[Phillip Beall]

All,

For years Kathy and I tried everything for high-speed Internet.  The geniuses I worked with at the pilot union built me a box that used like five modems and five phone lines for a while.  Then we got “dial-return” satellite, which I think was Generation 1 consumer satellite technology.  It was hideous, but better than modems and the phone lines.  Earthlink, HughesNet, WildBlue with its “spot beam” technology, which I think was Generation 3; we tried them all.  And all were geostationary satellites, which meant horrible latency (lag on loading due to the distance of the satellite).  And all “FAPd” you if you took more than the allocated data (Fair Access Policy).  Kathy and I started hitting the monthly FAP limit by like the 7th or 8th day of the month.  It was just miserable.

A couple of local guys started putting radios on water towers and the likes and we finally got passable service from them.  A radio on the disused water tower a few miles away served us and we just had to get tower climbers to put radios on our 85′ tower to get above the trees.  They were undercapitalized, older and retired and just not all that into it so they sold out to some locals related to PJ Trailer ownership.  That became Zulu.

Zulu ownership is so cheap that they would not put UPSs on their backhaul radio sites.  This meant that when you really, really, needed Internet for weather; when utility power went out…their radios went down.  Service went down on two holidays, like just after they walked out the door on Friday and didn’t get restored until Monday because they didn’t have anyone there to tend things.  They didn’t have anyone on call, they just took a powder.  When I called and scolded them on Monday the guy had the temerity to say “Well, you were off, we wanted off too.”  I asked him how long he had been with them and it was like two years.  I told him I had twenty-five years with my employer and when I had two years with them, I was away from home and eating out of vending machines on holidays.  Unbelievable.  The lack of professionalism and customer service was just insane.  I wrote a strongly worded letter to the owner, telling him that Internet service wasn’t a luxury or convenience item, it was a necessity and that they needed to have someone on call 24/7 like a utility.  I never got the courtesy of a call or reply to my letter, but I did note their communication improved.  But that was it, the first chance I got confirmation that Starlink worked great, I think it was T. Wayne Moore (KC5KOH) and Rick Leonhardt (NN7ET) who were early adopters; when they said it was great I got it.

Distrustful because all the other satellite services had sucked so bad we ran parallel for 60 days…and then I fired Zulu.  The gal at their office said they would need to come get the radio, even though I told her it was atop an 85′ tower…and I kid you not she said they had to retrieve it because it was worth $5,000.  I was in stunned disbelief.  I told her I had a pair of identical radios that I had paid $115 apiece for and that I would sell them replacement radios for $2,500 per unit if they wanted to change suppliers?  They never called or came and got their radio.  $5,000, what an idiot, but I digress.

Starlink is not perfect, but nothing is.  The biggest issue I have is that we had a static public IP address for like 10 years.  That made it really easy for me to get to our cameras.  The way Starlink uses CGNAT (Commercial Grade Network Address Translation) it makes it a lot harder to do.  I figured it out, but it took some doing.

So, people with fiber connections will laugh, but anyone else will not.  I regularly get speed test results of 300Mbps downloads and 30Mbps uploads.  And I am paying about a third less than what Zulu was charging me for much, much, less speed AND abysmal customer service.  Sorry Zulu, those are facts.

If you aren’t getting those kinds of speeds and you can afford the upfront cost to buy the hardware and the monthly fee, I urge you to change and change today.  Unlike Zulu, the power doesn’t ever go off on Musk’s constellation.  “Rain fade” like we got with the older data satellites and we still get with Dish TV; not an issue with Starlink.  It is nearly straight up, not pointing just over the horizon, so unless the storm is directly overhead, no problems.  And if it is there, it won’t be for long.  Ice storms?  I used to have to go outside and use a SuperSoaker water gun with deicer in it in the most miserable of weather.  No more.  Starlink has built in anti-ice.  It senses the temperature and heats up the dish.  Oh, I added a backside dish heater to our Dish TV dish several years ago and it solved that problem, but this is a Starlink writeup, not a Dish TV writeup.

Like the old Nike commercial used to say: Just do it.

Now, today I read a Washington Post story. Mind you Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos and Bezos has fancied himself a competitor to Musk for quite some time.  But, his rockets are still blowing up and to my knowledge he doesn’t even have one constellation up.  So, I view this article with more than a little bit of disdain.  Plus, I think WAPO are a bunch of communists, but I digress.  The article was headlined – Rural Americans flocked to Elon Musk’s Starlink. Now some feel trapped. – so this I had to read.  It is a big gripefest of people complaining that Musk is making money off of it.  And he’s trying to keep government from spending taxpayer money to subsidize fiberoptic cable.  One person was a lady lawyer with three kids trying to practice law in the sticks in Nebraska and she was complaining that Starlink is raising her price by nearly $500 per year (or $42 per month).  I am thinking she has been on some sort of promotional pricing, they aren’t raising our prices by $42, not that I have seen anyway, but even if they did: I would be paying about the same as I was paying Zulu for vastly inferior service.  Give me a break.

