Satellite Internet… Am I Missing Something?

pegaxs on 25/09/2024 - 13:58
Last edited 26/09/2024 - 16:52 by 1 other user

Just went out walking after walking the kids to the bus stop this morning and took the long scenic way home and noticed that there are a heap of houses in my area that all have these “Starlink” (or whatever it is called) square satellite receivers either on top of their house, in their back yards or up on poles (one has it just sitting in their front yard). There were about 10 or so houses I saw and 3 of these are within 2 to 10 houses away from mine.

We get FTTP here on NBN and I’m on a 100/50(?) plan with no issues. There is no way that these houses don’t have access to the NBN, as one of these houses, the NBN box is literally at the front of their property…

So, what gives? With NBN fibre available to their houses, why are they using satellite internet? Is it faster? Is it cheaper? I could understand 1 house and a random receiver on the ground in their front yard (they have 2 caravans and trip away a lot) but the others, these receivers are fixed to something like a pole or roof…

Internet Broadband FTTP nbn Satellite Internet

Comments

  • SimAus007 on 25/09/2024 - 14:15
    +16

    It's not faster than NBN Fibre or HFC, not even close (which offers up to 1TB speeds down and 2TB speeds down from September 2025) - 1TB NBN speeds can easily be found for around $99 PM, here are the Starlink charges: https://www.starlink.com/au/service-plans

    • Its latency is terrible compared with fibre (around 3ms), from the Starlink website: Download: 25-270 Mbps/Upload: 10-40 Mbps - Latency: 25-80 ms
    • It is not cheaper.
    • Only better thing is that it is portable, so if you are heading away in your caravan on a holiday for several weeks a year, then it might be worth it for convenience, but even then you can connect and disconnect the NBN when you need, to avoid paying for 2 separate services.
    • Bruceflix on 25/09/2024 - 17:04
      +26

      1TB speeds down and 2TB speeds down from September 2025) - 1TB NBN

      This makes no sense to me. I assume by 1TB you actually mean 1Gb/s

      • freefall101 on 25/09/2024 - 19:18
        +40

        I just had a vision of being able to download a thousand movies in a few seconds and now I need clean pants.

        • Bruceflix on 25/09/2024 - 19:39
          +17

          I just had a vision of being able to download a thousand movies Linux ISOs in a few seconds

          FTFY

        • Roe Jogan on 27/09/2024 - 20:49
          +1

          with stremio who downloads movies anymore

          • matt1234 on 28/09/2024 - 05:29

            @Roe Jogan: The people who are smart enough to not pay the skyrocketing prices for multiple streaming services every month?

            BTW you do know you are still downloading the movie when streaming right? The only difference is its doing it via a temporary cache in the background instead of a single downloaded permanent file - the data is still using the same bandwidth size.

            • Roe Jogan on 28/09/2024 - 06:58

              @matt1234: you proved my point, the whole point of stremio is an all in one solution?
              also yeh i know its being downloaded to the services servers, and that you can transfer it to HDD if you choose to, the point i was making is that its so fast, its like your streaming it, and not some lower quality netflix style low bitrate, its the actual bluray 90gb files

      • SimAus007 on 26/09/2024 - 11:06
        +1

        Yep, Gb/s, thanks for the correction, I must have been tired lol

        • apple2016 on 26/09/2024 - 11:20
          -5

          Even still 2 Gb/s limit is a joke. 10Gb/s are common in many countries.

          • vorsprung on 26/09/2024 - 12:50

            @apple2016: It has been leaked that the NBN will start providing new NTD's with the faster plans next year. The new default NTD will support 2.5Gbps on a single port, however you can pay $100 more for a 4 port version… capable of 10Gbps.

            If they're offering an NTD capable of 10Gbps, maybe there's hope they'll offer plans up to that speed at some point.

            Although consumer hardware still seems way behind IMO. Not many people will have networking peripherals capable of 2.5Gbps let alone 10Gbps.

