Starlink mini

Stephen I fully agree that it won't run reliably on 12v direct and much prefers a higher voltage.
That being said I run mine on a lithium house battery in the motorhome with a 3m cable without any problems but it is typically over 13v most of the time.

Stephen, "Houston, we have a problem", I have a dumb phone, ie used only as a phone/sms, not connected to the internet. Can I download to a laptop? I think I should have done further home work before purchasing Starlink.

Do you have an iPad or Tablet or other family members have a more up to date phone, as unfortunately you must have the Starlink app to setup your new Starlink.

Once you have it setup and running, anyone that is within 50 + metres of you will see your Starlink WiFi signal, and if you give them the password to login, they will have access to your Starlink.

Not honestly sure about a laptop

Stephen, Thanks for the reply. Phone is up to date, just that I don't turn on to connect to the internet. Sounds as if only need internet for the setup, which is doable. I find phones too small and fiddly for using with the internet etc. I do plan on buying a tablet in the near future for navigation.

You will only need your phone to get the app, as everything else is using Starlink.

When you go off grid all data used is purely Starlink.

Stephen, once again thank you. I have joined the FB group and ploughing through the posts, gleaning what I can. I have factored in a DC convertor and am slowly researching mounts etc. If range is 50mts, then permanent mounting on vehicle looks to me to be the way to go, but you have yours mounted on a tripod, care to elaborate on that?

We do not run ours in the car, but many people mount them of their roof mounts that will give you on the move access. In an emergency event, I can have our Starlink setup and working in a few quick minutes for access to phone or internet.

I have made up many off grid options, running off my 18v cordless power tools batteries , a very small 20,000mAh battery power bank that will give me 3-4 hours continuous running and my latest addition is the CTMODS small tripod/power bank all in one that will give me up to 8 hours of continuous use.

The biggest thing is to have as clear as possible view of the sky and make sure your dish is pointing south if not mounted on your car roof. As you know the dish is very small and there have been reports of them being run over in caravan parks, there was one report of another case of it not working next morning, the owned found out why….avery big dog crap on the dish that he photographed…haha.

Using any tripod will keep the dish off the ground, but the advantage of the new CTMODS, you simply connect the top of the tripod into the pole mount that comes standard with your Starlink, connect the small cable that comes with the CTDODS, one end into the dish and the other into the inbuilt power supply, just brilliant. If you look at going to one of the CTMODS power supplies, I rant a story of my own Facebook page and to promote their great product, CTMODS gave me a discount code to use K022 that gives you a discount….sadly I paid full price.

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Not correct Bristie

Originally you could opt in for the standby mode, but quite some time ago…….not a few days as you claim, any new activation automatically went to the new 100g/$80 month plan but before the billing month is up, you simply change you plan to the $8.50 Standby plan.

Can I please ask where or who told you this wrong information

Stephen, Briste was referring to "in-motion" use.
Here is what Google says……

"Here are the key details regarding this change:
Policy Shift: While Standby Mode was previously used as a cost-effective way to get limited data while traveling (e.g., for basic maps, messaging, or WiFi calling), Starlink updated its terms to specify that this plan is "not intended for in-motion use".
Alternative Requirements: To use Starlink while in motion, users must now upgrade to a full Roam plan (such as Roam 100GB or Roam Unlimited), which starts at a higher monthly cost.
What Still Works: The $8.50 Standby Plan is still functional for stationary, low-bandwidth, or emergency use (e.g., at a campsite).
Effective Date: The crackdown was observed by users around March 6–7, 2026.
Other Changes: Concurrently, Starlink introduced a 100 mph (160 km/h) speed cap on Roam plans, aimed at preventing in-motion use on private airplanes without paying for specialized aviation plans.
This change marks the end of a popular loophole that allowed users to maintain connectivity on the move for a low fee, often using the Starlink Mini. "

My personal belief is that the $8.50 Standby Plan will not last forever and users will need to pay for a higher plan, like maybe $80/month. But then I am a pessimist which has saved me from several disasters, lol

Allan wins the prize for reading what I actually wrote. Must be a skill obtained from reading all those Australian standards.

You may well be right about the $8.50 plan, Allan. I've seen a lot of plan changes from SL over the years, esp in the budget offerings. I hope not, as I just gave my old Gen 2 dish to someone to give to their brother in a moderately remote location so that he could have basic phone connectivity for $8.50. At least he is stationary.

