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The sentiment has been (up until this point?) that Starlink needs to lower costs for the customers, not increase them, as otherwise the customer base will remai

The sentiment has been (up until this point?) that Starlink needs to lower costs for the customers, not increase them, as otherwise the customer base will remain as tiny as it currently is. Last I remember, the cost was ~500 USD + the monthly fee, I wonder how many in a rural environment are ready to pony that up for a measly connection. Maybe not difficult for live-on-a-farm-software-developers, but what about the rest of the spare population?

rippercushions 4y ago
If Starship works out (and that's admittedly a big if), the price of launching Starlink satellites will plummet and they'll be able to boost the number of satellites in orbit from ~4k to 30k, which will improve bandwidth and cut costs. https://spacenews.com/spacex-goes-all-in-on-starship-configuration-for-second-gen-starlink/ https://spacenews.com/spacex-goes-all-in-on-starship-configu... Also, if you think a $500 one-time fee is bad, try asking Comcast how much they'll charge for pulling 20 miles of fiber to your farm.
- jlkuester7 4y ago
  > Also, if you think a $500 one-time fee is bad, try asking Comcast how much they'll charge for pulling 20 miles of fiber to your farm. Made me laugh out loud! :) Closest wired internet to my place is 6mi South. Also have a big hill between me and the only fixed LOS internet tower in the area. Currently, Starlink is my only real option, and it has worked fine for me so far! In my experience, an ISP with no real competition is always going to be pricy. The only way to get reasonable rates is to have some competition....
- codazoda 4y ago
  Funny story… Century Link got 500 feet of fiber pulled to my house, and I didn’t pay a dime. When they subdivided my neighborhood it was supposed to have fiber. All my neighbors had it, but not me. There’s supposed to be a major connection every other house, and mine should have it, but it doesn’t. The person at Century Link that came out to my place and found the problem pulled the original plans for the subdivision, figured out who screwed up, contacted that company, and got fiber to my place. They had to go 500 feet, under a street and two driveways. Now I have fiber. Thanks dude at Century Link. p.s. Comcast (Xfinity) came out and looked too. They noped the hell out right away.
- youngtaff 4y ago
  > they'll be able to boost the number of satellites in orbit from ~4k to 30k, And potentially screwup the upper atmosphere by polluting it with vaporised aluminium as the satellites re-enter And definitely pollute the night sky too
- gamblor956 4y ago
  If Starship works out (and that's admittedly a big if), the price of launching Starlink satellites will plummet and they'll be able to boost the number of satellites in orbit from ~4k to 30k, which will improve bandwidth and cut costs. If I had a dollar for every time Elon Musk said something that didn't pan out or wasn't true, I would be richer than Elon Musk.
bdcravens 4y ago
Paying additional fees to setup infrastructure is something many in rural areas are familiar with. Rural doesn't always mean poor.
m4jor 4y ago
> Last I remember, the cost was ~500 USD + the monthly fee, I wonder how many in a rural environment are ready to pony that up for a measly connection. Maybe not difficult for live-on-a-farm-software-developers, but what about the rest of the spare population? If you think $500 setup cost + the ~$90 monthly fee is bad, I got news for you. The same people using Starlink out in the middle of nowhere now were paying way more than that before switching. Like ~$250/m for subpar speeds and had very small data limit caps + data usage overage costs with crap ISPs.
- StrangeATractor 4y ago
  Can't speak for $250/mo, but I've definitely lived in places where ISP's weren't required to expand in, meaning a big chunk of residents had zero internet options. This wasn't too far out of SEATAC, actually. Not a fan of Musk, but the calculus becomes pretty simple at that point for someone who wants a home internet connection.
- noncoml 4y ago
  > ~$90 monthly fee is bad ~$120 in California
  - lazide 4y ago
    Comcast is over $120/mo in California.
    - jameshilliard 4y ago
      > Comcast is over $120/mo in California. Starlink does not really compete with Comcast in areas Comcast already serves(at least when it comes to speed/price/reliability), it just doesn't make sense to use Starlink when Comcast is available other than maybe as a secondary backup connection. Starlink is significantly faster and cheaper however than other providers like Viasat which serve areas without economical terrestrial based internet options. Comcast installation costs would be roughly $250,000 to my property and is the only hardline broadband provider in my area.
chrisco255 4y ago
"rural" just means sparsely populated compared with dense urban cores. These people aren't impoverished, some of them are wealthy, most of them are middle class with property and acreage. Rural consumers are used to paying equipment costs, for example, they were among the first to adopt satellite TV, back when the dishes were enormous and you needed enough land to even mount one. And those cost thousands of dollars in the 80s and 90s.
- DebtDeflation 4y ago
  When I was kid in the 1980s, I wanted a big C-band satellite dish so bad. Never could convince my parents to get one though.

