Starlink Mini a Simple Mount or Stand

[jd1923]

My goal for a Starlink installation is something neat and simple!
What I don't want and will not have!
1) A cord-powered ONLY solution, not in the day of LI batteries!
2) Suction cups on the side of our hull or windows (Chris keeps our windows clean regularly and suction cups leave stains on glass and fiberglass)!
3) Any kind of tripod or camera stand!
4) Something long like a flagpole (anything needing a ladder)! Starlink satillites are 100 +/- miles away and a 10-20' pole doesn't get you any closer! 
5) OMG, please NOT sitting on a campground picnic table (they put these in the shade on purpose)! 🤣

On another thread, I showed my truck mounted solution, and in less than 24 hours, one or more Forum Members poo-pooed my installation claiming the dish must always be moved.

I truly like this mount (pics 1-2). Last time out it worked every night on the road on a short trip. I truly believe it will work 2 of 3 nights on the road regularly (1 of 3 nights where the TV is in the trees regardless of where parked in the campsite). I have power and Ethernet wired to this location, so that the Starlink can be a WAN input on our Pepwave router. However, the battery solution works anywhere.  

[jd1923]

Given this is our main mount, nicely sitting in our truck bed, I was thinking of a moveable stand for the occasions where the truck cannot be parked clear of trees!

Meanwhile, my son broke the base to a fan he uses often in his apartment. After removing the broken base, I thought, "a patio umbrella stand would work nicely."

So why not use an umbrella stand for the Starlink Mini dish? The kind you fill with water would be convenient, since when empty it weighs less than a pound (we always carry 35 gallons extra water on the TV).

It works great and can be placed anywhere! I purchased this model from Lowes, since it is rectangular (most are round) and it has a nice handle.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Patio-Premier-Patio-Premier-Square-Blow-Mold-Umbrella-Base-Black/1002629278

You can configure all the fancy poles and mounts you want and I'm done with $50 total in parts ($10 for PVC parts) which will work anywhere without cables. 😎

[jd1923]

BTW, Starlink includes the the pole mount attachment which fits the 1 1/2" ID PVC pipe, about 2" OD. You will need a Starlink power cord and a connector to your battery of choice.

Any battery from 12VDC to 30VDC will work. We already had MANY DeWalt 20V batteries for my power tools, so it made sense to use these.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSV45LHQ?ref=fed_asin_title

https://www.amazon.com/Pigtails-Connector-Adapter-Security-Surveillance/dp/B0C5DXTD43/

https://www.amazon.com/Compatible-Conversion-Projects-Connector-Terminal/dp/B0FM2XYRKW/

[Shawna and Scott]

Ours is not mounted and it is not a problem for me. It takes a couple minutes to get it out of the case and plug it in to either the Oliver or the Jackery. I like the advantage of being able to put the Oliver in the shade and being able to move the mini to where I get some signal.

I am thinking of a small tripod as a mount just to get it off the ground. 

[Ronbrink]

10 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Starlink satillites are 100 +/- miles away and a 10-20' pole doesn't get you any closer! 

True that, but a pole may reach near top or above a tree canopy which has proved very beneficial on many occasions.
 

10 hours ago, jd1923 said:

A cord-powered ONLY solution, not in the day of LI batteries!

True that, but for extended stays I don’t want to tend to a battery with limited run time and thus, find use of the cord connected to a continuous power source more to my liking. 
 

10 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Suction cups on the side of our hull or windows

Never on a window, but an occasional ‘hickey’ on the fiberglass brings back very fond memories! 

Edited November 7, 2025 by Ronbrink

[topgun2]

33 minutes ago, Ronbrink said:

Never on a window, but an occasional ‘hickey’ on the fiberglass brings back very fond memories! 

Kind of difficult to put a "turtle neck sweater" on the Ollie! 😁

[topgun2]

10 hours ago, jd1923 said:

On another thread, I showed my truck mounted solution, and in less than 24 hours, one or more Forum Members poo-pooed my installation claiming the dish must always be moved.

So - I'm confused - are you saying that, indeed, there are times that the dish works better if it is moved? 😇

Bill

[jd1923]

2 hours ago, topgun2 said:

So - I'm confused - are you saying that, indeed, there are times that the dish works better if it is moved? 😇 Bill

Must only be moved to get a clear view of the Northern sky. My claim is 2/3rds of the time mounted to my truck works great with clear view (and only $10 in 1 1/2" PVC parts).

