Starlink’s internet-from-SpaceX service has gone mobile with the addition of a new Portability feature.
Starlink customers can now take their “dishy” anywhere on their home continent that has active internet coverage for an additional monthly fee.
This enables connectivity to remote areas that will almost certainly never be covered by 5G, which could benefit the growing number of work-from-anywhere types spawned by the COVID 19 pandemic.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, responded to one satisfied Starlink camper, saying, “Starlink is awesome for RV’s, camping, or any activity away from cities.”
Starlink does not yet support use while driving, but the company says it is actively working on a solution for moving vehicles.
Musk has previously stated that he is working on a power-efficient solution that can be plugged into a car’s 12V cigarette lighter while still maintaining connectivity.
That hasn’t stopped some owners from using hackery to test Starlink on speeding cars, with varying degrees of success.
When boondocking and living off the battery of your vehicle, power consumption is an important consideration.
According to Jeff Geerling’s blog, Starlink draws 60-70W, an improvement from the 80-100W draw a year ago.
According to the company, Starlink offers Portability on a “best-effort” basis, with users at their registered service addresses receiving priority for network resources.
“When you move your Starlink to a new location, this prioritization may result in degraded service, particularly during peak usage or network congestion,” the Starlink support page warns.
Existing Starlink customers can activate Portability from their account page.
It costs an extra $25 per month on top of monthly subscriptions that start at $110 after a one-time fee of $599 to purchase the Starlink kit.