            • Ricktheroller on 26/09/2024 - 13:46
              +1

              @vorsprung: I figure this is the right way to be for future proofing, reaching a point where the service available is far faster than what most consumer hardware can handle.

            • Frederico Z on 26/09/2024 - 14:54

              @vorsprung: I'm in a small S.A. regional town. I live on the correct side of the creek so get FTTN. The mob on the other side get satellite. The more discriminating ones have Starlink.

              Our house is also in the right street; the green box is opposite our house, more or less. 100mbps down has been the go since the NBN came along a few years back. FTTH will be unlikely in my life time.

              But recently there have been notified NBN "disruptions" late at night. Words like "maintenance" and "improvements" are mentioned.

              Anyway, currently download speeds have ramped up. They are steady at about 115mbps to 120mbps. Seems pretty decent for what it is.

              What's happening?

              PS: Mind you the stuff of dreams, i.e. 1G, would be nice.

          • Juice-Wa on 26/09/2024 - 16:21

            @apple2016: What are you going to do with 10Gbps??? Unless you're a business, there is no point allocating that bandwidth to almost anyone.

    • Doyen on 25/09/2024 - 22:18
      +3

      I consistently get 170-180Mbps upload yes upload on starlink for &139/ month. I am constantly moving multi gig files for work from home. Where can I get these upload speeds for $139/month of less on NBN?

      • defaultess on 26/09/2024 - 08:22
        +4

        I'm with Leaptel on NBN FttP on a 500/200 plan for a similar amount to what you pay and for similar reasons (work). I think for $165/mth I can move to 1000/400 but haven't needed the extra speed.

        NBN should have cheaper upload options but similar price to starlink and better latency

        • Twix on 26/09/2024 - 10:49

          That should read 1000Mbps, 1Gbps or Gigabit and 2000Mbps or 2Gbps.

          • SimAus007 on 26/09/2024 - 11:05
            +1

            @Twix: True, thanks for the correction :)

      • DARK KHAOS on 26/09/2024 - 09:50
        +5

        I have never seen higher than 35mbps upload on either of my 4 starlink connections.
        Average is about 20mbps.

        Example
        https://www.speedtest.net/result/16802579885

        Can you post a result link of your service please showing 170mbps?

      • Bruceflix on 26/09/2024 - 12:25

        I'm consistently getting 380mb/s upload for $165/month on leaptel.

      • knk on 26/09/2024 - 14:43
        +1

        People ignore the upload. If you're not on FTTP and can't get the 200M up plans then starlink is often a better choice if you need the bandwidth.

        I'm on 1000/50 now with FTTP but realistically I'd rather even just 100/100. Can't justify the huge increase to jump to 200M up though.

    • hopper on 26/09/2024 - 11:34

      if you are heading away in your caravan on a holiday for several weeks

      so can i take it on cruise? i heard many cruises have poor wifi and would love to utilise work from home.

      • saltypete on 26/09/2024 - 11:58

        All the cruise lines are now using Starlink, but they absolutely screw you for it.
        Starlink have a marine system that is a bit more expensive per month. The practical issue on a ship is at best you’ll only get about 50% sky exposure from a balcony.

        • Gaz1 on 26/09/2024 - 14:40

          Interesting. The prices for wifi on a cruise are crazy (eg Cunard is about US$40/day for casual access!).
          Is there a cheap way to buy Starlink for casual use on a cruise (2 - 3 weeks at a time)?

          • JakeyJooJoo on 26/09/2024 - 14:58
            +4

            @Gaz1: Just opt out of internet use when cruising. It's good to disconnect.

            • CocaKoala on 26/09/2024 - 23:20

              @JakeyJooJoo: I just opt out of cruising on ships and take the land or sky route to wherever I want to go. It's worked a treat so far.

              • JakeyJooJoo on 27/09/2024 - 01:21

                @CocaKoala: Fair. Cruises are shit. That said, if you're going to shitty Bali, a cruise is pretty much the same holiday.

