Starlink update -PSA

[lustyd]

Starlink just introduced “pause with data”. If you have the service you can now pause it for a fiver a month which gives unlimited low bandwidth data (500kbps, we used to call that broadband!). This is very likely enough bandwidth for many sailors.

It does mean that pausing is no longer free but adding what’s effectively a low tier option may be useful for people here.

 

[ylop]

Does that mean you could buy the “dish”, pay 1 month full price and then pause indefinitely for £5 a month and get 500kbps? I’m not sure it will get me over my Elon aversion but it’s certainly made me sit up.

 

[lustyd]

Indefinitely is a strong word, they change it quite often but yes in theory you can do that for now, which makes it quite appealing.

 

[Trident]

As I read the TOS you can pause with data for £4.50 or pause completely for free still.

They do seem to have loosened up on things, our Roam plan still includes toggling on ocean data for £2 / GB which is days worth of weather mid crossing and includes in motion use as standard etc so all the "threats/suggestions" that there things would go came to nothing which is nice. We spent 5 years in the Med from 2013 on Sim cards with maybe 128k and managed to work online full time so 500kbps is great

 

[papaver19]

As I read the TOS you can pause with data for £4.50 or pause completely for free still.

They do seem to have loosened up on things, our Roam plan still includes toggling on ocean data for £2 / GB which is days worth of weather mid crossing and includes in motion use as standard etc so all the "threats/suggestions" that there things would go came to nothing which is nice. We spent 5 years in the Med from 2013 on Sim cards with maybe 128k and managed to work online full time so 500kbps is great

Interesting - have you tried this £2/GB thing in anger? Last time I went offshore (also on the Roam plan), I was told very quickly that I needed to change to Global Priority mode to continue service - 180 Euros + another 118 Euros for 50GB data.

Edit - went and read the new TOS & I see they have changed Global Priority Mode to "Ocean Mode" for Roam Unlimited plans. That actually makes things much cheaper, for once, hooray!

 

[bergie]

Interesting - have you tried this £2/GB thing in anger?

We used it on multiple passages from Norway to Shetland, from Scillies to Galicia, from mainland Portugal to Madeira and Canaries, and for the Atlantic crossing.
No problems so far. On passage we run Starlink for an hour every evening so we can get weather, update the blog, etc.

We forgot to enable it for the trip from Orkney around Cape Wrath, and weren't able to enable (what was then called) Priority Data while offshore.

 

[Trident]

Interesting - have you tried this £2/GB thing in anger? Last time I went offshore (also on the Roam plan), I was told very quickly that I needed to change to Global Priority mode to continue service - 180 Euros + another 118 Euros for 50GB data.

Edit - went and read the new TOS & I see they have changed Global Priority Mode to "Ocean Mode" for Roam Unlimited plans. That actually makes things much cheaper, for once, hooray!

I too was pleasantly surprised to still see it there - not tried so far this year as we've been coastal but when it was there last year it worked and then whilst moored up for winter we saw it was supposed to be going away and now its not