It will be interesting to see how people react to the change, and how SL reacts to that. Clearly SL didn't like how people were using the short-lived $15/10Gb plan, since they ditched it, nor how many people had their dishes paused for extended periods, nor something about the bonus data option for the old 50Gb plan. Nor portability for residential customers. They're all gone.

My hunch is that a lot of people will just cancel their service plan, and only reactivate it when travelling. SL won't like that. People who got the free loaner mini because they have a residential plan may opt to return it. People who travel all the time will just have to suck it up. E.g. truck drivers. I met a chap in Kalgoorlie last year running a business fitting minis to prime movers. He had done hundreds. They won't be happy, but I bet most of them will just pay the $80 per month.

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It is pretty common marketing Briste. Fire up a new product with an irresistible offer, allow the market to saturate then reconfigure the pricing completely to a new format where the initial bargain just slides away and the customer base is captive to a whole new scheme. It happens all the time.
Look at all the old applications that ceased to be supported and only available as subscription. These guys go to bed figuring how to improve the bottom line. They know human nature.

All true Allan (don't speak to me about Adobe :(( ), but I think this is something slightly different. SL introduce a budget plan and people find was to use it that wasn't intended, so they change the plan. Rinse and repeat. The basic all-you-can-eat residential plan hasn't had a price increase at all, if I recall correctly, and there are now cheaper, speed-limited plans.

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I wasn't referring to the "in motion" change Briste. That was a loophole closing.
I was predicting the whole SL pricing structure change. We will need to wait to see if I am right.

I am not surprised they have closed the loophole. It was too good to be true, possibly a mistake and would have cost them a lot in lost revenue. I am sure a lot of people would be happy with just the $8.50 plan which can’t be sustainable for poor old Elon.

I don’t like paying for the service anymore than anyone else but even at $80.00 it is still an extraordinary service to have when travelling

Starlink originally allowed you to pause your service before the $8.50 plan was introduced. At that time they indicated if you didn't take up the $8.50 plan your service would be cancelled trying to force customers onto to the new plan. At that time I investigated what "cancelled" meant and eventually Starlink link indicated cancelled ment the old paused option.

To me it appeared Starlink was just trying to grab extra cash by scaring users onto the $8.50 plan so that they would still get revenue even when you weren't using the service, it was not about saving the user money just Starlink trying to keep the service active rather than users pausing the service. They then justified it by indicating low data user who didn't require high speeds and bandwidth would benefit with a lower cost service. It appears now that they did not think it through and see that travellers who were paying a much higher cost just for the convenience of being able make wifi calls, send text and get some internet coverage whilst travelling would jump on the low cost plan resulting in a loose of revenue for them so hence no mobile use. Same for marine use, why would you opt for an expensive marine plan if you don't want to stream videos etc.

Cancelled is the old pause. There is a catch though, the fine print used to say for a cancelled service that Starlink link may at sometime in the future introduce a reconnect fee when you decide to reconnect though they haven't to date. There was also the proviso that they do not gaurantee you will be able to reconnect your service at anytime in the future as reconnection will be dependent on network service availability in your area but as they are trying to drum up more business all the time they obviously have plenty of spare capacity and I have never had an issue being able to reconnect when I want. In fact a couple of months ago they offered a free months usage if I reactivated my cancelled services which I had to do anyway as they indicated if my dishes did not download the latest software by x date they might be permanently locked out of the network. Coincidence I don't think so. Note: They may have changed the terms of use now regarding cancelled services I haven't checked lately.

Michael, thank you greatly, plenty of searching to do now.

I had a mini in a suction cup mount under my Prado's sunroof, and while it was fine while driving, it got too hot when stationary in full sun and ceased working until the car started to move again. There are different such mounts and perhaps some hold it closer to the sunroof than others.

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A Starlink operates by reception of electromagnetic waves i.e. radiation.
Heat from the sun is also electromagnetic radiation.
What you need is a shield that permits transmission of the Starlink band of electromagnetic radiation while reflecting all other bands of radiation.
Then your Starlink will run nice and cool.
Start looking.

Alan I noticed that some external mounts have a sheet of perspex on top, I would of thought that would hold the heat even more and not sure of the benefits seeing as the Starlink is already weather proof

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Alby, I was actually referring to internal mounts under a sun/moon roof such as Robert and Briste above.
I also had my tongue firmly in my cheek. :)
I would also have thought that the Starlink was designed to withstand external mounting under direct sun and free air movement but maybe not internally where there may be sunlight but no air movement.