                • CocaKoala on 27/09/2024 - 01:30
                  -1

                  @JakeyJooJoo: I've never been to Bali, likely never will. But I understand how it could be appealing to some (a lot of?) people.

    • dr on 27/09/2024 - 07:36
      +2

      September 2025? Yeah, and I heard that Starlink will counter that from 2030 by teleporting data from Mars using quantum computing, because it is quantum computing it will have negative latency of -100ms per km, thus arriving to Earthling houses 3 months earlier before it was sent.

  • overthinking on 25/09/2024 - 14:20
    +13

    Do you know for sure they're on Starlink? It could be fixed wireless.

    Either way, FTTP > everything. I suspect they just don't care enough - it's working perfectly fine for them.

    • MS Paint on 25/09/2024 - 14:41
      +4

      Yeah, the gen 3 FW Antenna look a bit like starlink

      • SimAus007 on 25/09/2024 - 14:46
        +1

        I don't think they look anything alike, but that might be my nerd factor kicking in.

        • MS Paint on 25/09/2024 - 14:50
          +6

          this is the starlink rooftop antenna I believe. I've never seen one in real life. From 20m away and an untrained eye, they could look close. Remember pegaxs isn't the sharpest tool in his workshop.

          • SimAus007 on 25/09/2024 - 14:55
            +2

            @MS Paint: Yeah, I've seen lots of them around, particularly at festivals/carnivals/food trucks, but also on some homes.
            I was talking to an older friend of mine, not very technically minded, who has NBN HFC and mentioned moving to it for her home because she "heard it was better".
            I am sure there are plenty of people like that around who believe this garbage and sign up thinking it's the best option.

          • CurlCurl on 25/09/2024 - 16:27
            +4

            @MS Paint: Pegaxs is still looking for his left-handed screwdriver his boss told him to get for him in his apprentice days in 1972

          • geekcohen on 25/09/2024 - 16:51

            @MS Paint: Thats the Generation 2. This is a Generation 3

            Also, the Gen 2 photo you shared looks like its storage position. Should be a lot more angled.

            • MS Paint on 25/09/2024 - 16:58

              @geekcohen: I'm confused. The gen 3 picture I linked is the nbn fw antenna. It's the same as our new one that nbn installed a few months back and gave us great speed gains. The house in the picture must be in a valley pointing up to a tower.

              • geekcohen on 25/09/2024 - 17:00

                @MS Paint: I am talking about the Starlink generations. There is a Gen 3 now which is what I linked (been available since March this year). Gen 2 which is what you also linked is about 2-3 years prior to the release of Gen 3.

                • MS Paint on 25/09/2024 - 17:02
                  +1

                  @geekcohen: Now I'm less confused. Cheers

                  • geekcohen on 25/09/2024 - 17:05

                    @MS Paint: You've also got me interested; how did you get the NBN FW Dish Upgrade? Did you upgrade from this ?

                    • MS Paint on 25/09/2024 - 17:08

                      @geekcohen: Yes, it was an upgrade from the diamond version.

                      Received a random call about upgrading equipment (we were early adopters to FW tech) from some mob claiming to work for nbn. Thought it was a scam call initially.

                      Sure enough a subcontractor turned up a week later and upgraded the antenna and internal NTD.

                      • geekcohen on 25/09/2024 - 17:12

                        @MS Paint: Interesting! I might suggest this to my Dad; he is on the diamond version.

                    • Twix on 25/09/2024 - 17:14
                      +2

                      @geekcohen: You can ask your nbn provider or…

                      If you’ve been notified that you’re eligible for an equipment upgrade, then please call the phone number on the letter or SMS provided to you to schedule your appointment. An nbn technician from one of our approved delivery partners UGL or Hills

                      Free nbn Fixed Wireless Antenna and NTD Upgrade and 100/20, 250/20 & 400/40 Speed Tiers @ nbn Co via Participating ISPs.

          • COVID-19 on 25/09/2024 - 21:59
            +1

            @MS Paint: That's the "old" gen 2 antenna.

