WORTH IT? - STARLINK ROAM UK REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 14 січ 2024
- After months of testing here's my review of the Starlink Roam service here in the UK. I've been using this all over the UK in my vanlife travels and learnt a lot about Starlink along the way, including how to boost the wifi and add ethernet ports too.
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Use it on our rural farm, Our old copper BT line was 8mb and now I see 200mb regularly, it broke recently, starlink sent me a brand new setup in 3 days and gave me a free £75 month aswell, service was amazing
I recently bought a refurbished Starlink for £199.00. I honestly couldn’t see any marks or sign of it ever being used previously, I may have just got lucky with mine. Thanks for the info on flat mounting and power usage. Cheers
Rich
You do these reviews really well, John. Simple, comprehensive, and straightforward. Making them a great source of information for people like me 👍
Glad you like them!
Thanks John. Great video. Answered all my queries. Big fan. Keep up the good work.
Really helpful, thank you. Ours just arrived today!
Thank you for a beautifully clear and extensive review. We have Starlink, so it’s not that I don’t know stuff, but I couldn’t actually put something like this together. I’ll point to your video if I get asked how it works.
Thanks for another great review John. It's really interesting finding out about what's available from someone who not only uses the gear, but properly understands it. Much appreciated, as usual. Take care 👋
My pleasure!
Great video and very informative, to expensive for me but find it interesting no the less, love these videos you do as I learn so much😊
Great video loads of content I will be getting a wifi extender soon as my router in my house doesn't cover enough area. Thank you for the suggestion
Thanks very much for this video John, its been a great help. Orders just been placed.
Very interesting and helpful. Thanks John
Another good video John. I bought a refurbished one for £199 just before Xmas and have stuck a folding mount on the roof of my motorhome which I can access through the skylight. Although I'm paused at the moment until I go away again I did use it for a month at home. I connected it to my existing mesh network in place of my regular broadband router and can confirm that I had over 50 devices connected at one time (computers, phones, pads, echo devices, smart plugs etc.) so I'm guessing it will handle everything you want to throw at it.
Thank you. Well presented video clearly stating out everything I wanted to know. Great job. Dave
Thanks for that John, very useful to know.
John, as always one of the most informative and "real world" use videos, excellent. i did look recently as i see their refurb deal but for my use streaming and general internet the monthly costs are still too prohibitive and the EE router very rarely lets me down. maybe one day? i am sure youve seen vancity vanlifes soltion to mounting it where he cut the cable and put a connector on the roof, i am surprised that as they are selling a roaming set up they havent done something similar as part of the packege as the proprietry cable must be the same globally? it would have to be a hefty hole in the roof to run the current cable through? oh and tell mandy not to beep her horn when your recording mate 😂
I like the option to pause it. Makes it a great solution.
Great video, seems to know what you are talking about and very clear instructions... well done very helpful
Glad it was helpful!
Really good review. Thanks John
Useful video thank you. Especially the part about pausing the subscription.
Quick comment on the GLInet router, excellent bit of kit, the third WAN Ethernet port can be switched to a LAN port via the app to give more Ethernet connectivity, I have the Beryl model but I understand all of their travel routers can do this.
Fab video John, just what I wanted to know, thank you!
Absolutely outstanding video!
Brilliant review this thanks for sharing 👏
Great review, answered all the questions. We're going full time and will need a good connection for work, so like you don't think the price is that bad. Especially considering we can reduce our monthly mobile phone contracts down too as will not need large amount of data if have the Starlink. Cheers.
Very good in depth review John. Your needs as you stated are perhaps more data speed orientated being a UA-camr etc. So quite an outlay for others. My unlimited data EE on iPhone has served me well from Dorset, Wales and most of the Highlands of Scotland for a third of the price.
A great set up for those that require such speeds I agree. Thanks for sharing.
It's not just speed, I spent 3 months working from my motorhome last summer, mostly on a site which has poor 4g that I couldn't work from before, that to me is worth 85 quid a month. My 3 month old puppy had a wonderful time.
Great review, thank you.
Excellent review thank you! I wouldnt need it all the time, so I think its worth getting a refurbed dish, and I love the fact you can turn the monthly subscription on and off when needed!
