5 ms·

Availability is presently limited by density of CPEs in a given geographical area. They don't want to ridiculously oversubscribe it and give people bad ping, pa

Availability is presently limited by density of CPEs in a given geographical area. They don't want to ridiculously oversubscribe it and give people bad ping, packet loss and traffic speeds, because that's exactly what geostationary consumer priced vsat services as known for. If you can't get it shipped to you and are still in the pre-order queue, your area is out of capacity until more satellites are launched or the satellite+terminal firmwares are better improved. There's a number of places that are not out of capacity and if you put in the "right" street address it'll take you to the immediate full price payment order page.

yellow_lead 5y ago
But Starlink doesn't support changing your location yet - or does it?
- mlindner 5y ago
  It always has, or has for a very long time. It's not guaranteed that when you change your location that there will be service available at that location however.
- walrus01 5y ago
  It does, but you have to apply and ask if there's capacity in the area you want to move it to in advance.
shaklee3 5y ago
they are going to oversubscribe it. they're only slow to add users because they can't make terminals, not because they're trying to maintain an unrealistic QoS.
- simondotau 5y ago
  Is that an assumption on your part, or is there associated evidence? If there is, that’s something I’d really appreciate knowing.
  - walrus01 5y ago
    Every residential last mile isp in the history of commerical ISPs since 1993 has been oversubscribed, the question is at which ratio, and how that technology is implemented. the problem with terrible oversubscription on geostationary consumer grade vsat services is based on the fact that raw transponder kHz on a geostationary satellite is extremely expensive. starlink appear to be taking a very different perspective since they absolutely know about the abysmal reputation of things like viasat/hughesnet/wildblue/etc in the consumer-facing ISP space, and won't ever let it go that way. because it would be a brand name killer.
    - simondotau 5y ago
      I agree it's a risk inherent to the ISP business model generally. I was asking if there was any evidence that was specific to Starlink "trying to maintain an unrealistic QoS".
    - shaklee3 5y ago
      I see your other comments and you seem very sharp, but I don't understand why you think starlink will be any different, and especially why the initial launch period is anything like a mature service. for instance, do you disagree with anything here? https://twitter.com/LionnetPierre/status/1482863459834511363?t=yTDSZDtQ9Usmc6vesJSHJg&s=19 https://twitter.com/LionnetPierre/status/1482863459834511363...
      - walrus01 5y ago
        I worked in network engineering for geostationary two way satellite for years and have been a starlink beta customer for over a year now. I also have some inside info from network engineering folks in WA state that I can't disclose here. If one fully understands the economics of geostationary it helps to better understand the tech behind starlink. I don't rule out the possibility that it goes bankrupt and ends up in a situation like the 2nd corporate incarnation of iridium, but the tech works great.
        5y ago
- quantumduck 5y ago
  This is certainly not true. You can see tons of people in different countries who literally ordered starlink a week ago getting it ahead of lots of people who preordered like a year ago because the ones who are getting quickly are likely in under utilized cells along the path of existing trajectories. It is highly likely that those who have been waiting (with someone they know nearby having starlink) is because that particular cell is over subscribed and they don't want more connections in there until they have more satellites up.
  - shaklee3 5y ago
    https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-starlink-chip-shortage-satellite-internet-2021-11 https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-starlink-ch...
- lebski88 5y ago
  That can't really be true. I ordered it in November and it shipped the same day. I was just in a location that had capacity.

yellow_lead 5y ago

But Starlink doesn't support changing your location yet - or does it?

mlindner 5y ago
It always has, or has for a very long time. It's not guaranteed that when you change your location that there will be service available at that location however.
walrus01 5y ago
It does, but you have to apply and ask if there's capacity in the area you want to move it to in advance.

shaklee3 5y ago

they are going to oversubscribe it. they're only slow to add users because they can't make terminals, not because they're trying to maintain an unrealistic QoS.

simondotau 5y ago
Is that an assumption on your part, or is there associated evidence? If there is, that’s something I’d really appreciate knowing.
- walrus01 5y ago
  Every residential last mile isp in the history of commerical ISPs since 1993 has been oversubscribed, the question is at which ratio, and how that technology is implemented. the problem with terrible oversubscription on geostationary consumer grade vsat services is based on the fact that raw transponder kHz on a geostationary satellite is extremely expensive. starlink appear to be taking a very different perspective since they absolutely know about the abysmal reputation of things like viasat/hughesnet/wildblue/etc in the consumer-facing ISP space, and won't ever let it go that way. because it would be a brand name killer.
  - simondotau 5y ago
    I agree it's a risk inherent to the ISP business model generally. I was asking if there was any evidence that was specific to Starlink "trying to maintain an unrealistic QoS".
  - shaklee3 5y ago
    I see your other comments and you seem very sharp, but I don't understand why you think starlink will be any different, and especially why the initial launch period is anything like a mature service. for instance, do you disagree with anything here? https://twitter.com/LionnetPierre/status/1482863459834511363?t=yTDSZDtQ9Usmc6vesJSHJg&s=19 https://twitter.com/LionnetPierre/status/1482863459834511363...
    - walrus01 5y ago
      I worked in network engineering for geostationary two way satellite for years and have been a starlink beta customer for over a year now. I also have some inside info from network engineering folks in WA state that I can't disclose here. If one fully understands the economics of geostationary it helps to better understand the tech behind starlink. I don't rule out the possibility that it goes bankrupt and ends up in a situation like the 2nd corporate incarnation of iridium, but the tech works great.
      - 5y ago
quantumduck 5y ago
This is certainly not true. You can see tons of people in different countries who literally ordered starlink a week ago getting it ahead of lots of people who preordered like a year ago because the ones who are getting quickly are likely in under utilized cells along the path of existing trajectories. It is highly likely that those who have been waiting (with someone they know nearby having starlink) is because that particular cell is over subscribed and they don't want more connections in there until they have more satellites up.
- shaklee3 5y ago
  https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-starlink-chip-shortage-satellite-internet-2021-11 https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-spacex-starlink-ch...
lebski88 5y ago
That can't really be true. I ordered it in November and it shipped the same day. I was just in a location that had capacity.