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 October 21 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 Monday at 02:09 PM by DanielBoondock

[jd1923]

13 hours ago, DanielBoondock said:

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

 🤣  🤣  🤣  🤣 🤣!

This depends on you! But given you have a thread titled "Dan's Mods" means it's in your nature (as an engineer), like mine, respect.

But truly half of Oliver owners have not modified or upgraded anything, and that’s OK too, some on this forum and many not.

Some still hanging onto AGM lead acid batteries and that awful TV, their ducts half blowing air, manual water valves under beds, the basic RV microwave, 1750 LB springs with a known high failure rate and that freight-train Dometic A/C. You can decide to live with it all, or not.

"a Gold mine" thank you, I like that! I learn by doing and I've worked my entire life. I'm here to learn first and then help where I can. Just 3 1/2 years ago I had no idea, "What's an Oliver?" I now know it well, learned by tearing down, rebuilding every onboard system.

But seriously, I want, we need a fully capable camper. It's unsafe to have an unreliable camper when 100+ miles away from services off-grid. In our 198 Oliver overnights, not one repair was made while traveling (presently knocking on my forehead and other hardwoods within reach). We did have a bathroom water pump switch issue last outing, but since it happened on our last night out, I decided to fix it the next week at home. I could have, should have secured this wiring when I was in the vanity for other maintenance.

Every other week someone on this forum has an issue while traveling; no hot water, no heat, no 12VDC, fridge not cooling... There's about a dozen of us here who provide help to other members and we're happy to do so. Three years ago, I was asking for Oliver advice.

I spent a full 2 years in upgrade work. At first, I had no idea where to start except the lame TV was a glaring need. Got most of my ideas here on the Forum, reading about other inverter or A/C upgrades. In 2023, I started by reading everything the great John E. Davies posted. He was still on our Forum for about 6 months after I joined so there was some time for discussion.

Three years later, I've done many more upgrades than he, for sure and I'm about done! We have the electrical, mechanical, HVAC and plumbing systems we need, a newly replaced 10K suspension system and a full exterior restoration. Our TV is also restored and in good maintenance.

I travel in our Oliver to get away and in doing so, I force myself to take some time off. If I'm home, I'm working.

My Oliver to-do list is down to scratch, so I'm back to working on our house and property (new kitchen sink soon, a stone masonry repair, new 14-step deck staircase with hand-cut stringers, and yardwork). The real list never ends. Call me strange, but I enjoy yardwork and repair work. I'd go crazy laying at the beach (Chris too) or sitting in a lawn chair reading a novel. Only manual labor allows my mind to rest (or dumb TV shows)! 😎

"When will it end?"

Given you started with a well-optioned 2026 and you've already coated the exterior and worked some upgrades, your path should be much shorter than mine.

Some guys always have "the long list" but it doesn't have to be! I read re your music, your desire for better lighting and drinking water, and my guess is there's much more to come as you turn your imagination to reality.

You're now the one giving the rest of us good ideas. Please keep doing it. Give it a year or two with more of your hard work! 😂

Edited yesterday at 04:03 AM by jd1923

[DanielBoondock]

19 hours ago, jd1923 said:

But seriously, I want, we need a fully capable camper. It's unsafe to have an unreliable camper when 100+ miles away from services off-grid. In our 198 Oliver overnights, not one repair was made while traveling (presently knocking on my forehead and other hardwoods within reach). We did have a bathroom water pump switch issue last outing, but since it happened on our last night out, I decided to fix it the next week at home. I could have, should have secured this wiring when I was in the vanity for other maintenance.

Exactly! I want a camper thats easy to maintain and use, always ready to go. My wife wants safety (I mentioned that the stock Oliver springs have been known to break and she’s like “GET THE ALCAN!” 😅)

Anyhow on the tank, dang it, specs say it’s 23’ tall (total including top cap?) but I have a hard tonneau which is 21” realistically … I really like this solution but its just a tad too tall. 

[BackofBeyond]

20 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Call me strange, but I enjoy yardwork and repair work. I'd go crazy laying at the beach (Chris too) or sitting in a lawn chair reading a novel. Only manual labor allows my mind to rest (or dumb TV shows)! 😎

 

And that is why I have a small farm - manual labor keeps me sane, and fit!  I love the beach - but only if it has really good surf, sitting on the beach not for me.

Strange, we may be, but if you think about it, we are just guys who don't accept the status quo as we find it. It is weird to me that one doesn't do all their own labor and explore new to you things. 

I just returned to the forum so - As for the sharp minded John E Davies, I was sad to see he had left the Oliver family. I enjoyed his posts, the sharp "wit" and all his mods - I did a few mods, used a few product's he suggested. 

