This would be really useful for embedded systems. Really, I could use it for all of my home automation, which is currently the only reason I have Comcast. I want high-speed data access, but my house doesn't care. I keep high-speed data access with me, in the form of a cellphone, so I could use it whether I'm at home or on the go, and keep my IoT devices on a Starlink connection.
Carmack's comments and the comments in the thread entirely surprise me.
256kbit/s was pretty much the standard ADSL speed 20 years ago. I remember thinking it was lucky some of my friends had 512kbit/s and 1500kbit/s was considered extremely fortunate.
Even still calls over Skype worked fine, you could run IRC or MSN Messenger while loading flash games or downloading MP3s. You could definitely play games like Starcraft, Age of Empires, Quake, UT2004, etc. on a 256k ADSL line. Those plans were also about 8x the price of this plan, not even adjusting for inflation.
Not only that, those lines were typically only 64k upload speed. The usefulness of a 500kbit/s up/down line is incredibly high. I think the only reason it might seem less useful now is that web services are not typically optimised to be usable on dial-up speeds like they were 20 years ago.
With the right setup and having feeds/content download asynchronously rather than "on-demand", 500kbit/s is still plenty of internet by today's standards.
As a kid I used to want the fastest internet I could get my hands on. Downloading games, streaming YouTube, etc. But my habits have changed. I prefer text-based websites like this one, I do most of my computing in an SSH session. I avoid bloaty software, not out of some principled stance, but out of personal preference for simple things. I'd do fine with 500Kbps, and never thought I'd say that.
This is incredible. The amount of embedded and mobile systems that can utilise this is big. Think vehicle (car, ship, etc) tracking, IoT devices, remote sensors in the field, even remote cameras in the field. Search and rescue devices, etc.
Lots of use-cases already proved by the more limited Iridium modules that are available on the market.
I'm however curious what having orders of magnitude more low-bandwidth devices connected to a satellite would do compared to having fewer high-bandwidth devices.
How would that affect the individual satellite's capacity?
This is what Swarm Technologies, acquired by Starlink, was for. The utility here is not to think of the normal/typical internet usage but for the likes of IoT devices at remote places or moving objects. For $5 /mo (I think per device/connection) is a lot for their use cases — ping the location and some metadata once an hour or so.
This plan replaces "pause" functionality that allowed you to put your subscription on hold. Hence:
"Starlink also states that "Standby Mode is not intended for constant, maritime, or high-bandwidth use," although the terms do not explicitly prohibit this, and we don't know if or how Starlink would enforce this intention.
Additionally, Standby mode is only intended for use for 12 months or less. After that, Starlink can, in its discretion, require either a move to a standard plan or loss of all connectivity except for access to the user's Starlink account."
Nothing to get excited here about, then. It's not a plan, per se. It's an add-on. I would not resort to it for IoT, surveillance, etc.
It's also one of the many frequent changes they introduce to their plans, so I would especially not rely on this staying as is for long.
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[ 1875 ms ] story [ 3245 ms ] threadHere's an article with more details: https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/starlink-drops-roam-10gb-pl...
You’ll never be able to go over 168GB, let them call it the 169.69 plan
256kbit/s was pretty much the standard ADSL speed 20 years ago. I remember thinking it was lucky some of my friends had 512kbit/s and 1500kbit/s was considered extremely fortunate.
Even still calls over Skype worked fine, you could run IRC or MSN Messenger while loading flash games or downloading MP3s. You could definitely play games like Starcraft, Age of Empires, Quake, UT2004, etc. on a 256k ADSL line. Those plans were also about 8x the price of this plan, not even adjusting for inflation.
Not only that, those lines were typically only 64k upload speed. The usefulness of a 500kbit/s up/down line is incredibly high. I think the only reason it might seem less useful now is that web services are not typically optimised to be usable on dial-up speeds like they were 20 years ago.
With the right setup and having feeds/content download asynchronously rather than "on-demand", 500kbit/s is still plenty of internet by today's standards.
Lots of use-cases already proved by the more limited Iridium modules that are available on the market.
I'm however curious what having orders of magnitude more low-bandwidth devices connected to a satellite would do compared to having fewer high-bandwidth devices.
How would that affect the individual satellite's capacity?
Got an isdn link in 98, so fast.
500,000 - you can do a lot.
"Starlink also states that "Standby Mode is not intended for constant, maritime, or high-bandwidth use," although the terms do not explicitly prohibit this, and we don't know if or how Starlink would enforce this intention.
Additionally, Standby mode is only intended for use for 12 months or less. After that, Starlink can, in its discretion, require either a move to a standard plan or loss of all connectivity except for access to the user's Starlink account."
Nothing to get excited here about, then. It's not a plan, per se. It's an add-on. I would not resort to it for IoT, surveillance, etc.
It's also one of the many frequent changes they introduce to their plans, so I would especially not rely on this staying as is for long.
https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/starlink-drops-roam-10gb-pl...