It's our pleasure Colin, we're stoked that people are finding it useful. Certainly when we were researching we found ourselves needing to watch quite a few videos as no one had really made a comprehensive video including the testing. All the best!
@@IfNotNow Any suggestions of what would be a good TV antenna, Around WA reception is pretty bad. Our Van is fairly new. Have you done any reviews on this.
Ahhh we can’t help you on that one I’m afraid. We don’t really use our TV very much (if at all). We generally stream what we want straight to the laptops…
Awesome, thanks heaps, we did a follow up video with all that we’ve now learnt as we trouble shoot a few things. Still the best satellite internet out there (in our opinion) but a few things Space X could do to improve the RV solution.
Hi Guys, great channel, thanks for creating it. Question..... have you guys tried RV Wifi 5G or Cowfish 5G with the external antenna? Just asking as Starlink is out of my price range.
Hey 👋 thanks! We’ve been a bit radio silent lately but will hopefully be stepping it back up again this year 💪 Mmm no we haven’t. We found Telstra to be pretty good in most places prior to getting Starlink but of course there are some blind spots, and in some areas (like Karijini, Optus is the only network). Sorry we can’t be of more help here. Hope there’s a few review channels covering it for you 👍
Thanks mate! Ha, we couldn't agree more. We captured so much footage for each vid, it takes forever to edit. Might need to start culling big sections so we can get through them quicker 😂 Cheers. RE the LUTS, if you want to share your email address I can send them to you? (Over on Insta if you don't want to share publicly 🤙)
Cheers mate. People have asked us to do a follow up vid so I will try and include an accurate reading on power draw as well as an update on a bit of research we have done and the rain / storm issues.
Our pleasure! We can’t really fault it. With a bigger battery / solar setup we would be sweet for our usage (and we rely on the internet pretty heavily). Ooo what’s the big trip? 😆
@If Not Now yes that is the only downside we could see with it, but it is good to hear you have managed OK with it offgrid. We have 18weeks off work and are going to do the Outback Way, Uluru, The Savannah Way, Gibb River and as many other places in between that we can fit in 😁 might see you on the road!!
Ahhhhh so sick what an epic trip! Hopefully the Kimberleys have dried out a bit for your travels - the waterfalls will be magic 🤩🤩 Yeah you never know! We're currently planning 'what's next' whether it's more Australia or overseas. There's too much choice!
Great review guys, I've ordered it just before new year & still waiting on delivery - & will maybe attempt to do a review from southern Aus. totally agree with vodafone (& other telco's in Aus) coverage, I've been with them for years but moved from Brissy to SA to start my Bus build and it's simply rubbish ... looking forward to getting decent coverage again soon.
Sick! It's been such a game changer for us. Interestingly it has gotten a little slower when we're in caravan parks - but that could also be due to the increased trees / obstacles, but overall can't complain that we're able to work from literally anywhere in Australia now. Wish we'd had it 2 years ago! 😁 Safe travels
@@IfNotNow I've noted that some people using dishy near speakers or other frequency or magnetic devices saw a slower speed too - It could also be due to frequency interferences like 5G towers or other electronic signals closer than usual. There's a good FB group for Starlink Aus people who help with trouble shooting (not that I'm a fan of FB)
Hey 👋 It’s our pleasure. We’ve had it for a couple of months now and it’s great. We haven’t mounted it, we pop it out when we move which we don’t mind as it gives us the flexibility to get the best signal depending on where we are parked 🤙
Sick, so stoked it helped. Just editing another vid then we'll probably put together an update on the Starlink now we've used it for a few months. It has a few nuances i.e. slower upload speed than download and I've done some research to understand why... it still slows down in bad weather and we've also learnt that there is a 'snow melt' feature which is automatically turned off, turning it off reduces the power consumption 👍
So informative. Thank you so much. I've been looking into the idea of getting starling and now see how much power I need . Actually, would 300 amp hours of lithium do the job?
