Starlink Mini

[LukesfirstJeep]

DC Conversion Kits for StarLink

https://xtar-link.com/collections/dc-conversion

Thanks, I'll look into this. My RV also has a 120VAC residential size refrigerator. I don't want to risk running out of power for my food. I already have to turn off the ice maker, if it sits more than a few days without shore power. I'm facing some real first world problems

 

[StG58]

Starlink, Grandson's college homework,and camping on the 4th...

The US of A is a good place to live...

 

[DuckNut]

I'm not an rv'er but I have the T-Mobile wireless home Internet in my garage and have taken it to various locations. Works great. I just plug it in to a portable inverter inverter clamped to a battery.

Don't know if this is viable but I feel it is worth a look.

 

[Wildman]

I'm not an rv'er but I have the T-Mobile wireless home Internet in my garage and have taken it to various locations. Works great. I just plug it in to a portable inverter inverter clamped to a battery.

Don't know if this is viable but I feel it is worth a look.

If you don't have cell service what then?

 

[StG58]

I'm not an rv'er but I have the T-Mobile wireless home Internet in my garage and have taken it to various locations. Works great. I just plug it in to a portable inverter inverter clamped to a battery.

Don't know if this is viable but I feel it is worth a look.

AT&T has a mobile hotspot, 4G-LTE & 5G, that has connections for external antennas. It allows you to do some interesting things with signal reception.

We've been in places with the Airstream where GPS and Cell are sketchy to non-existant. It's amazing what Oregon white oaks can do to attenuate a radio signal! The leaves are high iron content and act like a Faraday cage. I do use my cell phone as a hotspot on occasion with good results. I'll have the same problem with the StarLink, but it's smaller and more portable. Discovered that the StarLink Mini runs just fine off of the DeWalt 20V max batteries. There is a small, inexpensive adapter that connects the two. You get about an hour of time for each amp-hour of battery capacity. Since I have a bunch of DeWalt tools and batteries, it's a no brainer.

I changed out several of my USB charging ports in the trailer to the newer USB-C PD and USB QC charging standards ports, and can charge the DeWalt batteries off the trailer electrical system. (as well as everything else electrical)

For the curious I was getting from 270 MB download, 25 MB upload, and 20 ms latency, to 70 MB down, 19 up, and 35 ms latency. The average was around 170, 20, 22. We tried pushing the system with three laptops hooked up at once, and didn't see any performance problems.

So far, so good.

 

[OffroadTreks]

AT&T has a mobile hotspot, 4G-LTE & 5G, that has connections for external antennas. It allows you to do some interesting things with signal reception.

We've been in places with the Airstream where GPS and Cell are sketchy to non-existant. It's amazing what Oregon white oaks can do to attenuate a radio signal! The leaves are high iron content and act like a Faraday cage. I do use my cell phone as a hotspot on occasion with good results. I'll have the same problem with the StarLink, but it's smaller and more portable. Discovered that the StarLink Mini runs just fine off of the DeWalt 20V max batteries. There is a small, inexpensive adapter that connects the two. You get about an hour of time for each amp-hour of battery capacity. Since I have a bunch of DeWalt tools and batteries, it's a no brainer.

I changed out several of my USB charging ports in the trailer to the newer USB-C PD and USB QC charging standards ports, and can charge the DeWalt batteries off the trailer electrical system. (as well as everything else electrical)

For the curious I was getting from 270 MB download, 25 MB upload, and 20 ms latency, to 70 MB down, 19 up, and 35 ms latency. The average was around 170, 20, 22. We tried pushing the system with three laptops hooked up at once, and didn't see any performance problems.

So far, so good.

I wish we had had Starlink when we were full-timing with the Airstream. Would have made life easier when it came to were to camp without playing the antenna and booster game with LTE.

The Starlink Mini does seem to work better if you can run it off DC without the power conversion of AC. Running directly off DC (USB‑C) avoids inverter losses and saves 10–15 W compared to AC use.

My monitoring with it on my system in the truck which is a 200ah setup has been about 20Whrs of average usage.

• Boot-up: ~36–40 W
• Active use: ~25–30 W
• Idle/sleep: ~11–15 W

I'm pretty convinced that pointing the thing doesn't matter that much if you can lay it flat. I had it on the roof of the truck for a full weekend roaming around the backside of the Maze District in Utah and aimed it once and then never bothered and was getting pretty consistent speeds the whole time.

Right now I'm figuring out how to take it with me in the Jeep for some longer trips.

I'm not setting up the Jeep to be an overlander, I have my truck for that. But it might be more of a weekender setup. But the real downside is the Starlink seems to suck down the power. So likely I would be booting it up and turning it off and not using it nonstop like I can in my two other rigs.

But I run my business remotely so... if I can hop in the Jeep and go hit a trail head, take a zoom call and then go play, sign me up.