            This is the new gen 3 antenna.
            https://au.pcmag.com/networking/102659/spacex-reveals-next-g…

          • BartholemewH on 27/09/2024 - 16:36

            @MS Paint: That's Gen 2. Gen 3 are slimmer and have a kickstand.

      • pegaxs on 25/09/2024 - 15:10
        +7

        Nope, it is not these. The ones I have seen have a much flatter face and a grey trim around the front edge. Closer to what this looks like. The one in the front yard even has this identical stand it is sitting on.

        The "fixed" wireless ones tend to all face almost horizontal and usually towards a radio tower, where all the "satellite receivers" almost all seemed to be pointed directly up and in random~ish directions

        Remember pegaxs isn't the sharpest tool in his workshop.

        Hahaah… It's ok, it was over next to Uncle Ian's place and he knows everyone and their business in the area and he told me it was one of them "Elon Musk freedom boxes to stop that guvment stealing yer thoughts…"

        • MS Paint on 25/09/2024 - 15:26
          +3

          Uncle Ian makes sense. Cheers

          • pegaxs on 25/09/2024 - 19:26
            +6

            @MS Paint: Side note. I went for a walk tha sarvie over to the only area near me (next suburb over) that has "fixed wireless" for all their internet needs, and those are not the same antennas. All the fixed wireless ones are more square and fatter and are all pointed in the same direction on every house and are all mounted pointing horizontally.

            I confirmed on the way home that the "satellite" receivers are a lot thinner. Dont even look remotely the same as the fixed wireless units and they are all pointing almost vertically.

            Went past Uncle Ian's on the way home and Muzeeb was there with his Commodore. I told them I was out looking at something for you, when I mentioned your name, they both just groaned in disappointment…

        • DashCam AKA Rolts on 25/09/2024 - 18:40
          +2

          How else are we going to tap straight in Xitter and Truth Social?

          • pegaxs on 25/09/2024 - 19:19
            +3

            @DashCam AKA Rolts: Who needs Xwitter and Trump Social when you have Uncle Ian… I just lob a name on him and then get… "Yeah, well, let me tell ya a story about that c#%t…"

        • Lastchancetosee on 26/09/2024 - 13:07

          that link came up with a warning, for some reason.

  • Protractor on 25/09/2024 - 14:24
    +7

    There's a sh*tload of S/Link uptakers who read ( and believed the DL speeds) are superior to NBN, so once they all populate S/Link, the bandwidth will drop. Elon will adjust it eventually to boost profit. Although right now the monthly rate aint cheap unless you live on the thing.

    It's another status thing. Telstra has also teamed up with Starlink to help ruin it for everyone.
    AFAIK S/link isn't the best option for serious gamers.

    That said it blows the lemon/white elephant NBN satellite out of the water.Skymuster always was an anchor to real internet provision.It was a shortcut foisted on ppl to fulfill a date deadline. The regions should have boycotted the idea from the beginning, but because the equipment was free their eyes were bigger than their stomach syndrome kicked in and they went' pick me'.

    Travellers use a portable setup AFAIK, so those plans would be different pricing structure. I have to say if ppl in a decent NBN area have SL there's something else going on.WPool has a large thread on SLink.

    • askbargain on 25/09/2024 - 14:38
      +15

      WPool has a large thread on SLink.

      What part of Australia are you from that uses abbreviations like these?

      • Protractor on 25/09/2024 - 14:40
        -5

        The superior part. Why, would you like a translator or subtitles?

        • askbargain on 25/09/2024 - 14:43
          +5

          subtitles

          Is there a video component to your interpretive dance?

          • Protractor on 25/09/2024 - 15:00
            -1

            @askbargain: Certainly. I was the lead choreographer of Legs Akimbo dance group.(google them)

            Now, imagine yourself walking upright. Never mind.
            ;)

    • geekcohen on 25/09/2024 - 17:15
      +1

      Telstra has also teamed up with Starlink to help ruin it for everyone.

