5 ms·

It feels like it’s more catering to “deep in the woods” customers vs. “anything but Comcast et.al.” customers.

modeless 6y ago
The service fundamentally can't support a high density of customers due to limited capacity per satellite. So yes, Starlink is not for people who already have cable in cities or even suburbs. Starlink is for rural areas, and (in the future) vehicles like boats or planes.
- BurningFrog 6y ago
  You can always send up more satellites though. At some point, the orbit is full, but I assume that is very far off.
  - modeless 6y ago
    Starlink will already be the largest satellite constellation by two orders of magnitude. To replace cable they'd probably need another couple of orders of magnitude beyond that. And satellites are not the only limited resource; spectrum may be harder to come by.
  - cnlevy 6y ago
    The beam width limits bandwidth to a coverage of 1 satellite per ~52 sq km https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/jiu1uq/looks_like_starlink_public_beta_has_begun/ga8qik4/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/jiu1uq/looks_...
    - mlindner 6y ago
      To be fair, that is the current implementation with current satellites. Hypothetical situations allow numerous things, including narrower beam width.
      - wcoenen 6y ago
        Perhaps a silly idea: could the constellation satellites act together as something like a phased array?
- doomlaser 6y ago
  Given these limitations, I wonder what the theoretical maximum is for revenue, and how long it will be until they pay back the investment in launching it. It must work out favorably or they wouldn't be doing it, but is this going to make a dent in paying for Mars expeditions?
  - mantap 6y ago
    Although a large proportion of the world's population live in urban areas, the absolute number of people who don't is still billions of people.
    - qayxc 6y ago
      Keep in mind that of these people a significant portion don't have access to: • clean running water • stable electricity supply • disposable income • bank accounts or means of making international payments So I'd argue that the vast majority of the people you have in mind don't have the means to pay $500 for satellite dish, electricity for said dish, and a double-digit monthly subscription fee...
      - Trias11 6y ago
        This will spawn cottage industry of one guy per village sharing his internet connection for a fixed monthly cost with other houses in the hood. Possibly against TOS but I'm sure no one will police this too hard.
        yencabulator 6y ago
        I understand that's common practice in parts of Africa with cell phones already. Including people on motorcycles driving between villages for more customers, and I understand they'll even drive to no-coverage areas, using the phone as offline storage for text messages.
        qayxc 6y ago
        As odd as it may sound, I see actual payment as the major hurdle here. While phones come with prepaid plans that can be used with cash only, it's going to be difficult to get payment for Starlink going in many regions, unless SpaceX starts subsidiaries in various regions where this applies and offers prepaid/cash services, too.
samoa42 6y ago
it is
mlindner 6y ago
Yes that has always been the intention, much as so many people believe otherwise. SpaceX and various executives (including Shotwell and Elon Musk) have all stated that the primary customers are rural customers or even Comcast-like companies themselves (for backbone purposes). $100/month for 50 mbps to 150 mbps is day and night for many people. There's a lot of people that live off of subsist off less than 5 mbps for over $100 month from old DSL services or old satellite internet or microwave links.
bryanlarsen 6y ago
As I heard it, "Starlink isn't for those who hate their cable ISP, it's for those who wish they had a cable ISP to hate."
- thrill 6y ago
  Starlink is for those who continue to get spam mail and email and phone calls from their cable provider after cancelling all but internet.

The service fundamentally can't support a high density of customers due to limited capacity per satellite. So yes, Starlink is not for people who already have cable in cities or even suburbs. Starlink is for rural areas, and (in the future) vehicles like boats or planes.

BurningFrog 6y ago
You can always send up more satellites though. At some point, the orbit is full, but I assume that is very far off.
- modeless 6y ago
  Starlink will already be the largest satellite constellation by two orders of magnitude. To replace cable they'd probably need another couple of orders of magnitude beyond that. And satellites are not the only limited resource; spectrum may be harder to come by.
- cnlevy 6y ago
  The beam width limits bandwidth to a coverage of 1 satellite per ~52 sq km https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/jiu1uq/looks_like_starlink_public_beta_has_begun/ga8qik4/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/jiu1uq/looks_...
  - mlindner 6y ago
    To be fair, that is the current implementation with current satellites. Hypothetical situations allow numerous things, including narrower beam width.
    - wcoenen 6y ago
      Perhaps a silly idea: could the constellation satellites act together as something like a phased array?
doomlaser 6y ago
Given these limitations, I wonder what the theoretical maximum is for revenue, and how long it will be until they pay back the investment in launching it. It must work out favorably or they wouldn't be doing it, but is this going to make a dent in paying for Mars expeditions?
- mantap 6y ago
  Although a large proportion of the world's population live in urban areas, the absolute number of people who don't is still billions of people.
  - qayxc 6y ago
    Keep in mind that of these people a significant portion don't have access to: • clean running water • stable electricity supply • disposable income • bank accounts or means of making international payments So I'd argue that the vast majority of the people you have in mind don't have the means to pay $500 for satellite dish, electricity for said dish, and a double-digit monthly subscription fee...
    - Trias11 6y ago
      This will spawn cottage industry of one guy per village sharing his internet connection for a fixed monthly cost with other houses in the hood. Possibly against TOS but I'm sure no one will police this too hard.
      - yencabulator 6y ago
        I understand that's common practice in parts of Africa with cell phones already. Including people on motorcycles driving between villages for more customers, and I understand they'll even drive to no-coverage areas, using the phone as offline storage for text messages.
      - qayxc 6y ago
        As odd as it may sound, I see actual payment as the major hurdle here. While phones come with prepaid plans that can be used with cash only, it's going to be difficult to get payment for Starlink going in many regions, unless SpaceX starts subsidiaries in various regions where this applies and offers prepaid/cash services, too.

samoa42 6y ago

it is

mlindner 6y ago

Yes that has always been the intention, much as so many people believe otherwise. SpaceX and various executives (including Shotwell and Elon Musk) have all stated that the primary customers are rural customers or even Comcast-like companies themselves (for backbone purposes). $100/month for 50 mbps to 150 mbps is day and night for many people. There's a lot of people that live off of subsist off less than 5 mbps for over $100 month from old DSL services or old satellite internet or microwave links.

bryanlarsen 6y ago

As I heard it, "Starlink isn't for those who hate their cable ISP, it's for those who wish they had a cable ISP to hate."

thrill 6y ago
Starlink is for those who continue to get spam mail and email and phone calls from their cable provider after cancelling all but internet.