we're pretty excited about this new development with starlink internet that is blowing the lid
off the mobile internet industry we've got all the details in this video plus i'm gonna show you
three starlink hacks you're gonna wanna know if you plan on using starlink for your rv
so up until recently starlink internet was not an internet solution advertised for mobile
users however this doesn't mean it didn't work for mobile users they just announced a new rv specific
option which i'm going to talk about in just a few minutes but first i want to share about how things
have evolved and what our personal experience has been so far we received our starlink dish
and router setup at the beginning of february of this year and set it up at the service address
that we use to receive it we are very impressed with the quality of speeds and we're really happy
with the service overall now the next test came when we wanted to travel with the starlink and
this is where hack number one comes in now you might remember that when starlink first hit the
market it was not advertised as being a solution for people on the move to set up starlink service
you would need to have a service address the way styling service is set up involves beaming
internet data via radio signals through space on a low earth orbit and then there are ground stations
on the earth that broadcast these signals back to the satellites in orbit which then relay the data
back to users on earth via these satellites when starlink first came out service was limited to
certain areas and starlink focused mostly on rural areas where internet had not been widely available
in the past or was available on a very limited basis these service areas are known as cells
the coverage map shows availability in areas where you can obtain and get service anything marked
available in waitlist are areas with service coming soon areas show expected availability
so when we first got our starlink setup there was an open cell in our area that we could
connect to and that's why we were able to get the equipment but we wanted to travel with our setup
so the first test that we did was taking our starlink system to the florida keys and this
is where we used hack number one for our starlink setup with the flagpole buddy mount now this mount
makes it super easy to set up the starlink dishy and there is no more need to climb up and down
the ladder so if you don't want to use a pole on the ladder like we're using there is another
option that you can use which is installing a pivot mount that is mounted and fixed to the roof
of your rv we opted to not drill holes in the roof hence why the flagpole buddy makes it much easier
for us and we don't have to climb the ladder up on top of the roof to set up the dish now we did not
have any service during that trip to the florida keys where we stayed was in the middle of the
florida keys and it was in february of this year we did however get service in the key largo area
by changing our service address to an area just outside of homestead florida we've also had very
successful service in the fort myers area florida and this was all prior to the recent changes that
we're going to talk about shortly now hack number two is for actually storing your starlink system
when you're on the go and that is using the husky tote from home depot now i'm gonna put a link
in the description below for a very similar one on amazon as well in case that you don't have a
home depot in the area that you're in but this was a super easy setup all we did is took the
insert out of the actual box that the starlink satellite came in and it stores away perfect and
it's a much better solution than the cardboard box that it came in now starlink recently announced a
new option for rvers and it would seem that the rv option versus the residential option with
portability are pretty much the same service when it comes to prioritization with roaming which is
where a service address gets priority service and the same upfront equipment costs with one
exception which i'll talk about in just a few minutes so now hack number three for us was going
lithium to be able to power our starlink so we just installed four battleborn lithium batteries
which we're excited about because these bad boys are going to help us keep our starlink powered up
when we're in a boondocking or a lot docking situation which i want to say includes those
harvest host days because most those harvest host locations are pretty much all boondocking
or dry camping and you're gonna need something to power your setup these starlink setups do
take some power so i'm gonna put a link below to battleborn as well where you can learn more about
why that lithium batteries are just a much better solution for rvers versus lead acid or agm
batteries so now when it comes to the residential plan versus the rv plan with starlink the one
difference according to the starlink website is the option to turn the service off and on or
basically pausing your service is included with the rv option now at this time it does not appear
that if you're a current starlink user with a current setup that you're going to be able to
switch from a residential plan to an rv plan with the extra portability option without buying all
new equipment with the rv plan they're requiring all new equipment you have to purchase everything
to get that plan with the availability to pause and then restart service as needed versus right
now we've got the residential setup and we're not able to pause and restart service but the service
is the exact same as far as the internet that we're getting this new rv plan is perfect for
those who are not full-time rvers and would like a mobile internet option for traveling on a more
limited basis or as maybe a potential backup option it is also a great option for full-time
rvers since the cost of the monthly service is the exact same as the residential option
with portability it just gives you that option for month to month with the rvers versus being locked
into paying for a service every month unless that you just completely want to cancel in which case
if you do cancel you may or may not be waitlisted again if you choose to reactivate service now it
is important to note that as of this time starlink is still saying that you cannot get service
while in motion that means you can't put the dish on your roof drive down the road and have internet
at least this is the official word from starlink however some users have reported being able to do
this and have service but it's not what starling says one thing to remember is that starlink
service is a little bit like the wild wild west right now with terms of service costs all being
subject to change and it seems like being subject to change on a more frequent basis also if you're
in a wooded area with a lot of tree overhang or maybe in a canyon area you might not have the
best service with starlink overall we're pretty excited with the new rv option and we've had
great experience so far and do plan on keeping our starlink for the long haul as an all-in-one
internet solution for rv living although we're not quite ready to ditch our cellular hot spots
completely we are pretty excited about the direction that starlink is taking for mobile
internet users one thing to remember is that starlink service is a little bit you've got
to be kidding me it's a little bit like the wild wild rest right now in terms of rest yes restless
noise pollution
it's the one you told me
take two
let us know if you're using Starlink currently, are you planning on taking it with you on your
travels will you be ordering the new RV setup how does this change the current mobile internet setup
that you're using do you have mobile internet yet let us know as we love hearing from all of you
in the RV community and we can also learn from each other what's working and what's not so you
can leave us some comments below we also want to invite you to join our free discord server
where we can continue the starling conversation and other RV related discussions there as well
link will be below so I'm going to put a video right up here with
more information about Starlink and mobile internet, in general, you definitely want
to take a look at this information before that you make that mobile internet decision
if we don't see you out on the road or around the campground we'll see you in the next video