 

[StG58]

I wish we had had Starlink when we were full-timing with the Airstream. Would have made life easier when it came to were to camp without playing the antenna and booster game with LTE.
View attachment 629268

The Starlink Mini does seem to work better if you can run it off DC without the power conversion of AC. Running directly off DC (USB‑C) avoids inverter losses and saves 10–15 W compared to AC use.

My monitoring with it on my system in the truck which is a 200ah setup has been about 20Whrs of average usage.

• Boot-up: ~36–40 W
• Active use: ~25–30 W
• Idle/sleep: ~11–15 W

View attachment 629269

I'm pretty convinced that pointing the thing doesn't matter that much if you can lay it flat. I had it on the roof of the truck for a full weekend roaming around the backside of the Maze District in Utah and aimed it once and then never bothered and was getting pretty consistent speeds the whole time.

Right now I'm figuring out how to take it with me in the Jeep for some longer trips.

I'm not setting up the Jeep to be an overlander, I have my truck for that. But it might be more of a weekender setup. But the real downside is the Starlink seems to suck down the power. So likely I would be booting it up and turning it off and not using it nonstop like I can in my two other rigs.

But I run my business remotely so... if I can hop in the Jeep and go hit a trail head, take a zoom call and then go play, sign me up.

Nice!

My power usage is slightly less than yours It's about 20 - 25 watt-hours average. I don't leave it running, just set it up and power it up when I need it.

I bought a 12v to 30v DC converter just for the StarLink off of Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DM5XBY4S?tag=wranglerorg-20 It's not installed yet. That, or the DeWalt / Milwaukee tool battery hookup might work well for you. Just a thought.

https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Star...um-Tool-Free/dp/B0FG7S9MHY?tag=wranglerorg-20

 

[DuckNut]

If you don't have cell service what then?

Enjoy the sounds of the crickets.

 

[StG58]

Enjoy the sounds of the crickets.

Read, catch fish? Shoot trap? Go walk-about and plink pine cones? Catch a nap in the hammock? There's no end of things to do back of beyond.

(run naked through the woods with a long knife in one hand and a tomahawk in the other?)

 

[DuckNut]

Read, catch fish? Shoot trap? Go walk-about and plink pine cones? Catch a nap in the hammock? There's no end of things to do back of beyond.

(run naked through the woods with a long knife in one hand and a tomahawk in the other?)

Don't need to be in the woods to do that. Put on a hockey mask and pretend it is Halloween.

 

[NDSpeed]

I don’t follow why you are getting away from the world, but want to stay connected to the world. When I’m out, I am out.

it’s very different type of camping you’re thinking about, getting away from civilization for a weekend or even a week the spot will do just fine, wish i had one in Alaska, that’s some seriously remote stuff that people who make small mistakes suffer the full consequences for.

But when you’re living full time in an RV, life requires connections to the internet, banking, video conferences etcetera.

edit : mixing my camper classes up,
did not realize the globetrotter was an airstream.
i was thinking you had an Earthroamer

 

[StG58]

it’s very different type of camping you’re thinking about, getting away from civilization for a weekend or even a week the spot will do just fine, wish i had one in Alaska, that’s some seriously remote stuff that people who make small mistakes suffer the full consequences for.

But when you’re living full time in an RV, life requires connections to the internet, banking, video conferences etcetera.

edit : mixing my camper classes up,
did not realize the globetrotter was an airstream.
i was thinking you had an Earthroamer

One of these?

Sorry, nope.

That's bigger than is easily dealt with over here.

And, yes, it's a whole different can of worms when it's forever vs a week to ten days. Five and a half years ago the wife and I were doing those week to ten day trips in the TJ. Now we are full time in our beer can on wheels. You'd be surprised how similar an Airstream is to a TJ.

 

[NDSpeed]

One of these?View attachment 629516
Sorry, nope.

That's bigger than is easily dealt with over here.

And, yes, it's a whole different can of worms when it's forever vs a week to ten days. Five and a half years ago the wife and I were doing those week to ten day trips in the TJ. Now we are full time in our beer can on wheels. You'd be surprised how similar an Airstream is to a TJ.

we lived in our Fifth for 10 months. i could see doing that again down the road, but i’ve got school aged children and they all wanted rooms again

 

[OffroadTreks]

we lived in our Fifth for 10 months. i could see doing that again down the road, but i’ve got school aged children and they all wanted rooms again

That's pretty much why we stopped full timing; with them getting older we've been thinking more about doing some longer summer trips in the Airstream. Sadly she's mostly been a paper weight in the backyard for some time.

 

[NDSpeed]

That's pretty much why we stopped full timing; with them getting older we've been thinking more about doing some longer summer trips in the Airstream. Sadly she's mostly been a paper weight in the backyard for some time.

at least you’ve got the room. i haven’t moved the fiver since we moved here, Feb 22. just pay $100 a month for storage.

talked about selling it. but stuff got crazy for awhile and we wanted the ability to flee back to alaska if needed. now selling is back on the table with possibilities of everything else we own except the TJ and trucks.

the starlink has been awesome for the RV full timers. will look into the mini if we go back to Alaska