rippercushions 4y ago

If Starship works out (and that's admittedly a big if), the price of launching Starlink satellites will plummet and they'll be able to boost the number of satellites in orbit from ~4k to 30k, which will improve bandwidth and cut costs. https://spacenews.com/spacex-goes-all-in-on-starship-configuration-for-second-gen-starlink/ https://spacenews.com/spacex-goes-all-in-on-starship-configu... Also, if you think a $500 one-time fee is bad, try asking Comcast how much they'll charge for pulling 20 miles of fiber to your farm.

jlkuester7 4y ago
> Also, if you think a $500 one-time fee is bad, try asking Comcast how much they'll charge for pulling 20 miles of fiber to your farm. Made me laugh out loud! :) Closest wired internet to my place is 6mi South. Also have a big hill between me and the only fixed LOS internet tower in the area. Currently, Starlink is my only real option, and it has worked fine for me so far! In my experience, an ISP with no real competition is always going to be pricy. The only way to get reasonable rates is to have some competition....
codazoda 4y ago
Funny story… Century Link got 500 feet of fiber pulled to my house, and I didn’t pay a dime. When they subdivided my neighborhood it was supposed to have fiber. All my neighbors had it, but not me. There’s supposed to be a major connection every other house, and mine should have it, but it doesn’t. The person at Century Link that came out to my place and found the problem pulled the original plans for the subdivision, figured out who screwed up, contacted that company, and got fiber to my place. They had to go 500 feet, under a street and two driveways. Now I have fiber. Thanks dude at Century Link. p.s. Comcast (Xfinity) came out and looked too. They noped the hell out right away.
youngtaff 4y ago
> they'll be able to boost the number of satellites in orbit from ~4k to 30k, And potentially screwup the upper atmosphere by polluting it with vaporised aluminium as the satellites re-enter And definitely pollute the night sky too
gamblor956 4y ago
If Starship works out (and that's admittedly a big if), the price of launching Starlink satellites will plummet and they'll be able to boost the number of satellites in orbit from ~4k to 30k, which will improve bandwidth and cut costs. If I had a dollar for every time Elon Musk said something that didn't pan out or wasn't true, I would be richer than Elon Musk.

bdcravens 4y ago

Paying additional fees to setup infrastructure is something many in rural areas are familiar with. Rural doesn't always mean poor.

m4jor 4y ago

> Last I remember, the cost was ~500 USD + the monthly fee, I wonder how many in a rural environment are ready to pony that up for a measly connection. Maybe not difficult for live-on-a-farm-software-developers, but what about the rest of the spare population? If you think $500 setup cost + the ~$90 monthly fee is bad, I got news for you. The same people using Starlink out in the middle of nowhere now were paying way more than that before switching. Like ~$250/m for subpar speeds and had very small data limit caps + data usage overage costs with crap ISPs.

StrangeATractor 4y ago
Can't speak for $250/mo, but I've definitely lived in places where ISP's weren't required to expand in, meaning a big chunk of residents had zero internet options. This wasn't too far out of SEATAC, actually. Not a fan of Musk, but the calculus becomes pretty simple at that point for someone who wants a home internet connection.
noncoml 4y ago
> ~$90 monthly fee is bad ~$120 in California
- lazide 4y ago
  Comcast is over $120/mo in California.
  - jameshilliard 4y ago
    > Comcast is over $120/mo in California. Starlink does not really compete with Comcast in areas Comcast already serves(at least when it comes to speed/price/reliability), it just doesn't make sense to use Starlink when Comcast is available other than maybe as a secondary backup connection. Starlink is significantly faster and cheaper however than other providers like Viasat which serve areas without economical terrestrial based internet options. Comcast installation costs would be roughly $250,000 to my property and is the only hardline broadband provider in my area.

chrisco255 4y ago

"rural" just means sparsely populated compared with dense urban cores. These people aren't impoverished, some of them are wealthy, most of them are middle class with property and acreage. Rural consumers are used to paying equipment costs, for example, they were among the first to adopt satellite TV, back when the dishes were enormous and you needed enough land to even mount one. And those cost thousands of dollars in the 80s and 90s.

DebtDeflation 4y ago
When I was kid in the 1980s, I wanted a big C-band satellite dish so bad. Never could convince my parents to get one though.