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Ask HN: Starlink Opinions

8 points by rad_gruchalski ↗ HN
Hello HN! I am considering getting the Starlink Internet in Germany and I'm looking for any information from anybody who is using it right now, especially in Germany, NRW region (but I'll take any feedback): what does not work, what are the problems people experience, what's the service like? Do you have any outages and if yes, how long? What's the bandwidth you get? How's the latency?

12 comments

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h2odragon
I'm in the southern USA, paid the $100 several months ago, and they still tell me "Starlink is targeting coverage in your area in mid to late 2021." ... I've seen posts from people within a couple hundred miles to the east and west who got theirs already; so I'd have to advise waiting until they actually start shipping shit to give them money.
bobberkarl
I just ordered one for subsaharian africa (expected availability 2022). The day they cover subsaharian africa, i will buy a hundred devices in a heartbeat. This is an incredibly huge untapped market. At a 100$/month cost they will kill the local telcos/canal + monopolies.
notwhereyouare
or all of a sudden, the local telcos will realize they can actually provide better services by flipping a switch
anchpop
sounds like a win/win situation for the consumer
_benj
Seeing how big companies still pay for WinXP support… I’m rooting for the little guy who has more mobility
bobberkarl
Not possible. The first reason for the high prices are the excruciating taxes. The telcos have boots on the ground, they can't lower their tax sheet; starlink does not.
bcrl
Yes they can. Fibre optic networks have maintenance costs that are orders of magnitude lower than obsolete copper telephone networks. Eliminating outdoor active equipment combined with fibre's better tolerance of moisture improves things massively.
bobberkarl
You're talking about cost. And you're right if it was about cost. I'm telling you, from first hand experience, it's not about cost. It's about taxes.

The reason for the high telco prices are taxes. And no government can lower the taxes, because those same tax rates are set in debt repayment contracts with the IMF, World Bank, etc...

Gustomaximus
You might have more luck finding users here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/

Loads of speed tests form all-over and in general Id say the experience is largely positive, though tend to come form people that dont have great access to begin so that might sway experience depinning on your current situation.

I'm still on the waiting list myself (Australia) and plan to run ADSL concurrently with starlink while I compare initally.

bradknowles
This issue I still have with satellite is the upload latency and bandwidth. I still want to pair this with a proper SDN solution and a second carrier, and then active-active load balancing and traffic smoothing.