Hey Jason, I am definitely not an expert on these things, but I think you should be good with 300 of lithium as long as you can leverage your solar during the days. I just posted a video that sets out the power draw for ppl, which should help in your decision, but I would say that we are considering setting up are Starlink to run on lower voltage, as there is a load of videos on how you can modify Starlink to run using a lot less power. Let me know how you get on if you do make the move. Cheers, D
Can you tell me how it was towing you’re van up to Teewah Beach and did you go from the Noosa end please? We have a 21 1/2 foot Jayco and a Jeep Grand Cherokee
Hey guys. It was absolutely fine. We entered via Noosa end, and there is a little soft sand upon the entrance (but nothing to worry about at all), and the beach at low tide (or up to 2 hours either side) is wide, flat and hard packed the whole way. We lowered our caravan tyres to 20-25psi and our car tyres also. Safe travels, Teewah is lovely. You’ll have fun.
Thanks Ashley, we have a 2000 w Enerdrive inverter but it's hugely overkill for Starlink so we could get away with a much smaller inverter or even convert our Starlink so it runs without an inverter if we want to save power.
@@IfNotNow the number one priority before you even spent all the money on your truck in that nice camper should have been to get a super nice solar panel system and a wind turbine. That way you won’t have to worry about problems like these for the rest of your life there is almost no reason to have to run the engine or a generator in order to completely power every electronic device that you could ever need. If you have enough solar panels and wind turbines, especially in Australia, I would imagine it is sunny most days and relatively windy.
Hey guys, well done on review. We wanted to get one as well and your video definitely helped make the decision. I know the power problem all to well and a little trick. What you could try is look up the inverter that comes with star link (if there is one). Most devices don't actually run on 240V so may just be an inverter like on a laptop. You can make them yourself running of 12V. That would save the energy loss from the 12V inverter if that makes sense. Don't know your electrical setup but we have trouble as well with just charging camera gear and running the laptop on cloudy days or when setup under trees. Outbacks have some good lithium batteries that don't break the bank. I'm upping the juice tank now with lithium for those rainy days 🙂 great videos guys, keep it up.
Hey guys, thanks heaps! And sorry for the delay in messaging, your comment slipped through 😁 Cheers for the suggestion RE inverter, we'll need to have a look into that. Also we learnt that there is a 'snow melt' feature which is automatically turned on, so that'll help reduce the power consumption too. Yeah I think lithium will be part of our next setup. Might see you on the road sometime!
@@IfNotNow - no probs. ours is still in the box. I paused it before we received it. We're waiting for our old van to be finished by our repairer and then we can have some weekends away.
Coming to a screen near you soon 😁 Yep we've been thinking the same, we have an update coming as there's quite a bit we've learnt that would be good to share 👍
oof, how could you even last 9 months with vodafail, also optus has better service than telstra, trouble is they dont have as many towers in remote areas
Awesome how are you finding the lithium battery everyone we speak to raves about them. Also one thing we are noticing with Starlink which I believe is a technology limit is the upload is always significantly slower than the download. I have done a load of research into it and might do a video explaining why this is the case.
