75% off Starlink hardware (for rural Australia) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 12, 2023, 01:15:59 pm
content: Today Starlink announced their hardware for AUD$199 instead of the usual $599 (already reduced from $924) if you live in rural Australia. What constitutes "rural" is not known, but I'm 45 minutes from a major city and qualify for the discount.I haven't read the full terms and conditions but it might be useful for those stuck on a crappy connection and have put off ordering Starlink due to the high initial cost of hardware.Punch your address into starlink.com to see if you qualify.

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 12, 2023, 03:46:29 pm
content: The hardware was reduced to half price in Canada a while back - either they are clearing out the old hardware or a desperate for more customers. Or perhaps both.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2023, 05:39:59 pm
content: The hardware is probably a loss leader at $200 and barely if at all profitable at $600... it looks expensive:https://hackaday.com/2020/11/25/literally-tearing-apart-a-spacex-starlink-antenna/But if they can get you subscribing on the monthly rate and fill in otherwise underutilised satellites, then it's a winner for SpaceX.

author: antenna
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2023, 06:18:14 pm
content: I've had starlink for quite a while now and I really like it.I do not believe they are struggling for customers or money. I live in what most would call the middle of nowhere and three years ago starlink put up a ground station on the property of a local (25 miles away) landline/DSL/cable provider next to their old phone line shack. I think they are securing contracts to serve as links between other massive providers for either speed or redundancy purposes. I am sure they have government contracts as well, because this could be used to patch across a damaged fiber bundle that would otherwise keep millions offline for days or even weeks.My bill recently went from $110 to $90USD (thats $164.23 to $134.47 AUD) because this is not a high-demand area. A company hurting for money doesn't give discounts to happy customers that have never complained, but now I am curious... My dish cost $600USD ($895.80 AUD), and thats the original round dish. What do you guys pay per month in Australia? If Elon is giving away free dishes over there, I can't imagine the deal you get on a monthly rate! Maybe I don't need to know, I'd like to remain happy lol

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2023, 06:22:58 pm
content: Looks like they've got 33% off for the UK too, I'd hardly call the country rural... but £75/mo is about 2x the cost of my 500Mbit/s FTTP so I won't be taking them up on their offer any time soon. (Still, could be really good if you live in Scottish Highlands or other rural areas where the fibre broadband fairy hasn't visited yet.)

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 12, 2023, 11:21:29 pm
content: Quote from: antenna on April 12, 2023, 06:18:14 pmAUD$139/month for the service.It's roughly around the price of a residential gigabit fibre service.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 06:49:58 pm
content: Quote from: tom66 on April 12, 2023, 05:39:59 pmBut then again, an ISP will bring an optical cable to my door, whether or not I'll subscribe or change to their service. And they give you a decent router no fee attached if subscribed.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 06:56:50 pm
content: Quote from: Halcyon on April 12, 2023, 01:15:59 pm"Australia"

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 07:08:14 pm
content: Choosing between Starlink and optic fiber is quite pointless unless you need to pay for it trough the nose or it's optic fiber only in name but not actual performance. It's fiber-like alternative for those who cannot get one. Not to say it's performance drops in areas with many users where you usually get said fiber optic. I personally use 5G with unlimited traffic and about 400-700 Mbit down and 60-110 Mbit up. And it costs me around $12/month, though I paid about $300 for 5G modem/router.

author: Someone
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 10:00:54 pm
content: Quote from: Monkeh on April 13, 2023, 06:56:50 pmYou joke, but the national monopoly telecommunications provider (ex government entity) was allowed to decide for themselves which areas were "metro", "regional", and "rural". As that set the pricing structures they picked the classifications to suit their business profit rather than geography or population.End result: Australia's federal parliament building, in the middle of Canberra and surrounded by embassies/consulates/diplomatic residences was categorised "rural" (up until at least 2019).

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 11:16:28 pm
content: Quote from: Someone on April 13, 2023, 10:00:54 pmTo be fair, Canberraisin the middle of nowhere, although it would be a bit like classing Las Vagas as rural.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 11:37:16 pm
content: Probably more likely they have been working hard to push the BOM cost of the terminals down.Custom silicon etc..

author: Someone
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 12:21:48 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on April 13, 2023, 11:16:28 pmThe middle region of Canberra with the most expensive realestate was categorised "rural" while adjacent/surrounding suburbs and further outlying suburban sprawl was "metro". But yes, the larger region is rural enough that it is one of the few (possibly only?) capital cities in the world where you get ads for agricultural products on the television broadcasts. The main joke was that a "regional" classification could have possibly been defensible, but Telstra was brazen enough to make a mockery of the ACCC's directions for fair competition and the stupid classifications persisted all the way through until the NBN replaced the commercial reasons for doing so.Canberra was dense enough for a commercially operated residential fibre network in 2002:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransACTOpen access wholesale network, FTTN/FTTC VDSL, I wonder what that sounds like?

author: Someone
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 12:23:27 am
content: Quote from: Psi on April 13, 2023, 11:37:16 pmsilicone /= silicon

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 12:28:51 am
content: No custom silicone cover, instead of plastic. To save cost.Yes. that's what i meant...