Hari Om
That was interesting and pretty much all points covered. So far my SIM connection at fifteen quid a month has served me very well, but there may come a time... YAM xx
Vast water. Great test . Very informative
Hi John that was a great vlog very good review 👍
Be safe
Great review as per 🤷♂️👍🏻 love the portability of this it’s a no brainer really 🤷♂️ renting sounds a very interesting option 🤔
Great review useful stuff thanks
Good tip on the GL Inet john, also Starlink, not just for the van either, if you have the roam, then use it at home, and when away in the van just take it away with you, thus doing away with home broadband bills.
Very helpful video 👍 thank you
Great vid Very well explained john i like the fact that we can go.anywhere on earth a😅😅nd be connected
As a mariner, I thank the Lord for Starlink - there is a similar marine version for us salty seamen (Elon can tell if we are mobile and offshore, of course, and he charges a bit more than the landlubber roaming service) that has brought a much faster and cheaper Internet connection compared to the traditional geostationary satellite delivery that we endured for decades. Many shipping companies are adopting this now 🙏 Thank you for this useful video.
I’ve had it years love it. My wife’s company shut down the offices so all staff is working from home.
Bonus. So we have it in out Motorhome permanently. So Christmas we left from Watford to travel around Scotland from the 16th to 28th. What a joy. My wife worked and i tinkered…
We own a Rimmor 669 2023 so we have a big garage so the Starlink lives in a suitcase so don’t buy the starlink version.
Try and stay away from trees in the summer but not really a problem in the winter.
Good video. Had someone message us the other day with a 12v solution for the starlink as well 👍
I covered this in the video 👍🏻
Very interesting, we are in Spain atm but we probably will go for this as our home data is rubbish
Good video, great product and for £20 a week it is not a bad price especially when you get phone calls and through wifi you get tv as well.
Thanks for the review John. On our travels of nearly 4 years, we have used our Huawei router connected to our roof antenna, which in all countries we have not come across a problem, and upload and stream our entertainment from the service of that country. The only problem, which has not been that much of a pain, is buying the SIM Card for our router when entering each country. The maximum we have paid is sub 25 pounds equivalent for unlimited, or more than we need. Starlink is practical in not buying SIM cards, but the hassle of setting up puts me off, and the cost of 1,140 a year (if renting), as opposed to our current set-up of an average of 300 pounds a year, is a big difference, plus we are always connected and can do our 'live' and satnav stuff whilst driving. It's clear that places with weak signal for static and mobile is overcome with Starlink. Best wishes.
I live on a boat and put up with with SIM based 4g for three years, even with a proper MiMo antenna up on the mast and a decent wifi router for the SIM there is no comparison with Starlink, it's night and day. If I need internet while I'm moving I just use my phone but any other time the Starlink kicks its butt, files that would have taken days to download arrive in minutes, you can stream movies with no buffering, if you are a medium to heavy user you will notice a massive quality of life improvement.
You found a big benefit, which offsets the expense, whilst our road travels are met with our router and antenna setup. Bon Voyage. :)@@popuptoaster
Thanks for sharing 😊
We use starlink and found it really good, to the point we don't use cellular much anymore. Only thing I find is the slow downs in peak time after about 100gb
Not expensive if you must have it for work is it really. i think the rolling month contract is brilliant it's definitely the future. Well explained thanks John.
Excellent video 👍👍
Great video thank you for taking the time to get really in depth with the real usage of Starlink. I have a question on the back of the speed you talked about. Do you have any insight to what speeds you are looking at in the heavy rain and heavy snow? Any insight / guestimates would be appreciated. Thanks
It depends but it’s never dropped below 20 down & 8 up with really heavy snow.
nice review, starlinks ethernet adapter and a cheap access point would give better speeds than a wifi repeater I'd imagine
Hi John another great review and thanks for the feedback and tips! I see they now do a Gen 3 unit for Standard / home users that uses a kickstand and is powered via an external adapter. I was considering this and then swicthing over to the mobile plan so i can cancel when im not using it and flat mount and run it via a DC to DC buck converter. Great solution for those of us that work on-line all day and ill be using this soon.