Yeah, I think it's two things. 1. We didn't know about the 'snow melt' feature which is automatically on and uses more power, so have now turned this off plus we had a few overcast days so didn't get much solar to top up the batteries - combine it with charging cameras and laptops etc.. Probably can't fully blame Starlink 😁
Yeah! We’ve been using it for 7 or so weeks now, and it’s great. Really is. Not very useful if we end up overseas 😂 but if we keep lapping then it’s really a gamechanger 🤙
Well, I didn't find this video very rewarding, in fact the opposite. The rest of my rant hopefully has some good info for you and sorry I'm coming across a bit strong but guys, research first eh. One does not stand on top of the dish while it is trying to zero in on satellites. You were in the 100 degree zone. Not good. It was so, so frustrating to watch that and the router should have been pointed straight at you while you did your initial tests. Speed improves over a 12 hour period so initial tests can be lower than par. You should never have lost ALL internet even in that bad storm AND I still don't know where the router was during the storm. It is an indoor device ONLY. The router needs to be pointed more or less into the work area for best signal. That's because it isn't the best for WiFi and you don't have to be so close to it in any case. These antennas don't guzzle power like a microwave or coffee machine (seen them in vans too) and only use between 50w and 75w (official) when actively connecting to the satellites. That's 5 to 7.5 battery Amps allowing for inverter efficiency. A large mobile fridge pulls on average 5A in a 24hr period so gas is the go for fridges while stationary. So what's pulling all your battery voltage? LED lights? No. Gas stove? No. Radio? No. It's capacity. You don't have enough. You seriously need to upgrade your battery capacity. Skimping and always worrying over battery voltage day in day out on a supposedly fun-filled lifestyle holiday has gotta be stressful. You don't need or deserve that. Fork out and get two or even three of 100Amp Lithiums minimum so you can draw down to 10% SoC instead of 60% SoC on your current AGMs. You will store more from the sun and can watch a bit of teev in the evenings and never look back. My guess is you are able to pump 450w into a system but it's full by lunch and the rest of the day is wasted energy imo. Sorry not stroking your egos here but better to be said than not at all.
Thanks for the feedback. I did a follow-up video on this, and it should be more rewarding if you only want Starlink facts. I agree we are underpowered in our batteries which would have added to our issues. As for the weather, unfortunately, it's almost always a problem, especially when the rain is heavy. This is a technology and hardware issue and the scope of interruption depends on how heavy your data requirements are, i.e. online gaming will be unusable when in heavy rain and your connection will disappear until it has passed from under the satellite.
Trust me it does when there is very rain. It is a pretty standard issue with satellite internet due to heavy moisture in the atmosphere. That being said if you have Starlink and haven’t had this issue that’s great.
Yeah if we were to convert our own vehicle we'd have a tonne more solar and solid lithium batteries. Would be good if Starlink made the system work for the typical 'off the shelf' Australian caravan setup, maybe it'll come with time..
Excellent review and some awesome scenery. Has helped in a great way to understand. Looks like you guys are really enjoying your travels.
Many thanks
It's our pleasure Colin, we're stoked that people are finding it useful. Certainly when we were researching we found ourselves needing to watch quite a few videos as no one had really made a comprehensive video including the testing. All the best!
@@IfNotNow Any suggestions of what would be a good TV antenna, Around WA reception is pretty bad. Our Van is fairly new. Have you done any reviews on this.
Ahhh we can’t help you on that one I’m afraid. We don’t really use our TV very much (if at all).
We generally stream what we want straight to the laptops…
Awesome review, the best out of the 5 ive watched. Im sold... Thank you, will be following now
Awesome, thanks heaps, we did a follow up video with all that we’ve now learnt as we trouble shoot a few things. Still the best satellite internet out there (in our opinion) but a few things Space X could do to improve the RV solution.
Hi Guys, great channel, thanks for creating it. Question..... have you guys tried RV Wifi 5G or Cowfish 5G with the external antenna?
Just asking as Starlink is out of my price range.
Hey 👋 thanks! We’ve been a bit radio silent lately but will hopefully be stepping it back up again this year 💪
Mmm no we haven’t. We found Telstra to be pretty good in most places prior to getting Starlink but of course there are some blind spots, and in some areas (like Karijini, Optus is the only network).
Sorry we can’t be of more help here. Hope there’s a few review channels covering it for you 👍
@IfNotNow thanks guys, good to know Telstra get it mostly done
Falls from parks on your channel and I'm already loving it. the feedback on starlink was perfect.
Cheers mate, stoked that so many people are finding it useful. Might need to do an update vid soon as we have more to share after a few months of use.
mate love the videos! need to get them down to 20mins max hahah and put more out per week - Question what LUTS are you using? I love them!