The other times, I'll use this umbrella stand (another $30) with the SAME pole-mount which makes setup sooooo easy! 🤣 Tripods are generally made for cameras with a 1/4" screw attachment. They are fully adjustable which takes fuss to get lined up on both angles required. My setup uses the supplied pole-mount plate from Starlink at the correct angle to the horizon, so all you need is a 2" pole perpendicular to the horizon. It spins easily with one hand (no screws, no clamps), to get the correct angle in seconds.

Just my opinion. Others want the long-pole setups and some are OK with laying the dish on the ground or picnic table. I was laying it in my truck bed prior to creating these mounts. Tripods, tall masts and suction cups are fine, but this is much easier for me! 😎

Edited November 7, 2025 by jd1923

[jd1923]

3 hours ago, Ronbrink said:

True that, but for extended stays I don’t want to tend to a battery with limited run time and thus, find use of the cord connected to a continuous power source more to my liking. 

We have two 10Ah batteries. One will power the Starlink Mini all day! One's on the charger while the other is being used. The 50' power cable is supplied. We've just never had a need to use it, so recently I stopped bringing it along!

I guess if your going to sit two weeks at a campground with hookups... But that's not us. I can setup the dish on a lunchbreak while traveling, in a minute with no cords.

No thin 50' power cord getting wet and dirty, tangled up in the weeds, needing to be wound-up and stowed each time. Everything in our Oliver is battery-powered! 🤣   

[DanielBoondock]

@jd1923 that’s a clever solution! I’d rather not be internet connected all the time (boo!), but since I need it for a ‘retirement’ business with my son it’s a business expense writeoff (yay!). Anyhow this looks super simple and clean, couple questions …

• Do you put it away at night in case of a two legged wildlife? Also if you leave the trailer, seems like there might be a lot putting it away and out again, or not? 
• The reason for a tall pole seems (to me) obviously not satellite distance but rather to get above obstacles including the Oliver, for better line of sight. Thoughts? 
• I have a WIFI on the trailer, so this would be the upstream WAN, either hardwired if on the trailer or as a hotspot (e.g. WIFI to WIFI), how far away do you usually place the dish? 

Non related question - you always carry an extra 35 gallons? I like the idea, we’re testing it this week on a trip to our relatives. I filled the tank and have 30g in the truck bed, and we’ve made it last nearly a week. Water is our biggest constraint so I really like the idea of always being prepared, just wondering how that’s worked out for you?

[jd1923]

4 hours ago, DanielBoondock said:

• Do you put it away at night in case of a two legged wildlife? Also if you leave the trailer, seems like there might be a lot putting it away and out again, or not? 
• The reason for a tall pole seems (to me) obviously not satellite distance but rather to get above obstacles including the Oliver, for better line of sight. Thoughts? 
• I have a WIFI on the trailer, so this would be the upstream WAN, either hardwired if on the trailer or as a hotspot (e.g. WIFI to WIFI), how far away do you usually place the dish? 

We leave it out at night. One exception, we stayed at a sketchy campsite one night where I did not have a good feeling re the neighbors (van life types and some living out of cars). So I brought it in before going to bed and we left next morning to find a better campsite!

I bring it in every time we leave for the day. In fact 90% of the time we use the truck mount, so we have to pull it down. I put it in the Starlink travel bag ($40 option includes a dish frame and bag) and it with the 2' pole extension sits in my truck tool box. Takes 1 minute to mount or remove. Once camping outside of Durango, we drove into town and halfway there I realized the Starlink was still up on the truck mount, NP! 🤣

Most of you have truck caps. I believe you could easily side-mount the base-mount 2" PVC pole to the side of the cap. The second removeable piece of PVC pipe mounts above to provide height. Paint it to color match and have it there ready. Ron and others have tall poles, mounting suction cups, etc. I just don't want the hassle, love the truck mount. If you can move the dish 10 ft up to avoid trees, you can also move it 10-20 ft over to a clear spot. How far? We've never needed the dish more than 30-40 ft away from the Oliver to clear trees, but we're not often in heavy woods. Where we camp, the Ponderosa Pine is our tallest tree.

You wrote "WIFI to WIFI." I believe you mean what MobileMustHave.com calls "WiFi as WAN" (check them out, they have videos explaining everything). I have a Pepwave router which is capable of this and so could your router. Just recently I created a hardwire solution for my truck mount (30V power and Ethernet LAN). So now I have the Mini wired to the Pepwave router directly which allows us one login.

You should have up to 50' distance with Wi-Fi as WAN, though it will depend on your router antenna. We have the extremely capable Parsec Husky which in my experience covers 100+ ft radius in broadcasting Wi-Fi.

