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I thought starlink didnt work for mobile connections? I.e. that it had to be registered and operated at a fixed address. That said, unless you are able to drop

I thought starlink didnt work for mobile connections? I.e. that it had to be registered and operated at a fixed address. That said, unless you are able to drop anchors, I am guessing that you would spend most of your working hours at a dock or with a partner piloting instead.

Mountain_Skies 5y ago
Starlink has to abide by the laws of whatever jurisdiction you are in. There's not many technical reasons why they can't provide roaming service on the seas but there are issues such as if you dock in a country that prohibits Starlink service, they're going to want some system in place to reject your packets. That shouldn't be too difficult but resources must be allocated to making it happen. They probably have other things on their plate now that are a higher priority.
rtkwe 5y ago
They've said that the base station will be able to roam at some point in the future and right now it's because they don't schedule the service on an ad-hoc basis so if you're base station isn't in it's expected area it won't get service.
baybal2 5y ago
> I thought starlink didnt work for mobile connections? It will not work either far away from the shore.
- noitpmeder 5y ago
  Again I have to believe this is only a temporary restriction.
  - ncmncm 5y ago
    SpaceX are launching satellites with ("frickin") lasers now. So, if you are in the middle of the ocean, your packets step between satellites on the same orbit, forward or back, until they get in range of a node. First actual use is for polar service. On certain routes, packets will be artificially delayed so that high-speed traders can pay big bucks to get their packets through first, ahead of fiber. And, maybe pay even bigger bucks to prevent their competitors from getting their packets through as fast. Imagine tiered pricing, where each millisecond ahead of the rest of the pack is ten times the price. So, for example, orbits inclined near 70 degrees pass near New York and London/Frankfurt. Packets going by satellite laser links can get there many milliseconds ahead of those poking along on subsea fiber. Somebody in London who finds out 10 ms before everyone else about a price change in New York gets to make a killing trading on the exclusive information.
    - dragonsky67 5y ago
      There is a whole world there I do not know and don't really want to. What a strange world we live in.
      - ncmncm 5y ago
        Yes. You can think of it as automated stealing. Much of the inequity could be eliminated by imposing a per-transaction tax.
        HeadsUpHigh 5y ago
        Or you can think of it as HTF trading firms subsidizing 20-60ms internet for the common user. The last couple ms probably mean nothing to you but they mean a lot to them. I guess it depends on what your world view is.
        ncmncm 5y ago
        Somehow, I foresee SpaceX just pocketing the extra money, not reducing the little peoples' prices. Have you seen any reason to expect different?
        HeadsUpHigh 5y ago
        The extra money is probably needed to make the whole thing viable. SpaceX probably has a goal price for consumer plans and they are just trying to hit that price. Regardless I just don't see SpaceX as the company that doesn't evolve with times tbh.
        ncmncm 5y ago
        I do not understand that reasoning at all, where there is any. "Evolve with times" does not seem to mean anything. In markets where Starlink is viable, they have no effective competition, and can charge as much as the market will bear. As long as they have more potential users than bandwidth to sell them, they are under no pressure to reduce prices or give up profit. A goal to subsidize Martian colonization provides a very strong incentive to maximize income. We should expect to see very high gross margins until other constellations begin to compete.
noitpmeder 5y ago
I believe this is only temporary and SpaceX has announced plans to roll out different subscription plans (including roaming) in the future.

Mountain_Skies 5y ago

Starlink has to abide by the laws of whatever jurisdiction you are in. There's not many technical reasons why they can't provide roaming service on the seas but there are issues such as if you dock in a country that prohibits Starlink service, they're going to want some system in place to reject your packets. That shouldn't be too difficult but resources must be allocated to making it happen. They probably have other things on their plate now that are a higher priority.

rtkwe 5y ago

They've said that the base station will be able to roam at some point in the future and right now it's because they don't schedule the service on an ad-hoc basis so if you're base station isn't in it's expected area it won't get service.

baybal2 5y ago

> I thought starlink didnt work for mobile connections? It will not work either far away from the shore.

noitpmeder 5y ago
Again I have to believe this is only a temporary restriction.
- ncmncm 5y ago
  SpaceX are launching satellites with ("frickin") lasers now. So, if you are in the middle of the ocean, your packets step between satellites on the same orbit, forward or back, until they get in range of a node. First actual use is for polar service. On certain routes, packets will be artificially delayed so that high-speed traders can pay big bucks to get their packets through first, ahead of fiber. And, maybe pay even bigger bucks to prevent their competitors from getting their packets through as fast. Imagine tiered pricing, where each millisecond ahead of the rest of the pack is ten times the price. So, for example, orbits inclined near 70 degrees pass near New York and London/Frankfurt. Packets going by satellite laser links can get there many milliseconds ahead of those poking along on subsea fiber. Somebody in London who finds out 10 ms before everyone else about a price change in New York gets to make a killing trading on the exclusive information.
  - dragonsky67 5y ago
    There is a whole world there I do not know and don't really want to. What a strange world we live in.
    - ncmncm 5y ago
      Yes. You can think of it as automated stealing. Much of the inequity could be eliminated by imposing a per-transaction tax.
      - HeadsUpHigh 5y ago
        Or you can think of it as HTF trading firms subsidizing 20-60ms internet for the common user. The last couple ms probably mean nothing to you but they mean a lot to them. I guess it depends on what your world view is.
        ncmncm 5y ago
        Somehow, I foresee SpaceX just pocketing the extra money, not reducing the little peoples' prices. Have you seen any reason to expect different?
        HeadsUpHigh 5y ago
        The extra money is probably needed to make the whole thing viable. SpaceX probably has a goal price for consumer plans and they are just trying to hit that price. Regardless I just don't see SpaceX as the company that doesn't evolve with times tbh.
        ncmncm 5y ago
        I do not understand that reasoning at all, where there is any. "Evolve with times" does not seem to mean anything. In markets where Starlink is viable, they have no effective competition, and can charge as much as the market will bear. As long as they have more potential users than bandwidth to sell them, they are under no pressure to reduce prices or give up profit. A goal to subsidize Martian colonization provides a very strong incentive to maximize income. We should expect to see very high gross margins until other constellations begin to compete.

noitpmeder 5y ago

I believe this is only temporary and SpaceX has announced plans to roll out different subscription plans (including roaming) in the future.