By Randall Brink
Inveterate Boondockers they are always looking for techniques and technologies to help them stay longer and stay in communication, get news and entertainment and work remotely. Anything related to water, waste management or Internet access is of great interest. So, when I read about the development of Starlink, a satellite Internet service provider under development by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, I was intrigued.
However, my excitement quickly gave way to bewilderment when reading a wide variety of articles on the subject. Online news dashed my hopes for universal VR connectivity. He stated that the receiver must remain in a fixed geographical position in order to receive the Starlink service. Another talked about high initial prices and equipment installation costs. Yet another cited SpaceX founder and CEO, Elon Musk, said his company was developing mobile solutions specifically for RVs and commercial truck applications. I tried to contact SpaceX / Starlink for information to resolve these contradictions, but the company did not respond.
Additional Research has revealed that, like all developing technologies, things change daily. Information about the fixed location requirement was obsolete. However, the technology to provide access to mobile internet has not yet been fully developed, and the the entire Starlink service is still in beta testing. But Starlink is going through accelerated development, and now we have some new facts that we can rely on.
Starlink needs more satellites
Part of the time and uncertainty revolves around the construction and scaling of Starlink satellite technology. Starting in February this year, SpaceX launched 1,000 Starlink satellites, which allowed the company to offer a limited beta testing service. This occurs mainly in the northern United States and southern Canada (the company stated between 45 and 53 degrees north latitude). But Starlink says it needs to have 42,000 satellites in low Earth orbit to facilitate global service. The United States government and international bureaucracies issued approvals for only 12,000 satellites. Therefore, there is still bureaucracy to overcome in order for Starlink to obtain the mandatory orbiting equipment. However, as SpaceX and its stellar technological achievements have shown, it is never safe to bet against Musk and his projects.
Once the service is fully deployed, Starlink says that:
(1) The cost of installing the service will be lower. At the moment (beta), it costs $ 499 for equipment plus $ 99 a month. However, it does not say how much lower. Boondockers determined to acquire Starlink’s capabilities is unlikely to claim much of the equipment cost below $ 499. And they will likely be fine with a fee of $ 99 per month or less.
(2) The speed of the Internet, which in beta testing is currently around 100-150 megabits per second (Mbps), will increase to around 1,000 Mbps. In addition, the company has stated that its low-orbit satellites (i.e. just 390 miles above ground, as opposed to 14,429 miles for currently deployed standard communications satellites such as Galileo) will provide a much lower “latency” rate ( the time it takes for a signal sent from a satellite to reach the earth’s surface) of 20 milliseconds.
So, when will it be available?
Starlink expects to complete its launch and deployment in 2024.
If Starlink achieves its high ambitions, RVers will be a direct beneficiary. There will be no more blind spots, as is the case with cell-based Internet service providers that also provide their mobile phone services. There are no more degraded services in the more remote trailer parks, where smoke signals are faster than e-mail. RV residents can abandon the bulky domes and the ones you carry and place on the floor outside the RV. By the way, independent cable TV services or internet TV packages will become a thing of the past.
As the development of Starlink gains momentum towards complete deployment, we will continue to report on its features, costs and availability.
## RVT993