      Yes, because they realised how crap NBN FW/Satelitte is and how people are jumping to Starlink. Although, it is only 50/10 on Starlink via Telstra for a little cheaper. You still need to get in installed, that isn't included by Telstra.

      I tell people to go directly to Starlink to get the full speed. Why continue to feed the pockets of the big T?

      • Protractor on 25/09/2024 - 17:19
        +4

        If Musk ever gives Telstra exclusivity( and they will push for it) it will fill the tip with dead equipment. If anyone can ruin it, it's Telstra.

    • geekcohen on 25/09/2024 - 17:29

      I have to say if ppl in a decent NBN area have SL there's something else going on.WPool has a large thread on SLink.

      Define decent because some people have different definitions. I moved off NBN to a Private Point to Point provider because of poor NBN speeds. This was pre-FTTP eligibility. I get 400/400 now for $90 a month via this solution even though I can get NBN FTTP. But I wouldn't move to pay more and have less upload.

      I have Starlink as a fail over (mainly because if we power outages in the area).

      • Protractor on 25/09/2024 - 17:33

        Decent = fit for purpose for the user involved, with the options out there (cost,bandwidth/speed/ reliability/ with support being a gamble component).
        However it would be hilarious if the bubble & squeak NBN was gradually abandoned for other better options by the majority of Strayans.
        It would also be the biggest "I told you so " moment in the nations history, that their version of the NBN was a shit design form go to whoa.

    • greyeye on 26/09/2024 - 07:52
      +1

      The regions should have boycotted
      as far as I know, rural areas mostly voted for the nationals => LNP. And LNP decided to butcher the NBN, costing us an extra 10-20b in the long run.

      Don't think they care/knew what they're voting for.

      • Protractor on 26/09/2024 - 09:17
        +1

        Silly me. I forgot that their intellectual pinnacle is Barnaby Joyce

  • cashless on 25/09/2024 - 14:28
    +6

    Some people just prostrate themselves in the church of Musk, no matter if he's selling utter rubbish

    • genericozbargainer on 25/09/2024 - 14:36
      +5

      How do I sign up to your satellite internet service?

      • Daabido on 25/09/2024 - 23:19
        +2

        Lisa, I'd like to buy your rock.

    • quanticism on 27/09/2024 - 09:18

      True. And some people have a hate boner for Musk and are unable to accept that some his products and services are good.

  • Twix on 25/09/2024 - 14:29
    +4

    Starlink can be faster and more reliable than a bad nbn FTTN service. Starlink is not faster or cheaper than nbn FTTP. Starlink internet is $139/m and the hardware is $599 upfront ($299 when on sale). It's possible they are on nbn Fixed Wireless which has roof antennas.

    They might be outside the nbn FTTP footprint or they might not know about the free nbn FTTP upgrade. Lookup your location here.

    • pegaxs on 25/09/2024 - 15:16

      They might be outside the nbn FTTP footprint

      The big green box for the NBN is literally 5 houses or so up from me. The fibre was all installed only about 12 to 18 months ago. I got the free NBN FTTP upgrade and one of the houses is 2 doors down with the satellite receiver.

      • Twix on 25/09/2024 - 15:26
        +3

        The big green box is the node for FTTN and it doesn't get used for FTTP. Check Luke's map to see if your neighbours are eligible for FTTP.

        • pegaxs on 25/09/2024 - 17:41

          Didn’t know that. Thought all the internet went through these boxes…

          Anyway, all the homes in my area are either light green “FTTP upgrade” or dark green “FTTP”. There is only one random house in the street marked as red, and it isn’t one of the houses with satellite.

          • Twix on 25/09/2024 - 19:43

            @pegaxs: Most of the FTTP equipment is located underground.

            • 2025 on 27/09/2024 - 19:30

              @Twix: In my area, which is FTTP from the start, there are FDH (Fibre Distribution Hubs) in street side cabinets every few streets.