The new unit is a bit odd, it’s bigger, but you need to align it yourself, it has an external power adaptor but the dish uses nearly twice as much power as the V2 unit 🤷🏼♂️🤯
@@GadgetJohn Hey that’s good to know, I was holding off till I’m ready to use the van in the spring and may still go with the v2 version, but make a roof mount for the pole. Just wanted to avoid cutting it open or running the inverter all day if possible and avoid forgetting about it until it falls off the roof! A few used ones for sale now so may get a refurbished one or a used one to flat mount and I’m waiting for a 12v supply from Canada to replace the original unit so ill keep you updated on that one!
I so look forward to your reviews John and this one was clear and concise. One question: how long roughly is the cable between router and dishy thing. We have been umming and ahhing for ages but going to bite the bullet as in Spain now the monthly payment has dropped to €49 per month.
Thanks again John
The standard cable is 15ft but you can order it with longer cables to suit your needs.
Was interested in the comments on flat mounting, I’ve got friends who in one case the dish was damaged by hail and in another the dish was vandalised (I presume there’s not market for stolen dishy)…
Nice one John, some good information too...There's a new one coming out soon with 2 or 3 RJ45 ports on the router 🙂
The V3 is much bigger, uses more power and doesn’t self align to get the best speeds, so it’s not really aimed at Vanlife.
Good to know John, Thanx 🙂@@GadgetJohn
Hi John, another superb video. I have Starlink and use it in my static caravan/holiday home but have the ability to roam in my camper too. My question is it possible to use 2 different “Dishy” one that I can leave permanently mounted and one that I could them mount on my camper, then just move the router? Thanks in advance and keep living the dream 😎
I’m not sure if that would work as I’ve not tried that scenario.
Hello John, great video - i wondered if you can help. Im keen to get starlink Roam for my camper - i dont want to attach it to the camper pernananly, due to worry of it being stolen, can it be placed on a roof safely when stationary without blowing off in wind? or can you put it on the ground by the camper too? also do you know if its worth waiting for the MINI starlink? I am wanting decent upload speeds because i live stream to you tube and inta etc, like you and need to upload to you tube content. thank you so much!
I think its a ( nother ) genius marketing idea offering potential customers refurbished antennas. More people sign contracts than without that idea. Paying 200 instead of 500 makes it much more easy to sign. I would go for starlink ( refurbished !! ) if i were starlinks target group ( off grid / rural / ... )
Thanks for the info, just a though couldn't you 3D a silcon collar between the mount?
No need really, the movement is really not that much, plus I live in a van so no space for a 3d printer 😁
Hi John. Great informative video as always. Is there a way to have a hybrid where it is flat whilst driving then can pop up once parked, therefore giving a connection all the time?
The problem with using it whilst moving fast in a car is your speed would be very slow as it would be constantly negotiating connections to new satellites, I've seen this tested in other videos and it seems you can stay online but the quality of the connection isn't great.
Very informative as always John. Could you do a more in-depth set up session for extending WiFi with the GL.iNet GL-A1300 please?
That’s quite a niche video to produce and it really is a very simple product to setup & use. Maybe there’s a video already out there covering it?
@@GadgetJohn ok John thanks for taking the time to reply, I’ll have a look and see what I can find.👍🏻
I run my starlink router in pass through mode along with the official starlink Ethernet adapter that goes inline with the cable to the dish (at the router end of course!).
It then connects to my 4G router’s spare Ethernet port which is setup as a WAN port.
My 4G router is then configured to failover from Ethernet WAN (aka starlink), to SIM1, to SIM2 in that order depending on availability.
Means all my devices only ever connect to my 4G router’s WiFi and if I set starlink up it uses it as the primary WAN, if not it falls back to 4G.
Great setup 👍🏻
John. Great review, I use this at home which is amazing given we have no internet out here… proper in the sticks. Starlink are launching a hiker version soon too, something that fits in a backpack!
That’s going to be interesting for the size & how it’s powered 👍🏻
That will be interesting. You would think a hiker version would be an effective 12v solution.
Very helpful and straight forward review John.
I am looking to purchase. I am in the UK- but looking to travel to Seoul in Soith Korea for 3 months this year. Seoul is on a ‘waitlist and at capacity’ according to Starlink website.
Does your knowledge extend to knowing whether Roam will work and if that wait list comment just apply to permanent instal and that Roam would work if I took it out there? Thanks.
