with the standard router and mains power supply going through the invertor. I guess it might impact it if using 12v and different routers etc etc, its whatever works for you really.

 

[Bustup15]

 

[Carpmart]

View attachment 856111

Good but also highlights what a blinding deal the £99 was last year… shame I bought before that offer!

 

[Carpmart]

I think thats just it...variables,
the speed i need seems more consistent if I let it do its thing, I didnt go overboard with the flat mount, so wasnt no biggie.

I think maybe the newer dish, will probably perform more consistently, but for me im happy doing the Hokey Cokey dish in out, in out shake it all about till then..

Me too…. I feel the powered dish and 12v power, which is where I am now, is pretty optimal for me right now.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Bustup15]

A red faced and very long update. Would appreciate any feedback on the problems encountered by those with knowledge.

To be honest I wasn't going to post what happened but decided it may be useful to others who aren't as technically competent as some on the forum.

I consider myself reasonably adept at basic diy tasks and fault finding but have no electrical qualifications as such although I have worked with networked low voltage systems consisting of hundreds of devices for many years and can fault find and rectify faster than most 'qualified' engineers.

To save others trawling back through the thread the scenario developed as below.

I purchased Starlink to provide high volume internet when in Europe without having to consider data limits, sourcing local sims or additional costs. It works brilliantly and I was very happy with results obtained. The downside, as we tend to move every day or two, was setting up, taking down and storing the device when not in use. Its not difficult but took up significant storage room in an already crowded garage.

I decided after much You Tubing to flat mount the Starlink on the roof and convert to 12v to provide always on internet and save having to have the invertor powered to use it. Once again very happy with the results and it worked first time! I fed a new 2 mm cable from a spare EBL connection to the TV position where I could mount a stable 12v DC-DC convertor, new USB router and the dishy-dualie out of site.

It worked very well on the first trip until one evening the internet dropped at about midnight for no apparent reason. Thoughts on the forum that it may be related to the power saving sleep schedule within the Starlink setup but, as I wasn't using the original router I couldn't alter this feature. Next morning the system worked perfectly - odd, but perhaps related to the sleep feature?

Relocated further north, system working perfectly until it dropped again for no apparent reason mid TV program. Tried rebooting all components but could not get an internet connection. Decided to leave for further investigation once back home the following day.

I found that there was no output from the DC-DC convertor or the dishy-duallie. However if these were disconnected the 12V from the EBL was present and stable. As soon as either device was connected the input voltage dropped in the case of DC-DC to a few mV, in the case of the dishy to 3V ish. I assumed that one of the boards had collapsed somehow and in the process had taken the other with it.

Boondockers agreed to ship a replacement dishy immediately although with a 2-3 week delivery time from Canada, I couldn't find where I had sourced the DC-DC from as I had scrapped the paperwork and couldnt find any trace of email ordering which was unusual for me. I ordered an identical replacement unit on line (8v - 40v input with a 12v output rated upto 10A).

The day the new DC-DC arrived I found in my bank statement the company I sourced the original from and emailed them with the issue. They asked for further information and photos/videos of the issue, I thought this odd as it is a totally sealed unit with only 2 input and 2 output cables visible. Motorhome was back in storage by now so I decided to connect the DC-DC to a battery and video the results with a meter connected showing the fault. Result was connected to a 12v 2.1Ah battery that it worked perfectly! Tried multiple times with the same result.

Returned to motorhome determined to sort the issue out. Went back to square one and determined the incoming voltage was present and stable with no load. Connect the old DC-Dc and incoming voltage dropped to a few mV. Connect the dishy-duallie direct to the incoming 12v and it dropped to 3v. Remove load and voltage returns to 12v ?????

At this point I assumed the problem was at the EBL end but confused as the 12V is constant. Traced the cables back to EBL - firm tugs on both pos and neg and all seemed secure. Back into motorhome and 12v now disappeared altogether. At EBL tried pushing into the connector pins with a fine blade driver and nothing appeared to move but measuring voltage inside it now shows 13+V. Connect DC-DC and it outputs 12.2V, connect dishy duallie and power LED lights up. Reconnect router and get connection to Starlink.

At this stage Im guessing the techies amongst you are thinking this guy is a dick and chuckling to yourselves? For the less technical I think there are lessons to be learned - just because you are measuring 12V doesn't mean that the problem is further downline? I'm definitely not a fan of the mate'n'lock type connectors as I think they are difficult to terminate neatly and find them almost impossible to remove from the connector block once inserted despite watching many videos of how to do it. I can only assume one or both of the pins wasn't seated correctly but neither appeared to move under pressure. Why would it stop working/disconnect at random times when nothing in the motorhome has moved or changed? Or am I missing something else - over to the brains on the forum.

