4 ms·

I had no idea they launched a v2. I wonder why they would regress so much. The obvious answer is cost... but they have to know how much people want good interne

I had no idea they launched a v2. I wonder why they would regress so much. The obvious answer is cost... but they have to know how much people want good internet service in remote areas, right? I'll pay for it and I know I'm not the only one.

ncallaway 5y ago
As mentioned in the article, though, how much could the added cost of an Ethernet connector be? That can’t increase the BOM that much, right?
- stickfigure 5y ago
  Taking a wild guess here: Standard PoE+ is 30w, and even the newest PoH maxes out at 90w. The new hardware draws more than that, so Starlink made up their own PoEish standard with proprietary cable/connectors. The $20 dongle is probably a custom PoE adapter. The good thing about this setup is you only need a single cable run up to your roof. Adding an RJ45 jack directly to dishy might actually complicate the construction. For one thing, it's a weatherproofing issue. But now you have two ethernet ports and need a switch, which needs software management. It's not just a few pennies on the BOM.
  - geerlingguy 5y ago
    We're talking about a typical 1 Gbps (non-PoE) LAN port on the router, so you could plug in another computer hardwired (or a switch). The jack is pennies, and the rest of the chips to support the extra Ethernet interface are still readily available. Version 1 of the router had a LAN port (labeled AUX).
  - ncallaway 5y ago
    > Adding an RJ45 jack directly to dishy might actually complicate the construction It wasn't an additional jack on dishy. It was an additional jack on the router. See here for an example of the router: https://www.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/files/styles/large_wm_brw/public/article_images/2021/05/starlink-router-lifestyle-02.jpg https://www.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/file... One of those ports connects to the Starlink (through another box which provides the POE), and the other is labeled `aux` and is available for LAN. My understanding for the newer routers is there is now only the single port. The router itself doesn't appear to be weatherproof'ed in any way, and already needs to be installed indoors, so I think it'd just be the cost of the RJ45 jack (and whatever internal differences for the router). It just...seems like it cannot be much of a cost savings.
    - stickfigure 5y ago
      In that case, I truly have no idea. You're right, it's weird.
    - cozzyd 5y ago
      Surely whatever SoC they're using already has the capability, so yeah, it's probably a few $ at most. I bet they figured they'd save money because of people's shitty wifi setups in their gargantuan exurban homes.

ncallaway 5y ago

As mentioned in the article, though, how much could the added cost of an Ethernet connector be? That can’t increase the BOM that much, right?

stickfigure 5y ago
Taking a wild guess here: Standard PoE+ is 30w, and even the newest PoH maxes out at 90w. The new hardware draws more than that, so Starlink made up their own PoEish standard with proprietary cable/connectors. The $20 dongle is probably a custom PoE adapter. The good thing about this setup is you only need a single cable run up to your roof. Adding an RJ45 jack directly to dishy might actually complicate the construction. For one thing, it's a weatherproofing issue. But now you have two ethernet ports and need a switch, which needs software management. It's not just a few pennies on the BOM.
- geerlingguy 5y ago
  We're talking about a typical 1 Gbps (non-PoE) LAN port on the router, so you could plug in another computer hardwired (or a switch). The jack is pennies, and the rest of the chips to support the extra Ethernet interface are still readily available. Version 1 of the router had a LAN port (labeled AUX).
- ncallaway 5y ago
  > Adding an RJ45 jack directly to dishy might actually complicate the construction It wasn't an additional jack on dishy. It was an additional jack on the router. See here for an example of the router: https://www.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/files/styles/large_wm_brw/public/article_images/2021/05/starlink-router-lifestyle-02.jpg https://www.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/file... One of those ports connects to the Starlink (through another box which provides the POE), and the other is labeled `aux` and is available for LAN. My understanding for the newer routers is there is now only the single port. The router itself doesn't appear to be weatherproof'ed in any way, and already needs to be installed indoors, so I think it'd just be the cost of the RJ45 jack (and whatever internal differences for the router). It just...seems like it cannot be much of a cost savings.
  - stickfigure 5y ago
    In that case, I truly have no idea. You're right, it's weird.
  - cozzyd 5y ago
    Surely whatever SoC they're using already has the capability, so yeah, it's probably a few $ at most. I bet they figured they'd save money because of people's shitty wifi setups in their gargantuan exurban homes.