I've been away for a couple weeks in the warm and toasty Bermuda Triangle and returned last night to discover I have qualified for the Starlink (SpaceX - Elon Musk) satellite internet beta program.
Relevance to this board is we all access GAW through some sort of computer. For those of out in the "country" connectivity speed is slow and relatively expensive.
The beta program details:
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Starlink is targeting coverage in your area in mid to late 2021. You will receive a notification once your Starlink is ready to ship.
Hardware $499.00
Service $99.00 /mo
Shipping & Handling $50.00
Est. Tax $32.12
Due Today $99.00
During beta, users can expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms in most locations over the next several months as we enhance the Starlink system. There will also be brief periods of no connectivity at all.
As we launch more satellites, install more ground stations and improve our networking software, data speed, latency and uptime will improve dramatically.
The Starlink team will provide periodic updates on availability as we launch more satellites and expand our coverage area. Depending on your location, some orders may take 6 months or more to fulfill.
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Visit starlink.com to see if your area qualifies.
I just got that in mo.
Been waiting forever. Now, wife says no cause we're stuck in shitty Verizon hotspot contract.
Ugh
Hopefully it is a short term contract. Starlink is going to completely change internet access, but it isn't going to happen right away. SpaceX has placed a few hundred (!) out 10,000+ satellites for the initial constellation. At 60 satellites per launch, that's a lot of launches over many years. After that, I'm betting satellite phones decimate the cell phone industry. Elon has the money, and he has the vision to pull it off if he wants too.
Yes, typical 2 year. Got a year and a half left ugh.
But im rural, no other options. Had to buy 4 cell phones and 4 hotspots so we could get just enough data to stream, use the web and work from home.
$340 for the whole shaboiang. Sucks. And its STILL limited data. Each device hotspots 30gb.
That goes fast in a house of 4, working at home, and without satellite TV (only stream and antenna)
In a year and a half SpaceX "could" have ~2000 satellites in operation. Speed, latency and reliability will all be improved over whatever I get in this beta phase.
Endeavor to persevere. In the big picture 18 months isn't that long. We could have one or two new presidents in that time.
I agree. It's just paying so much to still have data caps really sucks.