You need to select a region so I’m guessing as soon as you change region to South Korea you’d get a warning about the capacity issue.
Thanks John… I’m interested in knowing how often you never got internet on your previous system.
Great question. Around 5% of the locations I visit I’ve had no service on my phone & van, then maybe another 5% I get a signal on my van WiFi but still not my phone and 25% of the time, even if I get signal, the data speed is not enough to work with and I deploy Starlink.
Another very useful video. When we lived in the South Downs the Internet was very poor this would have been a game changer. Also when we moved to out place in the staffs moorlands for the first 18 months we were told the cabinet was full and we could not have even semi decent internet …. It would have been brought. Pricy but essential for wheat you do I guess. One question does the Starlink offer a guest channel option ?
Do you mean guest WiFi ? I’ve no idea, it’s not something I use.
@@GadgetJohn yes guest Wi-Fi if sharing your Wi-Fi with others for security but I guess if those you are sharing with are known and friends shouldn’t be a problem.
Thanks John, much appreciated. We met at Mule. Do you keep the tripod base leg mount permanently rigged up on the roof and then just plug the " dishy " into that ?
Yes, that’s it 👍🏻 just that simple.
Just ordered one, they have the same one as yours on sale in the UK for only £170!
That’s a brilliant deal 👍🏻
How does the Gen 3 dish compare?
Thanks
Welcome
Another very interesting vlog. How many amps does the starlink use for a 24 hour period? Thanks John
I’ve never had it on for that long. Roughly the calculation says it’s going to be around 90ah
Many thanks@@GadgetJohn
Please provide guidance for UK vanlife where best to buy a economical van (not custom build), vanlife where to park in England, toilet 101 etc.
You’ll find all that info in my videos over the past 18 months.
Great info. Have you tried this with WiFi calling and does it work well?
That’s all covered in the video.
Very helpful, especially as I’m considering getting Starlink when we travel to Spain later this year, for over a month. The price you pay of £85.00 (€59.00 for me in Ireland) is Mobile Regional - correct. Assume this covers Europe only - traveler’s throughout a continent. Have I understand this correctly?
That's right, though 95% of spain has fantastic 4G mobile internet so you might not find starlink is needed.
Hi. Really helpful video. Is there any delay when on video calls?
Not at all 👍🏻
Hi John, can you tell me if the bulky elbow type fittings on the ends of the cable running from the router to the dish are temporarily removable so I can pass the lead through a cable gland?
Thanks
Great vid.
Yes, the cable ends are easily removable.
@craigheron9961 although the fittings detach easily from the dishy and router, they do NOT come off the czble itself. If you want to pass it through a gland for permanent installation you will have to cut and rejoin the cable. There are lots of UA-cam videos on the subject.
Hi John
Flying into the uk from N Z and thinking seriously about Starlink as I hear coverage in parts of wales and Scotland are pretty sketchy… our MH is in Tenby and we plan on heading north from there…. Are there likely to be retailers around with refurb stock that we can pick one up? In NZ they currently doubt I would ideally not want to fly one around the world lol. Local price here is equivalent to to $200gbp then $85gbp for roaming.
Coverage in Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland and europe is all the same, excellent. Open line of sight to the sky the the only thing you need to worry about.
Hi could you bolt 5 inch tube to your roof rack for quick stable mount for pole?
You could do whatever works for you, others have a fixed base stuck on the van roof, I’m using what’s working great for me so no need to change anything.
Good evening John. I've just bought and converted a Racevan. I am running a gaming business from the back and am in early stages of having it completed. The last thing I need is exactly this. Would this be a sustainable connection for gaming in your opinion please.
Yes, I know loads of Starlink users who game over the system without issues.
Hi John. I bought the refurbished one December. Turned it on to test all ok within 7 days and was charged straight away. As soon as I turned it on. Apparently you do not get a free test. I contacted customer support through the app it takes a while for them to respond but they confirmed that they charged as soon as you turn it on. No free test
Ah, I got 14 days before I got charged and that’s what it also says on their website, maybe you don’t get a trial period with a refurbished unit, which is a bit odd.
Yes and a shock when you see £85 and you’re not even going to use it.
They are going to credit me they said. But wait and see 😂
How much does orientation matter? I was thinking of getting the version 3 and mounting it to my boat, but it wont be able to self orient, do you think i would still get a quality signal?
