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Elon Musk says SpaceX Starlink satellite broadband beta testing starts in a few months:
This week [SpaceX] launched another batch of 60 satellites to bring the total size of its growing Starlink broadband constellation to more than 400. While it has the go-ahead to launch more than 12,000 satellites in the coming years, Musk said Wednesday that a "private beta" test of the service will begin in about three months, followed by a public beta about three months later for testers at northern latitudes.
In response to a Twitter user, Musk said Germany qualifies as far enough north, which could mean that much of northern Europe, Canada and the northernmost parts of the US may be eligible to try the service.
There is only so much bandwidth per satellite, so your pizza-box-sized transceiver would experience more congestion and lower throughput in an urban area than it would in a rural setting.
How many Soylentils are interested in signing up?
(Score: 1) by XivLacuna on Friday April 24 2020, @09:00PM (11 children)
I want the benefits of living out in the middle of nowhere while still having decent internet access. Starlink is exactly what I want. It'll be cheaper than using a trenchsaw to run a fibre optic cable back to civilization.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Friday April 24 2020, @09:10PM (5 children)
I'd like to see someone take it all the way. All food bought in bulk, grown on site, and/or hunted, local water source used (well, rain barrels, condenser, etc.), solar power and batteries. Then get a Starlink 1 Gbps connection and start a YouTube channel about it.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by XivLacuna on Friday April 24 2020, @09:27PM (1 child)
There are a bunch of wilderness youtubers that will probably grab the upgrade. You can put out more content if you don't need to drive to the nearby town a half hour away to use some restaurant's WIFI.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 25 2020, @02:48AM
I've looked at a few of those youtube videos. They vary in quality. One thinks that his family is "roughing it" because they grow a few veggies. Another actually uses modern tech to make semi-wilderness living livable. Another, somewhere in the middle, has done nothing more than become independent of the electric grid. One video is genuinely interesting, and the next suggested video is utter nonsense. I remember one that really made me laugh, when they put up electric fencing for the hogs. That one was nothing more than modern farming on less than a shoestring budget, but they thought they were real pioneers. But, all of them were about people who are conscious of the environment, as opposed to activists in the cities worrying about the polar bears, and the baby seals being clubbed to death.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by edIII on Friday April 24 2020, @09:44PM (1 child)
Exactly what I'm going to do. The moment I can get reliable Internet access so I can continue to work, I can move that far out.
I've already got family living like that, just without Internet. For years, there was zero comm service of any kind. Had to travel 2 hours before you could get to a phone to speak to anyone. Now there are a few long range towers that go by them on the road, and although there quite a few miles away, we eke out a small enough signal to talk on some days.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Saturday April 25 2020, @01:39PM
My wife and I considered a move into the countryside a decade or so ago.
The issues? For me, lack of internet connexion.
For her, access to tertiary-scale medical facilities (she was a haemotologist).
-- hendrik
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 27 2020, @06:14PM
that's what i will do if i have the money for solar.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Friday April 24 2020, @09:26PM (3 children)
The flip side:
I want the benefits of living in the busy city while still having decent internet access. Starlink is exactly what I want. It'll be cheaper than using AT&T / Comcrap / Verizon / Frontier / etc.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Friday April 24 2020, @09:45PM (2 children)
There's a limit to how many people in an area can use Starlink without degrading each other's service. The limit is based on the average number of satellites that are in range, and the bandwidth per satellite (reportedly 20 Gbps).
The denser urban areas are exactly where you would want fiber. If you can't get that at a reasonable price, something has gone terribly wrong.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 24 2020, @10:04PM (1 child)
》If you can't get that at a reasonable price, something has gone terribly wrong.
I believe the term you're looking for is "The FCC".
(Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Friday April 24 2020, @10:19PM
And the FTC, Congress, state legislatures, and the ISPs themselves.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by redneckmother on Friday April 24 2020, @10:33PM
Since I'm already in the boonies, I'm interested in participating in a beta... HughesNot is, well, NOT a good solution.
The only utility at my location is an Electric Co-op.
No phone, cell service, natgas, cable. Just crappy, low speed, high latency, rain fading, low data cap, expensive satellite.
Mas cerveza por favor.