2022-06-10

Starlink (2)

As I say, impressed, and to be honest even at £89/month inc VAT this is good value...

A doddle to install properly, some tree cover is unavoidable, but it works, and is happily doing 185Mb/s right now. Thanks to Jim to coming round with his drill for me.

The IPv4 is all CGNAT, and the IPv6 is not working yet or reliably. But this "just works" with A&A L2TP providing fixed IPv4 and IPv6 over it. And the latency makes this a very viable service at around 30ms. The package of a Starlink + FireBrick + A&A L2TP is pretty appealing, to be honest.

I really am pretty gobsmacked with how simple this all was to buy and get working - only caveat is "remember to get the Ethernet adaptor".





22 comments:

  1. My Starlink connection is sometimes faster than 200mbits. Are there plans to offer a faster L2TP package?

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  2. I've got the Mk1 Dishy and use a Mikrotik router (can't afford a Firebrick - Sorry!) running an A&A L2TP tunnel to give me a real IPv4 address, so I can test video encoders and decoders over 'real world' Internet between Starlink and my FTTC broadband.

    Dead easy to setup and works well!

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  3. What does the Ethernet adapter do? Is the service Wi-Fi-only without it?

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  4. Your dish looks square. Mine is round but was delivered in December. Sounds like speeds are improving rapidly - I was sure it was originally advertised at something like 10 to 30 Mbps.

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  5. Look at ZeroTier to solve the CGNAT problem. Amazing solution and free.

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  6. Knowing how you always try to 'do things right' did you look into the legals of satellite dishes on residential dwellings?

    I'm starting to check on this.

    Whilst I want it to look as unobtrusive as possible to my eye (and my neighbours' eyes) and don't want to put it somewhere obviously offensive to the eye, I also want to know my official position if a neighbour comes round demanding I take it down else they'll report me to the busy-bodies at the local council.

    The dish is bright white and reflective after all, unlike a Sky Q mini-dish with its semi-transparent dark grey.

    I am thinking back to your air con planning permission problems when you were still in Bracknell, which I've made a note of ready for the day I install some proper aircon in the house.

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    Replies
    1. It is indeed something I have considered. But as this is mainly for testing and backup, it is not going to be anything like the "issue" of having to take out air-con if there is a complaint. The property itself is not that close to any neighbours this time. But no, I have not actually checked on this yet, and would be interested to know. I also wondered about external WiFi APs and if they are covered by any permitted developments or need planning permission. The planning side or my new air-con is a separate topic I have considered in a lot more detail, and which I'm probably happier to discuss in a little under 4 years :-)

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  7. This looks definitive and authoritive:

    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwic8PGut6r4AhXNg1wKHXhjBWcQFnoECAMQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F236314%2Fhouseholdersguideantennas.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0CFaVnEff3lFoL3HWdXCKM

    BUT - the limit is two antennae on a property which is under 15m in height. So, if already have TV aerial and Sky dish, then adding StarLink not permitted as would be a third antenna.

    Also, seems to imply no TV aerial can be above the highest point of chimney/roof. Well that's most people stuffed then.

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    Replies
    1. Old style UHF is in the loft, so sky and Starlink at present.

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    2. Hmm, yes. Moving the digital terrestrial aerial into the attic (with boosters/amplifiers as required) seems to be the solution to reduce the number of external antennae down to the maximum permitted of two.

      And doing this actually will make the house look nicer too. And the existing TV aerial's wall mount bracket and its cabling is all looking very dodgy and is around 40 years old in places so well overdue for an upgrade anyway, so now is the time to move the aerial itself.

      Neighbours most definitely notice new aerials and dishes on one's property. I had my StarLink dish out on the shed roof for an hour on Sunday for experiments and within 20 minutes I had an SMS from a neighbour asking if the big white thing was my new StarLink system and whether it was working well.

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    3. I think the restriction is one dish up to 90cm per dwelling. Additional ("permanent"), or larger, dishes technically need permission. The other antenna (to get to the 2 you mention) can't be a dish.
      ...but it's been a few years since I looked into it.

      -- andyjpb

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    4. Ha, OK, well, the Starlink is not a "dish", it is a phased array. I believe. So where does that fit in the mix?

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    5. It looks like one of those Squarials to me. ;-)

      -- andyjpb

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    6. I'm not sure.
      I think there was a term like "dwelling" to allow flats, etc to have lots of dishes but I'm not sure what happens if you have a single dwelling with multiple buildings. i.e. Do you get the allowance per building?

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    7. The 2008 PDF from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minster in a previous government is likely to be of very little relevance now. The ODPM became the Deputy Prime Minister's Office before it was abolished.

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    8. I read the document as referring to "number of antennae per premises", so one dish on the main building plus one dish on a shed or outbuilding equals the maximum of two antennae per premises.

      What is the difference between a Phased Array and a dish? Is a Phased Array a type of dish? Or a type of antenna? Or both?

      And the government seem to call a dish a type of antenna.

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    9. Unfortunately I think the rules actually refer to a satellite antennae, not "dish". A "dish" is a parabolic reflector (bowl) reflecting the signal to a point where there is an LNR (on a bar from the side of the dish). A phase array is basically flat with lots of receiver/transmitters in a grid. Just a different type. If they rules actually said "dish", then a phased array is definitely not a "dish", but I don't think it actually matters the way the rules are actually worded.

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  8. IPv6 was only available on Google’s AS when they provided the transit, IPv6 stopped working entirely when people were migrated to Starlinks AS.

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    Replies
    1. Interesting. It does suggest the system handles IPv6, so why are they not doing it? All transit and peering connections have IPv6, and all routers handle it. They need to fix this - and we're happy to do testing with them.

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  9. Starlink have just extended their service further north - now covers 57 degrees N which includes my part of Aberdeenshire. Ordered placed and I am awaiting the hardware to arrive.

    I have had a AAISP ADSL service (only service available here) for 18 years and a 4G service for 6 years plus FB2900 & FB2700's.

    The only AAISP article regarding Starlink is dated 2021 - could a new KB article be published benefiting from your recent experimentation ?

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