Starlink ordered… I feel it’s the only sensible option now.. (25 Viewers)

[fred_jb]

Probably a bit more than twice as costly as a similar speed domestic broadband with the advantage that you can take it anywhere and pause it when you don't need it. We have 350 Mbit/s from Virginmedia at home, but in many areas people are still limited to 35 Mbit/s over copper or at most 75 Mbit/s where they can get fibre to the cabinet.

 

[Andy1954]

We have Roam, use it at home and on the road. At home ( we live in the sticks) we were getting a max of 9 Mbit/s everything hung with the circle of doom. Now at home average is 170, we are currently 5 weeks into a European tour. France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany now back in France max speed has been 230, min in Black Forest was 70. Roam has been a game changer for us. I know it’s at a cost, but it’s a cost I’m willing to pay. We were paying £38 to Vodafone for a speed that had dropped by 50% over the years.

 

[Carpmart]

We have Roam, use it at home and on the road. At home ( we live in the sticks) we were getting a max of 9 Mbit/s everything hung with the circle of doom. Now at home average is 170, we are currently 5 weeks into a European tour. France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany now back in France max speed has been 230, min in Black Forest was 70. Roam has been a game changer for us. I know it’s at a cost, but it’s a cost I’m willing to pay. We were paying £38 to Vodafone for a speed that had dropped by 50% over the years.

That’s the problem and the brilliance. We are reliant as it’s so brilliant, we can’t use it as easily now as Starlink think Europe is different to the US, which it clearly isn’t for Roam users.

 

[Gromett]

That’s the problem and the brilliance. We are reliant as it’s so brilliant, we can’t use it as easily now as Starlink think Europe is different to the US, which it clearly isn’t for Roam users.

Europe is different from the US. There are different countries with different pricing. This difference in pricing was being abused. That is the only reason I can see for them implementing the change.

People were buying in Spain and using it in the UK for example saving money for themselves and adding to the congestion in the UK market that wasn't funded.

 

[fred_jb]

Europe is different from the US. There are different countries with different pricing. This difference in pricing was being abused. That is the only reason I can see for them implementing the change.

People were buying in Spain and using it in the UK for example saving money for themselves and adding to the congestion in the UK market that wasn't funded.

Then the over 60 days in a non-home country prohibition should only apply if you are using a cheaper contract in a more expensive country.

I can see no justification for this for people with the most expensive deals, i.e. those who have taken out contracts in the UK, using Starlink in cheaper countries for as long as they want.

If they were to level the playing field by dropping UK prices then fair enough.

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[Gromett]

Then the over 60 days in a non-home country prohibition should only apply if you are using a cheaper contract in a more expensive country.

I can see no justification for this for people with the most expensive deals, i.e. those who have taken out contracts in the UK, using Starlink in cheaper countries for as long as they want.

If they were to level the playing field by dropping UK prices then fair enough.

Complexity of billing. Having a single set of rules per region makes it much easier to manage.

 

[Fragle]

Complexity of billing. Having a single set of rules per region makes it much easier to manage.

Maybe. But it’s a fair and very valid argument.

 

[fred_jb]

Complexity of billing. Having a single set of rules per region makes it much easier to manage.

They have already brought considerable complexity upon themselves by differing pricing regimes across Europe. The new country, as opposed the region specific rules, are just adding complexity seemingly to address the anomalies caused by that.

These pricing variations are supposedly to address uneven demand and the uneven infrastructure investment required to cater for it across Europe. A nonsense really as most UK residents signing up to Starlink are not using it in the UK anyway. Maybe someone should explain that to Elon. If he's the genius he is supposed to be then he should have no trouble grasping that.

However, they have a much simpler charging regimes across the US and I am sure they have greatly differing demand profiles across different parts of that region, but I am not aware of any variations in pricing to address that there?

I think the reality is just charging what the market will bear. No different to the car manufacturers who priced higher in the UK and called the UK Treasure Island! So much so that I did a personal import from Holland of the base vehicle for one of my campers, enabled by EU rules forcing car companies to supply RHD vehicles via any EU country. Those were the days! The EU didn't just crack down on bent bananas, but bent suppliers too!

 

[Carpmart]

Europe is different from the US. There are different countries with different pricing. This difference in pricing was being abused. That is the only reason I can see for them implementing the change.

People were buying in Spain and using it in the UK for example saving money for themselves and adding to the congestion in the UK market that wasn't funded.

I was talking about roaming. The UK would be the 9th largest state if it were one. Starlink wouldn’t be restricting usage to individual states in the US as no one would purchase roam. Apply those principles to my comment and you get the point!

