Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It seems to me that satellite internet is the most reliable in natural disasters. As long as the uplink center stays connected and you can power the receiver/modem, it will stay up. The problem has been the speed of light for satellites in synchronous orbit, but Starlink will be hundreds of satellites only 300 miles up.
There are some advantages and some disadvantages. Low latency will make video conferencing and online gaming possible. On the down side, low orbit will make the satellites vulnerable to an EMP attack. That may not matter, but at least the old satellites 22,300 miles out were out of range of an EMP.
On the ground, fiber would be unaffected, and the lack of a long copper antenna means a pulse would not be coupled to the electronics. Power lines are another matter, but if you are off grid, Starlink or a cell tower would be your best shot for broadband. Don't junk your shortwave set, which will also handle limited digital as well as voice and CW.
Hey OP, I have been rooting for Starlink since I first heard about it. We were very limited when house shopping a year ago, due to the need for internet. The current satellite internet is too slow for multiple users. Being a family of 6, we use up some serious bandwidth. Because of this, we had to pass on a perfect property nestled in it's own little valley. It didn't have access to phone or internet. This is how I also learned that the phone companies are doing away with traditional phone service, VOIP is all that ATT is dealing with now.
My wife and I have already agreed that the second that Starlink starts signing up customers, we are going to sell our current home and move further out.
Starlink also has built in redundancy, if one ground station goes out, they can route the signal to another station, with the only negative being an increase in lag.
The current batch of starlink satellites left off the inter-satellite (laser) links in the prototype design.
Without sat-to-sat links, the satellites over your metro area can only use downlink stations in the same general area as the customers being served, so if your area suffers a major power (or Internet) outage, chances are high that Starlink coverage in your area will also suffer an outage
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
