Anyone use StarLink?

[Ward]

I'm curious about StarLink, the part of SpaceX.

Does anyone have it? Are you happy with it? Plus and minuses?

Does it reliably stream movies or tv and such?

Thanks

[fortpatches]

My sister and her husband ordered it a while back and it has been delayed for them. I think they may have gotten some of the equipment but still havent been able to install and it has been a couple months. They are still stuck with HughesNet.

[jn1780]

Its a lot better than other satellite providers, but its over a year long waitlist right now. So if you want to wait that long................

As they keep adding more and more satellites, it will be comparable to cable internet.

[Plutonic Panda]

Update and copied from Reddit but useful information: Copied since this is not a permalink

FEBURARY 8, 2022.

GEOMAGNETIC STORM AND RECENTLY DEPLOYED STARLINK SATELLITES

On Thursday, February 3 at 1:13 p.m. EST, Falcon 9 launched 49 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Falcon 9’s second stage deployed the satellites into their intended orbit, with a perigee of approximately 210 kilometers above Earth, and each satellite achieved controlled flight.

SpaceX deploys its satellites into these lower obits so that in the very rare case any satellite does not pass initial system checkouts it will quickly be deorbited by atmospheric drag. While the low deployment altitude requires more capable satellites at a considerable cost to us, it’s the right thing to do to maintain a sustainable space environment.

Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday. These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase. In fact, onboard GPS suggests the escalation speed and severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to increase up to 50 percent higher than during previous launches. The Starlink team commanded the satellites into a safe-mode where they would fly edge-on (like a sheet of paper) to minimize drag—to effectively “take cover from the storm”—and continued to work closely with the Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron and LeoLabs to provide updates on the satellites based on ground radars.

Preliminary analysis show the increased drag at the low altitudes prevented the satellites from leaving safe-mode to begin orbit raising maneuvers, and up to 40 of the satellites will reenter or already have reentered the Earth’s atmosphere. The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry—meaning no orbital debris is created and no satellite parts hit the ground. This unique situation demonstrates the great lengths the Starlink team has gone to ensure the system is on the leading edge of on-orbit debris mitigation.

[Plutonic Panda]

Only an M1 so not much to worry about but still interesting given Starlink’s presence https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/geoma...-february-2022

[jn1780]

Yeah, I bet they launch into a little bit higher initial orbit next time. They probably underestimated the risk from that "small" solar storm.