      • trapper on 26/09/2024 - 15:38

        The fibre was all installed only about 12 to 18 months ago.

        Maybe they got starlink installed 13 to 19 months ago?

    • Belistic on 26/09/2024 - 08:04
      -2

      $125/mth via Telstra

      • Twix on 26/09/2024 - 10:41

        No deal. Starlink 50/10 capped for $125/m + $599 upfront from Telstra. If you need Starlink go direct for faster speeds.

        FTTP 1000/50 $99/m. In 2025 that will be 1000/100.

  • askbargain on 25/09/2024 - 14:34

    People getting mad over someone thinking they saw something lmao

    • Protractor on 25/09/2024 - 14:44
      +5

      I think OP is justified to seek evidence that he's surrounded by idiots, and then choose to be outraged if it suits him.

      • pegaxs on 25/09/2024 - 15:19
        +5

        lol. That's the fun part, I was just curious as to if I could be getting a better deal by moving over to satellite. There are so many here now that I thought, hold on, maybe this IS the way to go…

        Not mad or angry, moreso curious and checking if I should be on this satellite bandwagon… Are people getting mad at me?? I mean apart from the usual reasons?

        • Protractor on 25/09/2024 - 15:26
          +1

          Unless the NBN where you are is shite, SLink makes no sense.Unless you are a Musk fanboy. Something tells me, yeah nah.
          If ppl can afford it as a backup to NBN, they have too much money.

          • pegaxs on 25/09/2024 - 15:32

            @Protractor: And all of these satellite receivers have only gone up in the last 2 or 3 months. The NBN fibre is brand new and I've been on it for 12 months. So, the fibre network is older than the receiver installs, so it's not like they put up satellite internet because we didn't have internet or NBN. Before this, I was on FTTN that worked flawlessly for years. and it's in a relatively new estate (setup in 2008), so it's not like the copper lines here are 60+ years old…

            • Protractor on 25/09/2024 - 15:34

              @pegaxs: Too much $$$

            • Roman Sandstorm on 26/09/2024 - 11:04

              @pegaxs: @pegaxs

              And all of these satellite receivers have only gone up in the last 2 or 3 months

              If it was the 70's I'd say some door-to-door salesman had been around the area successfully selling the snake oil a few months ago.

              But I don't know if those creatures still exist.

          • sane on 25/09/2024 - 17:19

            @Protractor: If you are seriously reliant on a network connection for work, then a dish ($299) and a paused subscription can be a useful backup to a dead NBN service.

            • Protractor on 25/09/2024 - 17:22
              +1

              @sane: How often would 4G and 5G drop out with NBN at the same time?

              Joe Average would just tools down, in an NBN outage, surely? So I can see SLink as a small business option maybe.

              • sane on 25/09/2024 - 17:25

                @Protractor: Well, 4 & 5G only last so long in a power cut situation.

                Joe Average wouldn't have the need - but as I say, someone serious could see $300 for a backup that could bypass Telstra and Optus screwups etc. as a worthwhile investment - particularly if you can write it off against tax.

  • jv on 25/09/2024 - 14:35
    +1

    We get FTTP here on NBN and I’m on a 100/50

    Doubt it…

    • SimAus007 on 25/09/2024 - 14:40
      +1

      I assume they meant to type 1000/50.

      • jv on 25/09/2024 - 14:43
        +1

        or 100/20

        • SimAus007 on 25/09/2024 - 14:43
          +1

          Or 100/40 lol

          • jv on 25/09/2024 - 14:46
            +3

            @SimAus007: I will not sleep tonight if we don't find out the answer…

    • pegaxs on 25/09/2024 - 15:20

      We get FTTP here on NBN and I’m on a 100/50(?)

      You fogot to include the "Im not 100% sure if that is right" question mark…

      • jv on 25/09/2024 - 15:27

        You fogot

        I no fogot

    • altomic on 26/09/2024 - 07:54

      We get FTTP here on NBN and I’m on a 100/50

      OMG, just say you are on 2 !!!

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join