I have posted many times on here WRT tariff avoidance through geographic tariff manipulations. They will be getting less from me for the same service, so it’s clearly an ill conceived policy.

 

[Gromett]

I was talking about roaming. The UK would be the 9th largest state if it were one. Starlink wouldn’t be restricting usage to individual states in the US as no one would purchase roam. Apply those principles to my comment and you get the point!

I have posted many times on here WRT tariff avoidance through geographic tariff manipulations. They will be getting less from me for the same service, so it’s clearly an ill conceived policy.

My point was we are not states within a country. We are different countries with different prices being charged. It's a bit more like if someone from north america started roaming in south american countries or visa versa.

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[Carpmart]

My point was we are not states within a country. We are different countries with different prices being charged. It's a bit more like if someone from north america started roaming in south american countries or visa versa.

I get your point but it is not relevant to the point I was making, hence my clarification.

I bought a regional service as did the North Americans. Mine is now no longer regional it’s single country which in a roaming context, ignoring any crap around Starlink foolish pricing, is largely identical to me being suddenly restricted to operating in my home state, even though they charge me 40% more than some of my home region ‘states’ pay!!! It’s a load of old bullocks!!!

 

[matbic]

The thing is you bought some hardware from Starlink. Separately you signed up for a service to furnish you with data using that equipment. In the terms and conditions of the service it clearly states they can change any and all of the terms at any time. They have and probably will again.

You did not buy the service, what you actually did was purchased some hardware. The service is something you subscribe to and is open to change at Starlinks whim.

It’s a very different model to the traditional mobile phone network contract where you can expect to get what you signed up to for the duration of the contract.

I too would be angry if I thought Starlink was not going to exploit its position as the only low earth orbit satellite service available and having got millions of people to purchase hardware that can only be serviced by it.

I like you am fed up with Starlink and the trend is not good looking forward - there is no competition!

In comparison mobile phone networks are full of competitors- it’s a total mine field of options! This seems a better way to go long term for me anyway!

The only problem with my theory is all the easy roaming SIM deals in the UK seem to have crashed as well!

It’s a load of old bullocks!!!

 

[fred_jb]

I said earlier that, in contrast with the situation in Europe, I was not aware of variable pricing within the US. Well it now seems that this is happening, at the moment in the form of a one-off surcharge when taking out a contract in areas of the US with the high demand and service congestion. Interesting article here:

https://www.techdirt.com/2024/10/01...ink-to-sock-users-with-100-congestion-charge/

 

[fred_jb]

Having said that, there doesn't seem to be similar capacity problems and slowdowns in Europe. I was consistently getting speeds of 200 Mbit/s or higher with my Mini on our recent travels in Spain, though down to about 100 or so now we are back in the UK. These were real speeds too, not just from the Starlink app, but confirmed by the OOKLA speed test website.

 

[Gromett]

I said earlier that, in contrast with the situation in Europe, I was not aware of variable pricing within the US. Well it now seems that this is happening, at the moment in the form of a one-off surcharge when taking out a contract in areas of the US with the high demand and service congestion. Interesting article here:

https://www.techdirt.com/2024/10/01...ink-to-sock-users-with-100-congestion-charge/

They have had variable pricing for a long time. It is $120 a month in some areas and $90 a month in others.

Starlink to charge users in “limited-capacity” areas $30 more than others

New prices: $90 in "excess-capacity" areas, $120 in "limited-capacity" places.

arstechnica.com

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[fred_jb]

They have had variable pricing for a long time. It is $120 a month in some areas and $90 a month in others.

Starlink to charge users in “limited-capacity” areas $30 more than others

New prices: $90 in "excess-capacity" areas, $120 in "limited-capacity" places.

arstechnica.com

Is that for the Roam service? If so I wonder how they prevent you buying in a cheap area but mainly using in a more expensive area.

 

[Gromett]

Is that for the Roam service? If so I wonder how they prevent you buying in a cheap area but mainly using in a more expensive area.

I don't know the answer to either question sorry. I was just pointing out that the USA already has variable pricing as you seemed to think this was new and a one off.

 

[fred_jb]

I don't know the answer to either question sorry. I was just pointing out that the USA already has variable pricing as you seemed to think this was new and a one off.

My comment was in the context of the discussion on variations in pricing for Roam plans across the UK and EU, and the recent imposition of a 60 day rule, seemingly to discourage abuse of this situation.

Your article refers to residential pricing in the US and as such is not really relevant to the question of whether Starlink impose location dependent pricing variations to US Roam customers.