We will have a new EII in March, and I do not plan to make any major changes - a few additions - but not to the core unit. I really find the issues with the leaf springs interesting - I'll keep them in mind each time I do my fuel stop inspections - as I always did.

 

[jd1923]

2 hours ago, DanielBoondock said:

Anyhow on the tank, dang it, specs say it’s 23’ tall (total including top cap?) but I have a hard tonneau which is 21” realistically … I really like this solution but its just a tad too tall. 

How about a 40-gal tank that's only 18" tall?
https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=167746&catid=599

This company also makes flat tanks, like the Oliver! They come in so many sizes and custom sizes and hose fitting selections. Plan to the available area in your bed. You could also plan for two smaller tanks in odd spaces that would be hard to store other gear.
https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=127750&catid=960

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, BackofBeyond said:

And that is why I have a small farm - manual labor keeps me sane, and fit!  I love the beach - but only if it has really good surf, sitting on the beach not for me.

Yes, "sane and fit!" For 6 years, we had 13 acres in Loudoun County VA and that was real work. We had a few black angus for land use, a couple of horses, our yellow lab and a barn cat that came with the property. I mowed the pasture twice a year to keep the weeds down and from spring through summer the area around the home had to be mowed every 5 days. Waiting a week, the grass would get too long in the N VA climate! Clearing/repairing the thousands of feet of fence line was never ending.

When we put the property on the market, Chris and I did yardwork everyday, all day long. We didn't want a prospective buyer to realize how much work it was. It presented nicely without a blade of grass out of place! We returned to visit friends two years later. The property was in shambles, everything needed mowing and trimming. Some of us are responsible, some even enjoy work and others may not be either. 🤣

Here we're only on 3/4 acres, but with 35 mature pinion pines, scrub oak and local weeds growing rampantly with the late summer monsoons. We're about halfway done with our fall clean-up but we could do a major trimming in the winter.

1 hour ago, BackofBeyond said:

We will have a new EII in March, and I do not plan to make any major changes - a few additions - but not to the core unit. I really find the issues with the leaf springs interesting

Could you request installation of Alcan Springs? OTT stocks them for the Apex. The more you get included, the less you'll have to do after delivery. Besides 1750# spring failure, the heavier springs greatly improve towing.

1 hour ago, BackofBeyond said:

Strange, we may be, but if you think about it, we are just guys who don't accept the status quo as we find it. It is weird to me that one doesn't do all their own labor and explore new to you things.

Russel, we certainly agree on this! Bringing a contractor in the trades on our property is a rare case and when I do, all I do is worry. Bringing one of our vehicles in for service is just as rare. I used to be afraid of carbs and fuel injection but not after working on them.

After purchase of our older TV, I wasted $692 on two service visits to get the A/C repaired. Of course it took two visits and you would think afterwards it should be fixed, but not! Each time the A/C cooled for only a couple of months.

March 2026 after watching a few YouTube videos, I bought the gauges, a vacuum pump, installed a new compressor, dryer and condenser (all parts for total A/C restoration $478) and now we're COLD! Purchased $156 in tools and $42 in refrigerant. An entire NEW A/C system costs less with my labor than two lame service visits. Wish I had saved that $$$!

Then I recharged Chris' Lexus GX470 before the summer. Watched the ChrisFix video again for review and in just an hour using two cans of R134a ($28) the GX now also blows COLD. Tools were paid for, knowledge is now engrained. Next spring we'll get the A/C working on Adam's '97 T100! 😎

[topgun2]

6 hours ago, BackofBeyond said:

We will have a new EII in March,

Woo-Hoo

Congrats and a warm welcome back to the Family.  

Bill

p.s.  John Davies had to sell "Mouse" due to health issues

[DanielBoondock]

6 hours ago, jd1923 said:

How about a 40-gal tank that's only 18" tall?
https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=167746&catid=599

This company also makes flat tanks, like the Oliver! They come in so many sizes and custom sizes and hose fitting selections. Plan to the available area in your bed. You could also plan for two smaller tanks in odd spaces that would be hard to store other gear.
https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=127750&catid=960

I like the size, I like the design, I don’t like the price! 😅 But that’s OK, it’s a good contender. Thanks for finding that, I hunted around but struck out. Looked at flat tanks but this looks so much cooler lol .. yeah that’ll work 

[BackofBeyond]

1 hour ago, topgun2 said:

Woo-Hoo

Congrats and a warm welcome back to the Family.  

Bill

p.s.  John Davies had to sell "Mouse" due to health issues

I hate that, I enjoyed his posts.