Apologies again for the long winded post.

 

[Gromett]

A red faced and very long update. Would appreciate any feedback on the problems encountered by those with knowledge.

To be honest I wasn't going to post what happened but decided it may be useful to others who aren't as technically competent as some on the forum.

I consider myself reasonably adept at basic diy tasks and fault finding but have no electrical qualifications as such although I have worked with networked low voltage systems consisting of hundreds of devices for many years and can fault find and rectify faster than most 'qualified' engineers.

To save others trawling back through the thread the scenario developed as below.

I purchased Starlink to provide high volume internet when in Europe without having to consider data limits, sourcing local sims or additional costs. It works brilliantly and I was very happy with results obtained. The downside, as we tend to move every day or two, was setting up, taking down and storing the device when not in use. Its not difficult but took up significant storage room in an already crowded garage.

I decided after much You Tubing to flat mount the Starlink on the roof and convert to 12v to provide always on internet and save having to have the invertor powered to use it. Once again very happy with the results and it worked first time! I fed a new 2 mm cable from a spare EBL connection to the TV position where I could mount a stable 12v DC-DC convertor, new USB router and the dishy-dualie out of site.

It worked very well on the first trip until one evening the internet dropped at about midnight for no apparent reason. Thoughts on the forum that it may be related to the power saving sleep schedule within the Starlink setup but, as I wasn't using the original router I couldn't alter this feature. Next morning the system worked perfectly - odd, but perhaps related to the sleep feature?

Relocated further north, system working perfectly until it dropped again for no apparent reason mid TV program. Tried rebooting all components but could not get an internet connection. Decided to leave for further investigation once back home the following day.

I found that there was no output from the DC-DC convertor or the dishy-duallie. However if these were disconnected the 12V from the EBL was present and stable. As soon as either device was connected the input voltage dropped in the case of DC-DC to a few mV, in the case of the dishy to 3V ish. I assumed that one of the boards had collapsed somehow and in the process had taken the other with it.

Boondockers agreed to ship a replacement dishy immediately although with a 2-3 week delivery time from Canada, I couldn't find where I had sourced the DC-DC from as I had scrapped the paperwork and couldnt find any trace of email ordering which was unusual for me. I ordered an identical replacement unit on line (8v - 40v input with a 12v output rated upto 10A).

The day the new DC-DC arrived I found in my bank statement the company I sourced the original from and emailed them with the issue. They asked for further information and photos/videos of the issue, I thought this odd as it is a totally sealed unit with only 2 input and 2 output cables visible. Motorhome was back in storage by now so I decided to connect the DC-DC to a battery and video the results with a meter connected showing the fault. Result was connected to a 12v 2.1Ah battery that it worked perfectly! Tried multiple times with the same result.

Returned to motorhome determined to sort the issue out. Went back to square one and determined the incoming voltage was present and stable with no load. Connect the old DC-Dc and incoming voltage dropped to a few mV. Connect the dishy-duallie direct to the incoming 12v and it dropped to 3v. Remove load and voltage returns to 12v ?????

At this point I assumed the problem was at the EBL end but confused as the 12V is constant. Traced the cables back to EBL - firm tugs on both pos and neg and all seemed secure. Back into motorhome and 12v now disappeared altogether. At EBL tried pushing into the connector pins with a fine blade driver and nothing appeared to move but measuring voltage inside it now shows 13+V. Connect DC-DC and it outputs 12.2V, connect dishy duallie and power LED lights up. Reconnect router and get connection to Starlink.

At this stage Im guessing the techies amongst you are thinking this guy is a dick and chuckling to yourselves? For the less technical I think there are lessons to be learned - just because you are measuring 12V doesn't mean that the problem is further downline? I'm definitely not a fan of the mate'n'lock type connectors as I think they are difficult to terminate neatly and find them almost impossible to remove from the connector block once inserted despite watching many videos of how to do it. I can only assume one or both of the pins wasn't seated correctly but neither appeared to move under pressure. Why would it stop working/disconnect at random times when nothing in the motorhome has moved or changed? Or am I missing something else - over to the brains on the forum.

Apologies again for the long winded post.

Thank you. I love it when people report back with the cause and the solution of posted problems. Thank you

 

[zac]

A red faced and very long update. Would appreciate any feedback on the problems encountered by those with knowledge.

To be honest I wasn't going to post what happened but decided it may be useful to others who aren't as technically competent as some on the forum.

