People have been asking me this question for years. I have recently decided to pick up a Starlink Mini with the Roam plan. It is extremely easy to setup, and you really get everything you need out of the box, except I wish it came with a 12V car adapter as well as the included power adapter.
What you get is the Starlink mini satellite tablet (I can’t call it a dish), a couple of mounting options (I did get a tripod mount that works with one of the included mounting options), and a power cable and a power brick which connect to the wall. I also purchased the 12V to 30V car adapter to connect to my vehicle or to my custom-made lithium power bank I use for communications. I also got a 12V to 30V up converter and added PowerPole connectors on the 12V side.
I put the satellite tablet on the ground mounted on a tripod, and then I connect the power and off it goes, looking for satellites. I use the app on the phone to make sure that the coverage and the angles are best positioned, and Internet is now available nearly anywhere there is a line of sight to the sky.
So, what do I use it for. After a bit of use, my best use cases are Internet and WiFi phone calls in a pinch. Meaning if you don’t have cell coverage, you can get Internet using Starlink Mini. It is also nice if I want to talk on my MMDVM hotpot and I have no cell coverage. I can use D-Star, System Fusion or DMR radio connected to my battery-operated hotspot (OpenSpot 4 Pro). With the battery bank I built (40Ah) for comms, I can be on the Internet constantly for over 18 hours straight. No need for that, so I use it for what I need, then leave it connected but idle.
I charge my battery bank via solar panels the next day, and since I have pass through charging, I essentially have 24/7 internet and WiFi calling wherever I can access Starlink satellites. This is very powerful when you are adventuring in remote areas, or if you’re overlanding, boondocking, or camping in areas with no coverage.
How often do I use it? Almost every time I am out and about. Do I carry it in my vehicle? Most of the time, if I know I will be in an area with zero cell coverage. Most people ask me, isn’t most of the US have cell coverage? The answer is no. And the other question is, “Don’t people have those cell antennas that look like corn dogs (I will post another article about cell boosters as I try the 2 popular brands) that can be used for cell signal?” My answer is it depends, and you can’t boost a signal from no signal.
Keep in mind, it is an Internet access device with built-in WiFi. So, think about all you can do with Internet and WiFi, but anywhere. It’s useful, but if you aren’t going to use it, don’t get it. The nice thing about if you don’t intend to use it for some time, you can pause it for $5 a month so the Starlink device can get updates, but you can’t access the Internet in Standby mode. It’s $50 a month for 100GB (and you can go over that with some serious throttling), or $165 a month for unlimited. Roam plans are best effort and not prioritized like the residential versions, meaning if there are enough residential users, your bandwidth with be greatly reduced. So, if you live in a dense metro or city with enough Starlink residential users, I will not recommend getting it to use it in that environment. You’ll be lucky to get 25-50Mbps in that environment. I happen to be in the middle of nowhere that had dial up and DSL only in the past, and I believe there may be 20 Starlink residential customers in a 50-mile radius as most people now have 1 to 2.5 Gbps fiber internet here (almost everywhere that were on dial up/DSL in the past is digging trenches to get fiber).
For all you adventurers, just get it. It is so much better to get Satellite Internet and Phone coverage than getting a 5G hotspot these days, why even bother? Plus, 5G hotspot only works if you have cell coverage and those corn dog antennas don’t boost your 5G hotspot signals where no cell coverage exist.
Hope this helps in making your decision.