Thanks mate! Ha, we couldn't agree more. We captured so much footage for each vid, it takes forever to edit. Might need to start culling big sections so we can get through them quicker 😂
Cheers. RE the LUTS, if you want to share your email address I can send them to you? (Over on Insta if you don't want to share publicly 🤙)
@@IfNotNow DM Sent mate :)
Great video, we’ve just ordered Starlink. Have you managed to work out how much power it’s actually using?
Cheers mate. People have asked us to do a follow up vid so I will try and include an accurate reading on power draw as well as an update on a bit of research we have done and the rain / storm issues.
Thanks for the review guys! We have been debating whether to get it for our trip next year and have found this really helpful.
Our pleasure! We can’t really fault it. With a bigger battery / solar setup we would be sweet for our usage (and we rely on the internet pretty heavily).
Ooo what’s the big trip? 😆
@If Not Now yes that is the only downside we could see with it, but it is good to hear you have managed OK with it offgrid.
We have 18weeks off work and are going to do the Outback Way, Uluru, The Savannah Way, Gibb River and as many other places in between that we can fit in 😁 might see you on the road!!
Ahhhhh so sick what an epic trip! Hopefully the Kimberleys have dried out a bit for your travels - the waterfalls will be magic 🤩🤩
Yeah you never know! We're currently planning 'what's next' whether it's more Australia or overseas. There's too much choice!
@If Not Now yes hopefully the Kimberly is ok for us to explore 🤞
Sounds exciting, so many options........look forward to seeing what you decide 😊
Great review guys, I've ordered it just before new year & still waiting on delivery - & will maybe attempt to do a review from southern Aus.
totally agree with vodafone (& other telco's in Aus) coverage, I've been with them for years but moved from Brissy to SA to start my Bus build and it's simply rubbish ... looking forward to getting decent coverage again soon.
Sick! It's been such a game changer for us. Interestingly it has gotten a little slower when we're in caravan parks - but that could also be due to the increased trees / obstacles, but overall can't complain that we're able to work from literally anywhere in Australia now. Wish we'd had it 2 years ago! 😁
Safe travels
@@IfNotNow
I've noted that some people using dishy near speakers or other frequency or magnetic devices saw a slower speed too - It could also be due to frequency interferences like 5G towers or other electronic signals closer than usual. There's a good FB group for Starlink Aus people who help with trouble shooting (not that I'm a fan of FB)
Ah yes that makes sense. Thanks for the reco on the FB group, good to know for future questions. I’m sure we’ll have some at some stage 😂
Thanks for your tips and I just wanted to know if you mounted Starlink to your van or put it out each time you move ?
Hey 👋
It’s our pleasure. We’ve had it for a couple of months now and it’s great. We haven’t mounted it, we pop it out when we move which we don’t mind as it gives us the flexibility to get the best signal depending on where we are parked 🤙
Great video guys!! 🙌 very helpful
Our pleasure! Any questions shoot them through, we’ve been using it for a few months now 👌👌
Awesome video....saved me heaps of research mates
Sick, so stoked it helped. Just editing another vid then we'll probably put together an update on the Starlink now we've used it for a few months. It has a few nuances i.e. slower upload speed than download and I've done some research to understand why... it still slows down in bad weather and we've also learnt that there is a 'snow melt' feature which is automatically turned off, turning it off reduces the power consumption 👍
Excellent video guys, well presented.
Cheers Greg!
Video editing next level!
Appreciate it mate! 🤙🤙
So informative. Thank you so much. I've been looking into the idea of getting starling and now see how much power I need . Actually, would 300 amp hours of lithium do the job?
Hey Jason, I am definitely not an expert on these things, but I think you should be good with 300 of lithium as long as you can leverage your solar during the days. I just posted a video that sets out the power draw for ppl, which should help in your decision, but I would say that we are considering setting up are Starlink to run on lower voltage, as there is a load of videos on how you can modify Starlink to run using a lot less power. Let me know how you get on if you do make the move.
Cheers, D
Can you tell me how it was towing you’re van up to Teewah Beach and did you go from the Noosa end please? We have a 21 1/2 foot Jayco and a Jeep Grand Cherokee
Hey guys.