Like I said above, just do it.

One man’s opinion.

73

Phillip Beall (W5EBC)

[Phillip Beall]

All,

I first met Greg Braudaway (W5GEB) at the Texarkana mini-fest with Cliff Leath (KI5OPP) a couple of weeks ago.  I had interacted with Greg on our Monday nets, but that was it.  Following multiple extended chats at the mini-fest I was happy to see him apply to the Club online.  Kathy and I have his membership application printed out and ready to take to the meeting on the 20th.

Greg saw my Starlink post and texted to tell me the v5 Starlink is set to drop very soon.  If you are contemplating buying a Starlink I want you able to make an informed decision.  Either wait for that new one or buy the v4 before they are no longer available.

Greg included a link to a YouTube video – NEXT GEN STARLINK REVEALED! – (link here) that you may view if you wish.  I plugged some info into Grok AI and got the following:

Starlink V5 Dish Analysis (based on first public look from SpaceX/Elon Musk interview footage, as discussed in the DISHYtech video)

Overview
Starlink V5 represents the next-generation terminal lineup, following roughly 2.5 years after the V4 series. It includes what appear to be a V5 Standard and V5 Mini variants. Details are limited (no official specs, pricing, availability, or full technical release yet), but visual inspection and firmware insights (e.g., from Oleg Kutkov) provide key clues. This seems positioned as a manufacturing/optimization revision for higher-volume, lower-cost production to support Starlink’s scaling goals (tens to hundreds of millions of kits).

Key Visual and Reported Features of V5 Dishes
– Size: The V5 Standard appears noticeably smaller than the current V4 Standard — roughly in the ballpark of being a bit larger than the current V4 Mini (firmware extraction indicated dimensions slightly taller/wider than the existing Mini). This narrows the gap between Standard and Mini form factors, improving versatility for various installations (rooftop, portable, mobile, etc.).
– Enclosure/Color: All-white cover/enclosure (similar to the current V4 Mini, eliminating the gray border seen on V4 Standard kits).
– Mount/Kickstand: Updated design, possibly using a metal (aluminum-like) kickstand or similar to the Router Mini’s wall-mount material for improved durability or simplicity.
– Other Observations: A Router Mini (or potential new variant) is visible in the background. Power supply details (e.g., continued use of PoE brick from V4 Standard) remain unclear. No major external port or radical redesign visible in the limited footage.

Speculation on Performance and Features
– Likely focuses on cost reduction, easier mass production, and broader deployment rather than a massive hardware leap.
– 1 Gig Speeds: Not expected in this revision; more of an incremental update than a full generational leap for higher throughput.
– Wishlist items from analysis (for V5 Mini especially): PoE power input for greater flexibility (single cable power+data, easier router placement). For Standard: Retain/expand the V4-style PoE brick approach across kits.

Note: This is early visual/firmware-based analysis only. Official FCC filings, full specs, and real-world testing will provide more clarity. V5 could launch soon given the public showcase.

Changes from V1–V4
Here’s a concise evolution summary (focusing on the dishes/terminals):

– V1 & V2: Circular/round dishes. Early generations with actuated pointing (motors for alignment).
– V3: Standard actuated rectangular design (motorized for auto-alignment).
– V4 (current):
– Standard: Larger rectangular form with gray border; includes advanced PoE power brick in newer kits.
– Mini: Much smaller (~half the size of V4 Standard), all-white enclosure, DC input (no native PoE on dish), more portable.
– Overall: Improved performance, reliability, and features like better weather resistance and integration.

– V5 (new):
– Smaller Standard: Major size reduction vs. V4 Standard (closer in scale to V4 Mini but slightly larger).
– All-white design: Unified aesthetic across Standard and Mini (no gray borders).
– Updated mounting: Metal kickstand elements for potentially simpler/durable setup.
– Lineup: Retains Standard + Mini variants with possible router optimizations.
– Focus: Cost/efficiency for scale, rather than drastic size/performance jumps seen in prior generational shifts (e.g., round → rectangular, actuated → fixed with better electronics).

The V5 appears to be a refinement for manufacturability and usability while bridging the Standard/Mini gap, aligning with Starlink’s push for massive deployment.

Greg, thanks for the heads up.  Hopefully everyone will find these details informative.

Enjoy,

Phillip Beall (W5EBC)

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