SpaceX‘s Starlink is now poised to get a major new feature by the end of 2021, with Elon Musk saying that a “fully mobile” version of the service is in the works — allowing Starlink to be attached to a truck or RV. Starlink is the satellite internet program created by SpaceX, striving to deliver fast, low-latency broadband internet to people in rural areas. The service is currently in early access, with customers promised speeds between 50Mbps and 150Mbps for $499 upfront and then $99/month.
Starlink first entered its early access phase around six months ago. To get a recap of how the service has performed since then, CNBC recently surveyed 50 Starlink users across 13 different states in the U.S. — most of which live in rural parts of the country. From pricing, the installation process, internet speed, and customer service, the general consensus is that Starlink is off to a solid start. Overall, CNBC said that “Starlink users were fairly ecstatic in their overall impressions with the service, with nearly all expecting to keep it long-term.” While Starlink isn’t perfect, it’s far and away better than other satellite or DSL options that rural Americans are typically limited to. Considering that Musk expects Starlink to be out of early access by “this summer,” that’s all really encouraging to hear.
Related: How Much Starlink Costs: Setting Up & Monthly Pricing Explained
As it currently stands, Starlink requires an antenna dish to be installed on a user’s property to establish a connection with the main Starlink satellites in space. The antenna dishes can be mounted on the ground or the side of the house, though the optimal position is on a roof. Either way, the dish is designed to remain in place and not be moved. However, that could soon be changing. A user on Twitter asked Musk if users will ever be able to move their Starlink dish so their internet connection isn’t locked to one location. In response, Musk said, “Yeah, [Starlink] should be fully mobile later this year, so you can move it anywhere or use it on an RV or truck in motion. We need a few more satellite launches to achieve compete [sic] coverage & some key software upgrades.”
Considering some of the promises Musk has made in the past about other Starlink and Tesla releases, it’s entirely possible that this “fully mobile” version of Starlink won’t actually be ready by the end of the year. Whenever it does get here, though, it’ll be a major value-add for anyone that’s maybe been on the fence about joining Starlink. If someone is going on a road trip, they can just attach their Starlink hardware to their vehicle and provide internet access to laptops, tablets, and any other devices. It could also be used to bring internet access to camping trips, Airbnbs, and more
That’s a level of flexibility that just isn’t possible with other internet services, even from big names like Xfinity, Spectrum, and others. While a lot of big internet companies have public hotspot networks that customers can join, that’s not the same as being able to literally bring a user’s full internet service with them wherever they go.
Of course, there’s a lot that still remains unknown about how a mobile version of Starlink would actually work. Will there be a separate piece of hardware designed explicitly for mobile use, or will the existing antenna dish be retrofitted for the functionality? Musk has previously said that Starlink won’t offer tiered pricing plans, but there’s a real possibility that accessing mobile Starlink could require some kind of one-time fee. Those specifics will likely be answered in the coming months, but regardless of what the answers are, this is pretty big news that current and prospective Starlink customers should be excited about.
Next: Is SpaceX’s Starlink A Real Threat To Traditional Broadband Providers?
Source: Elon Musk
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