It was absolutely fine. We entered via Noosa end, and there is a little soft sand upon the entrance (but nothing to worry about at all), and the beach at low tide (or up to 2 hours either side) is wide, flat and hard packed the whole way.
We lowered our caravan tyres to 20-25psi and our car tyres also.
Safe travels, Teewah is lovely. You’ll have fun.
What size inverter are you running? Thanks for the vid!
Thanks Ashley, we have a 2000 w Enerdrive inverter but it's hugely overkill for Starlink so we could get away with a much smaller inverter or even convert our Starlink so it runs without an inverter if we want to save power.
age your power led lites shut some lites off LFP 4 batters 80 watts
👌
Fast and reliable today, be interesting to see how it goes over the next 12 months with all these new users coming onboard.
Yeah we totally agree. We're planning a follow up vid soon with a few updates and learnings from our use and research.
@@IfNotNow the number one priority before you even spent all the money on your truck in that nice camper should have been to get a super nice solar panel system and a wind turbine. That way you won’t have to worry about problems like these for the rest of your life there is almost no reason to have to run the engine or a generator in order to completely power every electronic device that you could ever need. If you have enough solar panels and wind turbines, especially in Australia, I would imagine it is sunny most days and relatively windy.
I think you really need to stow and unstow the dishy if you ever move them. The motor won't ever move after the initial boot.
Yep! That’s what we do. Still have the box so they’re nicely protected 👌
Hey guys, well done on review. We wanted to get one as well and your video definitely helped make the decision. I know the power problem all to well and a little trick. What you could try is look up the inverter that comes with star link (if there is one). Most devices don't actually run on 240V so may just be an inverter like on a laptop. You can make them yourself running of 12V. That would save the energy loss from the 12V inverter if that makes sense. Don't know your electrical setup but we have trouble as well with just charging camera gear and running the laptop on cloudy days or when setup under trees. Outbacks have some good lithium batteries that don't break the bank. I'm upping the juice tank now with lithium for those rainy days 🙂 great videos guys, keep it up.
Hey guys, thanks heaps! And sorry for the delay in messaging, your comment slipped through 😁
Cheers for the suggestion RE inverter, we'll need to have a look into that. Also we learnt that there is a 'snow melt' feature which is automatically turned on, so that'll help reduce the power consumption too.
Yeah I think lithium will be part of our next setup.
Might see you on the road sometime!
@@IfNotNow No worries, I'm working on a vid on our solar setup but cant finish it as the sun is not shining in Queensland ATM 🤣🤣 safe travels
you two awesome looking couple 🔥
Ha thanks mate 🤘
switch of the automatic heater then it will make a big difference standard is auto
Yes, we have now done this - the “snow melt” feature chews battery
turn the snow melt feature off. (it's turned *on* as a default) That is what chews battery...
Legend, cheers Wayne. Have found the feature 🤙 Might do a short Starlink video update on how we're going with it, as we've learnt quite a bit now
@@IfNotNow - no probs. ours is still in the box. I paused it before we received it. We're waiting for our old van to be finished by our repairer and then we can have some weekends away.
LFP 4 200 amp hr 12 volt or 24 volt 1 450 watt solar panel
Cheers
Follow up vid would be great
Coming to a screen near you soon 😁
Yep we've been thinking the same, we have an update coming as there's quite a bit we've learnt that would be good to share 👍
oof, how could you even last 9 months with vodafail, also optus has better service than telstra, trouble is they dont have as many towers in remote areas
Hahahaa I have NO IDEA. Although it did force me to switch off more. But I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. Ha. Now we have Starlink it’s epic.
How big is your inverter
It’s a 2000w Enerdrive Inverter with a dual plug
We just bought one (Starlink) haven’t used it yet, we have 1x 120ha lithium with 750 watt inverter
Awesome how are you finding the lithium battery everyone we speak to raves about them. Also one thing we are noticing with Starlink which I believe is a technology limit is the upload is always significantly slower than the download. I have done a load of research into it and might do a video explaining why this is the case.