I consider myself reasonably adept at basic diy tasks and fault finding but have no electrical qualifications as such although I have worked with networked low voltage systems consisting of hundreds of devices for many years and can fault find and rectify faster than most 'qualified' engineers.

To save others trawling back through the thread the scenario developed as below.

I purchased Starlink to provide high volume internet when in Europe without having to consider data limits, sourcing local sims or additional costs. It works brilliantly and I was very happy with results obtained. The downside, as we tend to move every day or two, was setting up, taking down and storing the device when not in use. Its not difficult but took up significant storage room in an already crowded garage.

I decided after much You Tubing to flat mount the Starlink on the roof and convert to 12v to provide always on internet and save having to have the invertor powered to use it. Once again very happy with the results and it worked first time! I fed a new 2 mm cable from a spare EBL connection to the TV position where I could mount a stable 12v DC-DC convertor, new USB router and the dishy-dualie out of site.

It worked very well on the first trip until one evening the internet dropped at about midnight for no apparent reason. Thoughts on the forum that it may be related to the power saving sleep schedule within the Starlink setup but, as I wasn't using the original router I couldn't alter this feature. Next morning the system worked perfectly - odd, but perhaps related to the sleep feature?

Relocated further north, system working perfectly until it dropped again for no apparent reason mid TV program. Tried rebooting all components but could not get an internet connection. Decided to leave for further investigation once back home the following day.

I found that there was no output from the DC-DC convertor or the dishy-duallie. However if these were disconnected the 12V from the EBL was present and stable. As soon as either device was connected the input voltage dropped in the case of DC-DC to a few mV, in the case of the dishy to 3V ish. I assumed that one of the boards had collapsed somehow and in the process had taken the other with it.

Boondockers agreed to ship a replacement dishy immediately although with a 2-3 week delivery time from Canada, I couldn't find where I had sourced the DC-DC from as I had scrapped the paperwork and couldnt find any trace of email ordering which was unusual for me. I ordered an identical replacement unit on line (8v - 40v input with a 12v output rated upto 10A).

The day the new DC-DC arrived I found in my bank statement the company I sourced the original from and emailed them with the issue. They asked for further information and photos/videos of the issue, I thought this odd as it is a totally sealed unit with only 2 input and 2 output cables visible. Motorhome was back in storage by now so I decided to connect the DC-DC to a battery and video the results with a meter connected showing the fault. Result was connected to a 12v 2.1Ah battery that it worked perfectly! Tried multiple times with the same result.

Returned to motorhome determined to sort the issue out. Went back to square one and determined the incoming voltage was present and stable with no load. Connect the old DC-Dc and incoming voltage dropped to a few mV. Connect the dishy-duallie direct to the incoming 12v and it dropped to 3v. Remove load and voltage returns to 12v ?????

At this point I assumed the problem was at the EBL end but confused as the 12V is constant. Traced the cables back to EBL - firm tugs on both pos and neg and all seemed secure. Back into motorhome and 12v now disappeared altogether. At EBL tried pushing into the connector pins with a fine blade driver and nothing appeared to move but measuring voltage inside it now shows 13+V. Connect DC-DC and it outputs 12.2V, connect dishy duallie and power LED lights up. Reconnect router and get connection to Starlink.

At this stage Im guessing the techies amongst you are thinking this guy is a dick and chuckling to yourselves? For the less technical I think there are lessons to be learned - just because you are measuring 12V doesn't mean that the problem is further downline? I'm definitely not a fan of the mate'n'lock type connectors as I think they are difficult to terminate neatly and find them almost impossible to remove from the connector block once inserted despite watching many videos of how to do it. I can only assume one or both of the pins wasn't seated correctly but neither appeared to move under pressure. Why would it stop working/disconnect at random times when nothing in the motorhome has moved or changed? Or am I missing something else - over to the brains on the forum.

Apologies again for the long winded post.

At least you found the issue, not used those type of connectors before and now def wont be. Did they end up sending you a replacement duolie in the end as i am assuming now its not needed.

 

[Bustup15]

At least you found the issue, not used those type of connectors before and now def wont be. Did they end up sending you a replacement duolie in the end as i am assuming now its not needed.

Literally just dropped through the letterbox

 

[zac]

Literally just dropped through the letterbox

at least their customer service is good, they want the old one back i am assuming

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[Bustup15]

at least their customer service is good, they want the old one back i am assuming

They haven't requested it - yet.

 

[zac]

They haven't requested it - yet.

keep it as a spare just in case, you never know.