When I cannot park our TV in clear view of the northern sky, I will use the portable stand with battery and change login to the built-in Mini Router. I installed our router in our truck for a number of reasons; 1) our Internet connection ALWAYS travels with us, day trips too, 2) The Oliver will be parked in the shade more often and the tow vehicle can be moved some, the trailer not so much, and 3) when we travel for business or pleasure without the Oliver we have our Wi-Fi, no need to use unsecure hotel or public Wi-Fi.

My portable stand is large and clumsy. Next mod will be to remove the post and replace the large plastic tank with a flat metal base. A short pole and flat base will be much easier to store when not in use.

Very often with our router setup and T-Mobile Business 5G Cell SIM card ($30/mo) we do not need the Starlink (80/20 rule). Boondocking in a canyon? Time to connect the Starlink!

This link will go to my final post of the thread, when I hardwired the Starlink. =>

 

Edited Wednesday at 08:37 PM by jd1923

[Todd B]

3 hours ago, DanielBoondock said:

Do you put it away at night in case of a two legged wildlife?

Once you setup your Starlink the dish is locked to your account. So it is useless to someone who wants to just pick it up and walk away with it. Now, granted, not all thieves know this as many are stupid hence their trade. But we have always left ours out overnight and during the day (unless we need it in the truck to have a single).  

[jd1923]

On 10/21/2026 at 9:07 AM, DanielBoondock said:

Non related question - you always carry an extra 35 gallons? I like the idea, we’re testing it this week on a trip to our relatives. I filled the tank and have 30g in the truck bed, and we’ve made it last nearly a week. Water is our biggest constraint so I really like the idea of always being prepared, just wondering how that’s worked out for you?

Water would be "our biggest constraint" if we did not have our secondary fresh water tank.

Yes, we always fill both tanks before leaving home; the 32-gal in the Oliver and 35-gal in the TV (a lifesaver):
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/horizontal-leg-tank-35-gal-2137324

Also, we do not use onboard water for cooking or drinking. So we also carry 10+ gallons drinking water in 1 and 2.5 gallon food quality jugs. And with cold water in glass carafes in the fridge AND truck fridge, we start with about 80 gallons total. Our Wisconsin friend @FloraFauna also always carries an extra 35-gal fresh water! Steve once wrote something like, "I wish it was larger!"

The most we ever got out of our Oliver Fresh Water tank was once 28 gallons (measured when refilling). More often it's closer to 22-24 gallons when you can hear the water pump taking air. Lift the front jack another inch and you could get another 3-4 gallons but it's time to refill the tank.

With the TV hitched, 35 ft of hose (10+25) will connect the secondary tank to the Boondocking water connection. It's so easy with Eley hose quick-connects on all parts! When refilling the first time, I use about half (18 gal) so that we can refill again. Water in tow we can last 10 days, with quick showers every other day.

So given we have enough water for 10 days and our 900 Ah with solar suitcase we can also last 10 days. It's the Black Tank that limits our travel. We can dry camp for 10 days, IFF we dump the black after 5 days (based on 2 of us). If you have composting then you would not have this constraint.

I mounted our tank (special order mounting straps) and put a cloth cover over it to keep direct sunlight out (unnecessary with a truck cap). Put it in the middle of the bed, the area which is hard to reach for other items. I could not see carrying 5-gal jugs to the rear. What's 5 gallons, about a half day of usage? Gotta have water, the more the better and more so in the desert southwest! 😎

Edited Saturday at 05:37 PM by jd1923

[DanielBoondock]

On 10/21/2026 at 12:59 PM, jd1923 said:

he most we ever got out of our Oliver Fresh Water tank was once 28 gallons (measured when refilling). More often it's closer to 22-24 gallons when you can hear the water pump taking air. Lift the front jack another inch and you could get another 3-4 gallons but it's time to refill the tank.

And here I thought it was me ... yeah haven't measured it but seems like usable is much less than expected out of the tank. Otherwise awesome thanks, your approach is similar to mine. We don't drink from the tank and have extra Reliance 5-7 gallon jugs for that, though I'm looking into hooking up the Blu-tech filter+UV off the tank. We have composting so the fresh water is the biggest constraint. 

You're a gold mine of useful tips otherwise as usual ... related thing, my wife is very safety conscious after we've been chased from the house due to wildfires a few times. I'd like to keep both the onboard Oliver tank and the truck tank always filled, I'm looking into preservation ...

 

On 10/21/2026 at 11:47 AM, jd1923 said:

You wrote "WIFI to WIFI." I believe you mean what MobileMustHave.com calls "WiFi as WAN" (check them out, they have videos explaining everything).

Yeah just being sloppy, been doing this engineering and IT stuff so long I'm getting really lazy 🙂 

Anyhow this is another project for the winter, when will it end? 😅

Edited 2 hours ago by DanielBoondock