I’ve covered that in this video.
Flat mount will produce around 30% lower speeds, even worse if you’re in a busy Starlink area.
Hey John, I have the 150W 4 Pair GigE PoE Injector with surge protection - YSNEPPU15001A & Dishy v2 original cable to RJ45 adapter - YSNEACSLDV21A, involves no cutting of cables, just add 12 to 48v buck and its DC powered, I'm not going to use these so if you are interested please let me know as happy to sell at discounted rate. Waiting for the Starlink Mini now.
What’s the power usage in watts after you’ve converted it?
@@GadgetJohn I never used it, I bought it in preparation for buying GEN 2 but then seen the news of new Flat mount dish and the soon to be released mini dish. I bought it as I didn't want to be cutting cables so that setup would keep it stock. It'll be pretty efficient with the biggest loss through the choice of buck converter but they are pretty decent these days.
Mine has been dispatched wowho!
Hi john. can you park in urban areas next to buildings and still get signal?
It depends if the building is high enough to block the satelite
John when your put and about away from Starlink how much data do you have on your phone and is there much additional cost?
All my data plans are unlimited as I use around 450gb a month usually.
Hi John. Can this be permanent mounted? If we stop for a cuppa for a hour then want to move on. And work on internet ect or is it not possible Rob
It’s not designed to be used as you drive obviously, that’s why some people convert them to flat mount.
can you use the residential one in the same way? they seem be the same apart from price
You can use the hardware but you need to have a roaming plan to use it as they can see when it’s moved location
Hello - a few observations... To convert to 12v, you do not need to modify dishy. Indeed you can convert to 12v and use a far superior 12v router, all plug and play, no cable cutting, no dish modifications.. Have a look on UA-cam, many have done it very simply...I'm eight months into using Starlink full time, first three months were in the UK, last five months exclusively in Europe. The power saving on 12v is well worth the minimal effort and cost to convert. Signal propagation from a decent router is exponentially better too, so the repeater you suggest is definitely not required. I've also achieved much improved speed with a better router, so the upside is significant and worth it...
Good info, what was your total cost to convert to 12v and how many watts does it use now?
@@GadgetJohn - drawing 3.5 -4.0A now at 13.5-14v battery voltage, total cost was £80 for the boondockers 48v dualie board (48v POE injector) £40 for the yoashang dishy to RJ45 converter (no need to cut cable and swap wiring). I installed a generic wireless 10A switch to power up/down (£6) and a £5 12v buck converter from lithiums to smooth and give stable 12v to TP link AX3000 router (around £80). All this is on the aforementioned remote switch to simply switch on and off. Very very simple. As mentioned, signal propagation was a big driver and this WiFi 6 router, even tucked away in my media cabinet, is a significantly better router and I can now get 150mb in a very decent radius of the Motorhome. Inside I regularly enjoy speeds (down) of 300mb…
Great life.
This looks just the same as my non Roam version I have at home in France, but half the price in France! UK should complain! 250 euros for hardware and 40 euros pm unlimited. So easy to set up, I did it in 15 minutes, well it does itself really. It’s fast always! I’m a 75 year old so it was not that hard. Not sure about UK but I had to install a VPN as there is no security.
😊
How much energy does it use. I have a 400ah lithium battery will it drain it too quickly? Also can you just drive abroad and use it at no extra cost? Thank you
Watch the video.
14:36 how's it been in the last week with the weather?
It’s fine 👍🏻
For a couple who are tech useless is it easy to set up i.e. passwords etc
Yes, it’s setup out of the box ready to use, you simply have to register an account & enter your payment info.
For a “roam” package, it’s pretty stupid that they don’t provide a 12V or USB-C option.
Can it be used while the van is moving?
Feel free to watch the video for this answer
FYi you cant rent on Roam in the UK, rent for £10 a month is residential only.
You can switch between plans though.
Can you not just disconnect one from your home if you have spear wire
My home is my van 👍🏻
Does itwork at Lochs ,brochs,hehe.
It only works at Locks 😂
thats well expensive per month
85 pound is far too much
👍🚐🚐😎
Just a shame it £80 a month!!!
Not a chance pure rip off, 85 a month