11-07-2020 04:12 PM
11-07-2020 06:20 PM
They've got one level of approval. They're not quite at the point of fully offering the service in Canada yet. They're still missing approval for their ground stations in Canada.
At present Starlink is only in beta. The Canadian beta isn't expected to begin until at least December. IF you get invited to participate, it will depend on where you live. Only areas in Canada that are in range of the US base stations will even be considered by Starlink at this time. SpaceX has a list of rural Canadian communities they wanted in the beta but haven't publically disclosed which communities they are focusing on.
US beta users have also reported that Starlink has a habit of losing signal for 10-20 seconds every half hour or so. The dish currently seems to have a delay in switching satellites when one goes out of range.
Then there is the cost. In the US, they're charging $99 USD per month for the service, plus $499 USD for the receiver dish and hardware. For Canada, add the exchange rate and taxes. That's at least $132 per month, not including any of the usual exchange fees charged by financial institutions, or taxes. And the satellite hardware would be at least $661 before fees and taxes. People will have to decide if that kind of up front payment is worth it. You'd also need your own router as the Starlink gateway/modem only has a single LAN port on it.
11-07-2020 06:49 PM
Actually they just got there second level of approval to operate their ground stations! Just this Friday!
I already pay $115 a month to telus for 24mbps/12up with a data cap.
I also had to pay $ 270 for a junk ZTE hub.
I cannot even connect to multiplayer with, and most ports are blocked and disconnects me from applications every 15 min.
Starlink is a bargain compared to all other Rural options.
Currently Starlinks Beta performs better than any rural internet option available. A few second disconnect during beta is better than rural providers days of outages. Also no data cap yet. And Super low pings. Also possible ipv6 public static ip.
The current Telus ZTE only has one lan port, Add a switch or a second router running NATless. Problem Solved. Having you own router is pretty standard.
Its worth it, so worth it, there is no option to starlink even close for Rural Areas!
11-09-2020 03:32 PM
11-09-2020 04:08 PM
Xplorenet just sent me an email saying that they doubled their speed *upto 50mbps. But its unlimited, rofl.
Telus throttled my original hub speeds of 130/30 to 24/12 with a strict nat that severely limits your ports. And your capped.
just got off phone with telus the answer is...... So far no plans to compete, change speeds, or NAT.
I expect Hughesnet and Viasat will be selling uneeded office space by this time next year. Soooo Slow.
But right now its still the lottery on who gets Starlink first. Hope i get it soon!
I also realize now that Starlinks beta speeds match the upper Fibre plan available in the nearest town to me.
11-11-2020 07:29 PM
11-17-2020 11:50 PM
If Telus continues with this rather unpredictable and unreliable rural internet service through their ZTE hub (I've had one for 5 years now . . . dismal service the past two months), I'd pony up even the challenging dollars in support of this new service if it becomes available. I'd do that much the same as I ponied up serious $$'s when Canada wasn't paying good attention to Sat service and the American offerings had footprints extending into my part of Alberta.
11-18-2020 12:09 AM
11-18-2020 01:23 AM - edited 11-18-2020 01:24 AM
Rural internet has never been good anywhere since the 90s. While there has been some advancement over the years, speed has always been an issue.
While starlink seems good in theory real world usually ends up being something different. I don’t expect blazing speeds, and a slow down the more users that come onboard. Plus Starlink still needs to rely on a ground based fibre infrastructure from a provider themselves.
11-18-2020 06:06 AM
Telus definitely could but chooses not too.
The first three days I had my hub it was consistently 130/30 Mbps. Now my speed tests look like hockey sticks as they start off fast only to get drug down to new lows.
Also my iphone gets a moderate NAT2, but the ZTE gets NAT 3 every time. Same tower same APN.
I laugh as a farmer hearing about Telus new venture into agriculture. Too bad they have made a habit of pissing us off by giving sub par service. I definitely know they have been gouging now.
I already know i will be disappointed by there AG tech cause if it needs connectivity its hard to find in the field. I spent a small fortune to get my own tower and radio gear for RTK gps because cellular was not reliable enough to pull it off. We are talking kb/s of data.
Starlink is definitely a glimmer of hope. Run by a guy who is always trying to improve the system.
11-23-2020 08:31 PM