5 ms·

I had been talking with AST Group about getting OneWeb set up on my boat and the size of the terminals was a blocking issue; only place I could put them would b

by Stevvo 5y ago

I had been talking with AST Group about getting OneWeb set up on my boat and the size of the terminals was a blocking issue; only place I could put them would be shading solar panels much of the day.

walrus01 5y ago
Unless you have a gargantuan yacht the monthly recurring cost is going to be prohibitive anyways, I'd be shocked if it's less than $1200/mo to start.
- Stevvo 5y ago
  Right, but that is cost I could potentially swallow; worth it work from paradise anchorages with little other connectivity. You don't pay rent at anchor. What I will probably end up doing this summer is a stern-to mooring to some trees with a Starlink terminal sitting on the beach with an Ethernet cable running out to the boat.
  - FDSGSG 5y ago
    > stern-to mooring to some trees with a Starlink terminal sitting on the beach with an Ethernet cable running out to the boat. How come? What's the problem with having the Starlink terminal on the boat?
    - Stevvo 5y ago
      It doesn't deal too well with all the movement; it works sometimes but not reliably. I don't know if it is only the rolling or also the lateral swinging around the anchor that throws it off. In perfectly flat seas it might work fine, but you don't often find yourself in those conditions.
      - strainer 5y ago
        Seems 'marine stabilized platforms' of many specs and sizes are advertised. Surprising if none suitable to mount a starlink on.
        Stevvo 5y ago
        A catamaran would be a nice "marine stabilized platform"
        NickNameNick 5y ago
        Not necessarily. Catamarans tend the roll pretty aggressively, even if they aren't going to roll over a wide angle. A SWATH - small water-plane area twin hull - would be a better choice. Basically two completely submerged pontoons with small pylons passing though the water surface up to the superstructure. Because they have very little boyancy change when the waves change the water surface level, they have very gentle roll characteristics.
      - FL410 5y ago
        It deals REALLY well with movement. I’m very curious what you’re seeing and if you’re on the latest firmware?
        Swannie 5y ago
        My guess would be the moving radio shadows cast by mast, rigging, boom.
        Stevvo 5y ago
        Last tried in April of last year
      - ummonk 5y ago
        Can’t you set it on a gymbaled gyro to stabilize it?
  - nickvanw 5y ago
    If you're that close to the beach that you can string a cable, do you not have 4G LTE/5G services available? With a high-gain antenna I would imagine you could get speeds and latency that would rival Starlink in many places. Of course, this will vary wildly and depends on how remote you are mooring.
    - Stevvo 5y ago
      It just depends; every anchorage is different however it's not uncommon to be cruising in area with great coverage, but once you lay anchor you find yourself without service because the rocks of the bay you chose to shelter you from sea waves also shelter you from radio waves.
  - greyhair 5y ago
    What about point to point WiFi instead of a cable? WiFi 6 will handle anything that Starlink can possibly hand out. With a directional antenna, you'll have more range than you would ever want to store cable for. Then again, I would think you could make a stabilized platform that could keep a starlink connection up.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - Stevvo 5y ago
      The advantage of Starlink over point to point WIFI is there is so much less set-up involved; just update your service address and boot your terminal and you're good to go. Conveniently the ethernet cable will also power the terminal from the boat's batteries.
  - justsomehnguy 5y ago
    > with an Ethernet cable Just use a WiFi bridge, eg: https://mikrotik.com/product/wap_60g_ap https://mikrotik.com/product/wap_60g_ap
  - jccooper 5y ago
    Starlink is likely to eventually have a mobile-base capable terminal. Probably not by this summer, though.

by Stevvo 5y ago

I had been talking with AST Group about getting OneWeb set up on my boat and the size of the terminals was a blocking issue; only place I could put them would be shading solar panels much of the day.

walrus01 5y ago

Unless you have a gargantuan yacht the monthly recurring cost is going to be prohibitive anyways, I'd be shocked if it's less than $1200/mo to start.

Stevvo 5y ago
Right, but that is cost I could potentially swallow; worth it work from paradise anchorages with little other connectivity. You don't pay rent at anchor. What I will probably end up doing this summer is a stern-to mooring to some trees with a Starlink terminal sitting on the beach with an Ethernet cable running out to the boat.
- FDSGSG 5y ago
  > stern-to mooring to some trees with a Starlink terminal sitting on the beach with an Ethernet cable running out to the boat. How come? What's the problem with having the Starlink terminal on the boat?
  - Stevvo 5y ago
    It doesn't deal too well with all the movement; it works sometimes but not reliably. I don't know if it is only the rolling or also the lateral swinging around the anchor that throws it off. In perfectly flat seas it might work fine, but you don't often find yourself in those conditions.
    - strainer 5y ago
      Seems 'marine stabilized platforms' of many specs and sizes are advertised. Surprising if none suitable to mount a starlink on.
      - Stevvo 5y ago
        A catamaran would be a nice "marine stabilized platform"
        NickNameNick 5y ago
        Not necessarily. Catamarans tend the roll pretty aggressively, even if they aren't going to roll over a wide angle. A SWATH - small water-plane area twin hull - would be a better choice. Basically two completely submerged pontoons with small pylons passing though the water surface up to the superstructure. Because they have very little boyancy change when the waves change the water surface level, they have very gentle roll characteristics.
    - FL410 5y ago
      It deals REALLY well with movement. I’m very curious what you’re seeing and if you’re on the latest firmware?
      - Swannie 5y ago
        My guess would be the moving radio shadows cast by mast, rigging, boom.
      - Stevvo 5y ago
        Last tried in April of last year
    - ummonk 5y ago
      Can’t you set it on a gymbaled gyro to stabilize it?
- nickvanw 5y ago
  If you're that close to the beach that you can string a cable, do you not have 4G LTE/5G services available? With a high-gain antenna I would imagine you could get speeds and latency that would rival Starlink in many places. Of course, this will vary wildly and depends on how remote you are mooring.
  - Stevvo 5y ago
    It just depends; every anchorage is different however it's not uncommon to be cruising in area with great coverage, but once you lay anchor you find yourself without service because the rocks of the bay you chose to shelter you from sea waves also shelter you from radio waves.
- greyhair 5y ago
  What about point to point WiFi instead of a cable? WiFi 6 will handle anything that Starlink can possibly hand out. With a directional antenna, you'll have more range than you would ever want to store cable for. Then again, I would think you could make a stabilized platform that could keep a starlink connection up.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - Stevvo 5y ago
    The advantage of Starlink over point to point WIFI is there is so much less set-up involved; just update your service address and boot your terminal and you're good to go. Conveniently the ethernet cable will also power the terminal from the boat's batteries.
- justsomehnguy 5y ago
  > with an Ethernet cable Just use a WiFi bridge, eg: https://mikrotik.com/product/wap_60g_ap https://mikrotik.com/product/wap_60g_ap
- jccooper 5y ago
  Starlink is likely to eventually have a mobile-base capable terminal. Probably not by this summer, though.