StarLink mini with StarLink router mini.

[2008RN]

I am planning a 8-10 week trip in British Columbia,Yukon and Alaska for next summer.  I started to think about internet access, and being able to communicate with kids.  So I started looking at Starlink  posts in the forums here.   I am thinking about the Starlink mini and the Starlink Route mini with the mesh network then doing the Pause anytime with standby mode to lessen the Starlink charges. I am not at the point of wanting to drill holes in the Oli  or install a satellite in/on the truck.  I know others here were talking about going with the Starlink mini and StarLink router mini in order to able able to get the satellite receiver out at the 50 ft limit and still get decent reception back inside the Oli.  

I was hoping to get some feed back on how this is working out.

Thanks,

Bob

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, 2008RN said:

I was hoping to get some feed back on how this is working out.

Hey Bob, there is much experience here. Mine is just one input for you...

I purchased the extra router when Geoff posted this (impulse purchase because of the $40 sale):
https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/10918-the-new-starlink-mini-router-for-what-ails-you/

Turns out a year later, I've never used it (still have it NIB somewhere)! I just last week integrated our Mini to the Pepwave router which is pretty cool, but our installation is far beyond what you expressed you want.
https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/9933-pepwave-cellular-router-and-not-the-common-install/#findComment-126971

You really don't need anything but a simple way to mount the Mini. At first, I just sit it on an upside-down milk crate. I was using battery packs so not to string wire, but the Mini comes with a 120VAC power supply (inverter ON required) with produces 30VDC with a 50' cord. We're always 50 ft within view of the northern sky and I would not want the hardware sitting much further out of sight.

The simple stand pictured, better than my old milk crate, is what we use when our truck cannot be parked in the right spot. I have a camping rule to minimize setup which in turn reduces all the work to setup and tear down and we move a lot (as you will going all the way to Alaska)! No poles and suction cups for me.

As far as service, there is the monthly $10 cost for stand-by service which includes enough bandwidth to setup, download updates, configure and test the installation. You can also slowly load a web page or send an email, again very slowly but the connection is there.

When you upgrade service (Starlink must be positioned and phone setup must first be connected to Starlink W-Fi when there's no cell service), they prorate the first month. Our billing date is the 4th of the month, so for example, if I start service on the 20th of the month, given my billing date I will be charged about half the plan cost. I can immediately change the next month plan to return to Stand-by $10/month, so I don't forget. On such a trip to Alaska, you may just need it ON for 2-3 months.

This is good to know, but more so for us where we have the cellular antenna and router and T-Mobile 5G SIM card which costs $30/month on my business plan. If we're getting cell which is about 80% of the days we travel then I'm paying for Starlink only when necessary. But when you activate, you're charged on that date through your billing date.

Edited 13 hours ago by jd1923

[Todd B]

I have really liked our Starlink mini when traveling. I have used it for basic keep  in touch stuff all the way to video calls for work. We have even held two wifi based phone calls over Starlink mini while on the standby plan! My setup is still pretty basic. I have a tri-pod I mount it on so I can move it to the best spot and plug it into the side of Ollie. Speed and reliability have been great! As @jd1923 mentioned the ability to switch plans is great. Sometimes I have paid $15 for 50GB of data for the 4 days I needed it (just got lucky with how it hit my billing window). 

[Mike and Carol]

After a lot use of our Starlink Mini, our normal method of deployment is to use the outside plug on the side of the trailer to plug in the power supply and then set the dish on the tongue box if we’re facing north-ish or on the bed cover of the truck if we’re not.  That’s it.  No mount, no tripod.  The back of the dish has the right angle if it is on a  level surface.

I do have the router and we used it once when we were camping in Washington state under a heavy canopy that required the dish to be a little too far from the trailer for good bandwidth.  If the dish is on the trailer tongue box we get plenty of bandwidth.  Even on the back of the truck it’s no problem.

I did have one mishap one evening in New Mexico when a thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere and blew the dish off of the box.  It still works fine after its flight and hard landing.  Just a scrape on one corner.  Mike

 

[2008RN]

11 hours ago, jd1923 said:

The simple stand pictured, better than my old milk crate,

That stand looks pretty cool.  What parts did you use to make it work.  Also the battery looks like a Dewalt 20V battery. How did you wire into the battery.    I like the idea of not using cables if possible and if I use a cable I only what to use one. Either RJ45 or Power.    I have a tonneau cover so placing it on the cover when needed would be great, when not possible I would like the stand instead of just sitting it on the ground, and the stand had weight in the base it would be even more stable on the Tonneau.  

Thanks for letting me know that you arrived at your current setup through a process.  I liked to know that. I know your setup is more complex than I want now, though it works great for your needs and you arrived at that over testing and growth.  

Sorry but what is NIB"🤔

I have a question for you and  @Todd B how can you mount the mini on a pole or a tripod, Most tripods are 1/4-20 threads and I have know idea what the pole size @jd1923 uses. Special Addapters or does the mini come with all of those mounting options?  Sorry for  basic questions, When I was a machinist/ automated equipment tech, and then IT, I usually tried to wrap my head around a situation before I would implement. I am kind of anal retentive at times.  I like seeing  things from different angles before I purchase something.  I do not mind fabricating/ buy adapters to make things work, but it nice to have an idea which way I will move before I purchase something. Sometimes it works and sometimes it is working through a problem/situation to come up with a solution. If someone else has a good solution that works, I do not mind leveraging those solutions. Why reinvent the wheel if someone else has already done it. 

 (Off topic) I built a 42' x 16' free standing awning off the back porch with plastic corrugated roof special ordered from the east coast( my wife's idea), I want a plywood with metal roof. The awning roof  cantilevers over the roof on the house . Living in Oregon in  with many trees and 90+ humidity  in the winter I needed a way to clean the awning roof, because of the debris, moss and lichen growth.  When I first tried to do this I made a 3 nozzle sprayer on rollers to hook to my pressure washer.  It failed miserably.  I ended up recruiting my son, and we both stood on our metal roof, one sprayed the roof with water as the other used a  micro fiber mop head on a 16 ft paint roller pole to clean the roof.  This worked but it was very  labor intensive. I found an old high end pressure washer at an estate sale this year.  My son and I made the base so I could tow it with the mower and put a removable hose real on the base. I went over every part of the sprayer. It looks like brand new accept for the dented Honda gas tank. It  took a 3 iterations with the old 3 nozzle sprayer, but I got it working great, and at half throttle. Had some fun at full throttle  where the sprayer was floating 4ft above the roof because of the spray pressure.  When I got it dialed in it took 1.5hrs by my self without getting any over spray on the metal roof, as compared to 4hrs for 2 people and both of us getting wet on a metal roof.  The point of the story I may be slow and with limited resources, but I never gave up on finding a solution.

[2008RN]

7 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

I do have the router and we used it once

Was it the router a mini?  Did you use the mesh wifi or did you do RJ45?    If you used the mesh wifi where did you put the router.  Living in Oregon we are often under a tree canopy, and the cell reception is very spotty at best on the coast,  along the Cascade mountain range and in eastern Oregon prairie land.  I still have a problem calling something a mountain range in Oregon after spending most of my life in Colorado Rockies. 

I do have a hard tonneau cover, but no tongue box . My preference would be to set it on the tonneau and then to disconnect it before take the truck on a outing  and store it somewhere. 

Edited 46 minutes ago by 2008RN

[2008RN]

10 hours ago, Todd B said:

We have even held two wifi based phone calls over Starlink mini while on the standby plan!

That is nice knowing you can still do some minimal data functions, like phone calls over wifi,  and I am Assuming text, and emails in standby mod