 

[starquake]

TBH my one complaint about starlink is why they are not using (given they are effectively POE powered) just standard exterior cat5 ports like the dish routers I have for LTE (Mikrotik LHG-LTE18's) -> it would avoid all this 12V faff and their custom connections at the dish end, just get a standards based POE 12V->POE converter box, done, wire exterior cat5. I've had 3 dishes now up on roof in Bridlington area (on 2 static vans) for ~ 3 years at this point with just this, and theres been no corrosion on the ports or connectors and Brid, within 100m of the sea wall is not exactly friendly to a exterior connection what with it's very salty sea air. It seems overengineered if you compare it with what we call in the industry CLJ (cheap latvian junk) which is our "friendly" name in the industry for the Mikrotik gear (as it is very cheap, it's not really junk, and it is engineered in Latvia)

I hope elon and SpaceX fix this, and I do expect eventually to add one to my use, it's just I can't justify it now, given we have 4 residences (2 in brid) and a motorhome being provided with decent speed internet for around half the starlink monthly cost. If they done the above I think I'd flat mount one to roof next to the solar panel and use the same glands to get onto the roof.

I'm glad rentals are offerred now though as I DO see myself throwing a dishy into the van if we ever do an extended EU trip across many countries rather than our current focus on doing one at a time on our (very limited) annual leave at moment.

 

[zac]

There new dish i believe uses a standard RJ45 connector to plug into the actual dishy, it is a pain to use proprietary connectors all the time. Would be a lot easier to use standard connectors as mentioned.

 

[starquake]

There new dish i believe uses a standard RJ45 connector to plug into the actual dishy, it is a pain to use proprietary connectors all the time. Would be a lot easier to use standard connectors as mentioned.

ALso easier to wire through glands as a standard exterior cat5 termination is very easy to do, get right cable boots and right crimps with the right initial cable, and its easy. Means the current phase of vanlifers using a vent for the dishy can stop (in summer I'd rather the vent providers lots of air with a fan in it!). Would make it no harder as mentioned than a solar cable gland.

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[Gromett]

TBH my one complaint about starlink is why they are not using (given they are effectively POE powered) just standard exterior cat5 ports like the dish routers I have for LTE (Mikrotik LHG-LTE18's) -> it would avoid all this 12V faff and their custom connections at the dish end, just get a standards based POE 12V->POE converter box, done, wire exterior cat5. I've had 3 dishes now up on roof in Bridlington area (on 2 static vans) for ~ 3 years at this point with just this, and theres been no corrosion on the ports or connectors and Brid, within 100m of the sea wall is not exactly friendly to a exterior connection what with it's very salty sea air. It seems overengineered if you compare it with what we call in the industry CLJ (cheap latvian junk) which is our "friendly" name in the industry for the Mikrotik gear (as it is very cheap, it's not really junk, and it is engineered in Latvia)

I hope elon and SpaceX fix this, and I do expect eventually to add one to my use, it's just I can't justify it now, given we have 4 residences (2 in brid) and a motorhome being provided with decent speed internet for around half the starlink monthly cost. If they done the above I think I'd flat mount one to roof next to the solar panel and use the same glands to get onto the roof.

I'm glad rentals are offerred now though as I DO see myself throwing a dishy into the van if we ever do an extended EU trip across many countries rather than our current focus on doing one at a time on our (very limited) annual leave at moment.

New ones do use standard CAT5 cabling and PoE as I understand it?

 

[starquake]

New ones do use standard CAT5 cabling and PoE as I understand it?

It was custom booted in the dish I looked at so a "standard" cat5/6 cable would not fit (ie, you still needed the SpaceX custom end). But it was over a year ago I saw it, maybe it is fixed in the newer dish as you have mentioned.

 

[Gromett]

It was custom booted in the dish I looked at so a "standard" cat5/6 cable would not fit (ie, you still needed the SpaceX custom end). But it was over a year ago I saw it, maybe it is fixed in the newer dish as you have mentioned.

The new ones haven't been out a year yet. The new one is a standard CAT5 connector with the clip snipped off and a custom rubber boot as you mentioned. Those rubber boots will soon appear on ebay and etsie.
But the hardest part the connector is now standardised. Casting a silicone copy of the boot will be a trivial matter.

 

[Lenny HB]

I'm definitely not a fan of the mate'n'lock type connectors as I think they are difficult to terminate neatly and find them almost impossible to remove from the connector block once inserted

I've never had a problem crimping them and I don't even use the proper crimp tool, I use one for non-insulated push-on connectors.
As for getting the pins out you can buy a tool for a few quid.

 

[Bustup15]

I've never had a problem crimping them and I don't even use the proper crimp tool, I use one for non-insulated push-on connectors.
As for getting the pins out you can buy a tool for a few quid.

Any recommendations Lenny HB?

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