Moreover, maybe the Australian sun has a bit more punch than the sun in the Good Old USA which is the primary market. I'll ask Elon when I next see him.

I have switched to a magnetic roof-top mount, and included the option for a perspex protective screen. Apparently there is a minimum gap between the dish and the screen in order to prevent over-heating. I haven't really tested it fully yet, but it's a popular mount and there aren't any reports that I have seen of issues caused by the screen. I think my previous under-sunroof mount held the dish very close to the sunroof, which caused the overheating.

Why the screen? Just being cautious. Might protect it from any stray missiles and drones from the middle east.

May not kill it straight away but they do contain electrolyitic capacitors and they do not like heat which causes them to dry out over time and you then get power supply issues etc. The units are white and with free air circulation do stay cool, mounting on the inside of a windscreen or under a sunroof is like putting it in an oven.

Interestingly have have seen devices in the past that were meant to be mounted on the windscreen or dashboard and warnings on them to keep them away from heat! Some of those devices did fail when left in cars on a hot sunny day.

I even killed a pair of multifocals leaving them on a dashboard in the sun, now who would think the sun would kill a pair of glasses.

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You know, any screen placed above does not need to be transparent to visible light, merely to electromagnetic radiation in the Starlink's frequency. In fact if it blocked just the lower frequencies in the infrared band it may be a big benefit in heat reduction. Think of the window tinting that we all love. But there should be a gap between the screen and the Starlink enclosure to allow ventilation.
Understand that any screen or insulation does not stop heat transmission, it merely slows it so as to allow the ventilation beyond a chance to ventilate what comes through. Clamping a screen directly on the face does little to prevent temperature rise beyond.

I don't have a Starlink so cannot experiment. Sorry.

Quote from AlIan "I don't have a Starlink so cannot experiment. Sorry."

Yeah I don't have one either even though I ordered one over a month ago. Seems the US / Elon has run out of thingamees and watchamacallits to mak them or it could be something to do with a) import tariffs b) Middle East conflict c) Australia's just too small to be a priority.

Was hoping to have it in time for our impending sojourn into the Never Never which may not take place due to b) above and resultant fuel availability. Wouldn't like to think I was depriving the Cockies of their much needed diesel while I tug a van around the country.

Think its time reinvigorate Friday Funnies - Heaven knows we need a laugh eh?

Kenell

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Hi Kenell, I think you are right about Starlink shortages. Australia is microscopic in terms of world markets.

And you are also right to be conserving fuel. Just yesterday I told Roz that I was deferring taking that pile of rubbish to the tip as I did not want to consume fuel in these times of exiguity.

Allan B, I thought Friday funnies was banned, LOL............... and I had to look up "exiguity", have to use that with regards to the missus panties.........

There is no shortage of Starlink in the USA, in fact they are on special there now for only US$199 and give it time that should be that price here in Australia as that is the price I paid AU$199 when they were on special here in Australia.

You say Kenell that you ordered yours over a month ago and still do not have it yet .?

Have you made any enquiries as when I ordered ours 16 months ago direct from the Starlink web site in the USA, stock was sent from Sydney and I had ours delivered to country South Australia in just 4 days from the day I ordered it and found their service excellent.

From what I have been reading, when you get it, you can only have 2 plans to start off, the 100gb/$80 plan or the $195 unlimited, but after your first month you can then opp to go down to the $8.50 / month plan which is all you need if you are only checking emails, making phone calls or slower internet usage.

Once you have used it, they are just brilliant and as I have mentioned before, friends out on the Birdsville Track have gone away from standard Satellite home internet and now run exclusively Startlink on the Station and have Mini’s in all the Stations vehicles and can make phone calls and internet in the middle on no where 100km from the Station.

As for making phone calls it is not like the old Satellite phone where there was a few seconds lag, calls with Starlink is immediate just as if you are in range of your normal phone carrier.

There are a few things that you need to set up to get the most out of your Starlink and to save on power, one of the first things you need to change is turn off “Snow Melt” that heats your dish to melt the snow when it builds up, not a real problem here in Australia, not unless you are working in the Alps. This then leads to another issue, those that are saying their dishes are overheating, have they turned off the Snow Melt slider?

Enjoy it when you finally receive it, it is a real game changer for anyone travelling remote and away from phone reception.


Cheers

Stephen