Some people seem to be of the impression that if the internet is taken down for, let's say, 10 days (random figure) that StarLink will somehow still allow them to browse online.
Unfortunately, for the internet to work you need both ends of the connection (i.e. the web sites) and in the event of a major problem then you might be able to connect to starlink, but precious little else that we consider the 'normal' internet.
What you will be able to do though, is connect to other StarLink users - think of it like a long range Ham radio set. Plus, if the StarLink network is also hosting material then you would be able to reach that.
The thing is, if the net is taken down for good (or a really long time even) then StarLink is a great idea, but if it's only going to be for a short period of time then it really isn't going to deliver that much.
Having said all that, if there is a plan to take the net down and StarLink is playing a part, then you would likely connect to a portal that would provide you with (presumably) crucial information - but that's not something I've heard anything about - anyone else?
Sounds like 1990’s AOL.
Arseholes OnLine?
Hey BB, A/S/L?
I agree that Starlink is not the end-all-be-all that the technically ignorant want it to be.
I'd disagree with this: "What you will be able to do though, is connect to other StarLink users..."
With the current iteration of Starlink, that's not the case. The user terminal goes up to the satellite, which relays the data to a ground station. The ground station then sends that data over the regular Internet before it gets relayed back to the other Starlink user.
Ah, thanks for the additional info - I wasn't entirely certain how they had set it up.
NP. Future Starlink iterations will include laser-based satellite-to-satellite communications, so eventually it should be able to work independent of the terrestrial network. But that's a few years off yet.
Ad hoc wi-fi networks.
I just got starlink 10 days ago. Live in the middle of nowhere. It is at least 20X faster than hughesnet.
Same here. Had Hughesnet for 10 yrs. made up a sob story and they cancelled disconnect fees.
SL is awesome.
That's the best use case for it I can think of right now.
I doubt Starlink would be capable of services much really in the event of an Internet outage.
My question really is more along the lines of; what specifically is targeted in order to disable Internet services? Root DNS servers could be one avenue. Or target Cloudflare and other similar companies infrastructure. Maybe poison BGP routes but that seems to be a stretch.