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 03:37:34 am
content: Quote from: wraper on April 13, 2023, 07:08:14 pmUnlimited 5G for $12/month? Consider yourself lucky. We have nothing like that over here. With the average cost of a fiber connection, the 5G modem would be paid for in about 1 year.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 05:08:09 am
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on April 14, 2023, 03:37:34 amLikewise, a decent 5G service in Australia will cost you somewhere around $60 per month for a few hundred gigabytes (some are offering up to 500GB at these prices). Usually thereafter, you don't pay for excess data, but it is shaped.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 05:10:11 am
content: Quote from: Monkeh on April 13, 2023, 06:56:50 pmYeah. It totally depends on who you ask.Telcos: You are rural, enjoy your soup cans and bit 'o string.Local council: You must pay sewage and town water levy. Cos we might run that out there to you someday. Maybe.edit: typo

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 05:21:02 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on April 14, 2023, 05:08:09 amDevil is in the detail. I bet you can't run a server.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 05:36:26 am
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on April 14, 2023, 05:21:02 amYou could run a server on cellular, but why would you want to?

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 05:53:10 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on April 14, 2023, 05:36:26 amShort answer: redundancy.The few times I've messed around with it, the incoming connections are blocked. No, I want an IP address.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 07:06:54 am
content: Due to the number of cellular devices, a good number of cell phone providers practiceCGNAT, which makes it usually impossible to run a server from a 4G/5G connection as there is no valid address you can request data from, only a 'session' that you can operate in. Not sure what the IPv6 situation is, but there are still networks that cannot handle v6, so it may not be a solution.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 07:14:23 am
content: Quote from: tom66 on April 14, 2023, 07:06:54 amAnd that's my argument. They can afford to throw a NAT in there but deny full access for the stupid money they claim is needed to cover costs.Bullshit.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 10:49:44 am
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on April 14, 2023, 03:37:34 amWell, I have 70% discount from normal price. And it's actually a phone SIM, not internet only.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 12:21:00 pm
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on April 14, 2023, 05:53:10 amNot sure about all the other carriers, but you can get a public IPv6 address on Telstra

author: asmi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2023, 08:59:30 pm
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on April 14, 2023, 05:53:10 amYou can use tunnel services like Cloudflare which would have a client inside your network establishing connection, and Cloudflare's reverse proxy servers will route web traffic through that tunnel, they will also provide a TLS termination, and a FREE wildcard certificate for your domain to boot! This service has a free tier (bandwidth-limited), so that you can have all this for free if you don't need high bandwidth. You also won't need a "white" IP address in this case because traffic will go to their servers.

author: gamalot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2023, 11:44:26 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on April 14, 2023, 05:08:09 amThe home broadband plan I signed up about two years ago is 75 Australian dollars per month, no data limit, Optus.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 17, 2023, 12:16:15 pm
content: Quote from: gamalot on April 17, 2023, 11:44:26 amCould be good value, depending on your coverage, but also keep in mind those cellular services are shaped. Typically around the 50/10 or 100/20 Mbps mark. Even the so-called "unlimited speed" plans are still limited. Those cheaper residential services almost always get the lowest priority on a cell. This becomes a particular problem in densely populated areas like major CBDs when special events are on; You share the same airtime with thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of devices. It's enough to keep most people happy, but certainly not for everyone. I really notice it working in Government during New Years Eve in the city. We used SIMs/services that allowed higher priority on a cell, which means we got the bulk of the capacity, everyone else gets bumped/times out.It's a case of "you get what you pay for". Even between fixed-line services like Fibre to the Node/Curb/Premises, not all ISPs/plans are created equal, even though it's the same physical infrastructure.

author: gamalot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2023, 12:54:17 pm
content: My broadband transfer rate here is not bad, staying at 400-500/80 most of the time, occasionally dropping to 300/60. Considering that I could only get 4G or even ADSL+ at the same price in the past, I am very satisfied with the current 5G broadband. It's a little slow here today, I suspect too many people are watching the starship launch.

author: sausage
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2023, 12:42:49 pm
content: Chiming in about the Canberra region as well. Canberrans themselves have NBN, but outside the region past Queanbeyan, there are only scrappy internet options. Starlink's $200 offer is attractive.Except that we're not on the $200 list even though we are in a rural spot.Starlink do not publish a map of who is on the $200 offer.Starlink have no email address or chat, or phone number, or any way of asking.