@@IfNotNow good surprise to me but 120 going on research should = about 200ah
What size batteries are you running
We haven’t modified since we purchased and run 2x 150amp deep cycle
Starlink draws 3-4 amps so you should have heaps with 2x150ah AGM(?)
Yeah, I think it's two things. 1. We didn't know about the 'snow melt' feature which is automatically on and uses more power, so have now turned this off plus we had a few overcast days so didn't get much solar to top up the batteries - combine it with charging cameras and laptops etc.. Probably can't fully blame Starlink 😁
Didnt realise you just got this 🤣 Hopefully its still going strong.
Yeah! We’ve been using it for 7 or so weeks now, and it’s great. Really is. Not very useful if we end up overseas 😂 but if we keep lapping then it’s really a gamechanger 🤙
Well, I didn't find this video very rewarding, in fact the opposite. The rest of my rant hopefully has some good info for you and sorry I'm coming across a bit strong but guys, research first eh.
One does not stand on top of the dish while it is trying to zero in on satellites. You were in the 100 degree zone. Not good.
It was so, so frustrating to watch that and the router should have been pointed straight at you while you did your initial tests.
Speed improves over a 12 hour period so initial tests can be lower than par.
You should never have lost ALL internet even in that bad storm AND I still don't know where the router was during the storm. It is an indoor device ONLY.
The router needs to be pointed more or less into the work area for best signal. That's because it isn't the best for WiFi and you don't have to be so close to it in any case.
These antennas don't guzzle power like a microwave or coffee machine (seen them in vans too) and only use between 50w and 75w (official) when actively connecting to the satellites. That's 5 to 7.5 battery Amps allowing for inverter efficiency. A large mobile fridge pulls on average 5A in a 24hr period so gas is the go for fridges while stationary.
So what's pulling all your battery voltage? LED lights? No. Gas stove? No. Radio? No. It's capacity. You don't have enough.
You seriously need to upgrade your battery capacity. Skimping and always worrying over battery voltage day in day out on a supposedly fun-filled lifestyle holiday has gotta be stressful. You don't need or deserve that. Fork out and get two or even three of 100Amp Lithiums minimum so you can draw down to 10% SoC instead of 60% SoC on your current AGMs. You will store more from the sun and can watch a bit of teev in the evenings and never look back.
My guess is you are able to pump 450w into a system but it's full by lunch and the rest of the day is wasted energy imo.
Sorry not stroking your egos here but better to be said than not at all.
Thanks for the feedback. I did a follow-up video on this, and it should be more rewarding if you only want Starlink facts. I agree we are underpowered in our batteries which would have added to our issues. As for the weather, unfortunately, it's almost always a problem, especially when the rain is heavy. This is a technology and hardware issue and the scope of interruption depends on how heavy your data requirements are, i.e. online gaming will be unusable when in heavy rain and your connection will disappear until it has passed from under the satellite.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
🤜
Roaming price increased again.
RV option over-rated, stationary rural option is better though.
Oh yeah? Are you running the residential solution on the road? How does it hold up?
Storms or clouds should not cause you to lose connection with starlink sats.
Trust me it does when there is very rain. It is a pretty standard issue with satellite internet due to heavy moisture in the atmosphere. That being said if you have Starlink and haven’t had this issue that’s great.
You got ripped off 😂
We got ours for $450 2 weeks ago.. 😂
Hahaha don't we know! 🤣
Your biggest issue is a crap battery and solar setup..not starlink
Yeah if we were to convert our own vehicle we'd have a tonne more solar and solid lithium batteries. Would be good if Starlink made the system work for the typical 'off the shelf' Australian caravan setup, maybe it'll come with time..
Elon musk is a genius
Or does he surround himself with geniuses? A mixture of both perhaps!😎
@@IfNotNow you have to be a genius to surround yourself with one...