Skip to Content

The SpaceX Starlink Internet for RVers will be blazingly fast! [COMING in 2021?]

| Updated May 25, 2023

Had it with horribly slow or nonexistent Internet? That will change dramatically with the SpaceX Starlink Internet for RVers.

Once it fully gets off the ground – literally and figuratively – mobile Internet speeds will rocket.

Actually, a lot of it is already off the ground and has been rocketed into orbit right now, a virtual constellation of hundreds of low orbiting satellites that have been launched by SpaceX over the past two years, all connected together and being tested for stationary users in many places.

When will Starlink Internet for RVers be available?

The SpaceX Starlink Internet for RVers will be blazingly fast! [COMING in 2021?] 1
We're all waiting for Starlink Internet for RVers

Sooner, rather than later.  Maybe even by the end of the year for a limited beta program for select mobile users to go along with the current one for stationary setups.

The challenge for mobile and RV Starlink Internet is considerably more than for residential Starlink Internet customers.

It has to do with the antenna.

Here's a video I just recorded going into some depth about this:

As the video explains, those low orbiting satellites are only a couple of hundred miles high as compared to the 22,000-mile high geostationary satellites we're used to with traditional Internet and TV services. That means they are moving fast. Instead of just pointing an antenna in one spot (that's what geostationary means), Starlink's low earth orbits move fast from horizon to horizon. They also cover narrower swaths of the globe.

So the challenge is developing an antenna that will track them as they travel across the sky and then seamlessly lock into and track the next satellite. And as you travel on earth in an RV or vehicle, you will go in and out of those coverage swaths, thus making it necessary for the Starlink antenna to be also able to acquire the next Starling satellite that covers another swath of the earth.

Sound complicated? It is.

The antenna technology for Starlink Internet for RVers has been developed

The SpaceX Starlink Internet for RVers will be blazingly fast! [COMING in 2021?] 2
This was the experimental Kymeta Satellite antenna that I tested on one of my RVs

In fact, I had the chance to actually use and test it for almost a year.

And while several different firms are working hard to make it a reality, faithful followers of this blog may remember us testing out a unique satellite system from a company called Kymeta.

Kymeta Corp. is the Redmond, Wash.-based connectivity venture backed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. A few years ago they installed and let us test out one of their hybrid satellite-cellular mobile antennas for voice and data. It wasn't hooked up to Starlink (SpaceX hadn't launched the satellites back then), but Kymeta was clearly looking at that eventuality when they hooked us up.

Our system used geostationary satellites. And the service was spotty and slow. But it did work and more importantly, it worked as we drove. 

The flat panel antenna is electronically and computer-controlled to automatically acquire and track the satellites as they move across the sky, making use of a technology known as metamaterials. In essence, this locks onto satellites electronically, with no moving parts.

Starlink Internet for RVers will need something similar

It will be a variation of this style that RVers will have installed when Starlink Internet for RVers becomes available.

In fact, eventually – a few years down the line – you'll see these flat antennas built right into the roof of your RV or even passenger vehicles. In the Class B van I had when I tested it, it mounted on the rear.

Kymeta is currently working with a whole bunch of satellite companies and has not officially announced any deal with SpaceX or Starlink. But in a news release, the company says “We’re agnostic, so we will support all of the different platforms that are out there.”

Obviously, that means they want to work witn Starlink, besides the various high altitude satellite systems it's currently operating on across the globe.

The problem we had with the Kymeta satellite system was latency. Latency is how long it takes to send my data from my laptop in my RV up through the antenna to the satellite, and for the satellite to in turn send whatever I want back down. Those satellites were very high – about 22,000 miles. Therefore the latency was high, too, meaning it took seemingly forever.

Technically, the poor performance and slow speeds were caused by that high latency.

I ended up with Internet speeds of about 2Mbps. Yawn.

Satellite Internet has improved!

The SpaceX Starlink Internet for RVers will be blazingly fast! [COMING in 2021?] 3
There will soon be a huge constellation of satellites providing Internet access all over the world

The satellite Internet system used by some RVers today is from Hughes and is vastly improved. It uses a satellite called Echostar and although it was way up there in height above the earth, too, instead of shooting down one wide-angle beam that covers half the continent, it used spot beam technology to send narrower more efficient signals to various parts of the earth.

Some users report up to 25 Mbps speeds.

The problem is it is not widely available for mobile use and you need lots of equipment, including a big dish that must precisely be pointed in the right direction.

Finding room to carry it and then setting it up and taking it down at each stop is cumbersome. – if you can find someone to set you up with a mobile coverage system, which typically does not cover the entire country.

Starlink Internet for RVers will be probably the best Internet you ever had 

When it does become available for mobile use among RVers, it will be screaming fast.

Based on its private beta test results, it appears that under the right conditions it can deliver a satellite internet connection of 100 Mbps or more (some beta uses have reported maximum speeds of  200 Mbps at times).

And remember that latency issue involving the time it takes for a signal to go up to the satellite and back again? Latency is no longer a problem. That's because Starlink's satellites are 60 times closer to the earth than traditional Internet satellites. Starlink's beta testing reports an extremely low latency of 20 milliseconds.

How much will Starlink Internet for Rvers cost?

Because it is not yet available for mobile use, we don't know the answer to that.

But the beta program Starlink has recently launched for stationary users has an equipment package price of $499. That covers the antenna, mounting kit, Wi-Fi router, and the receiver and transmitter that will connect your devices to the system.

Thereafter, the beta users will have to pay $99 a month for service.

Remember, those are for people who set it up at their house. It's likely that mobile systems will be more. 

What does the company say about Starling Internet for RVers? 

image of satellite for Starlink Internet for RVers

Officially, the company says very little about when and how much it will cost.

But in some online conversations analyzed and tabulated by our friend Chris Dunphy from Mobile Internet Resource Center, the SpaceX/Starling people made it clear that it is coming.

Here's their statement:

“Mobility options – including moving your Starlink to different service addresses (or places that don’t even have addresses!) – is coming once we can increase our coverage by launching more satellites & rolling out new software.”

Did you catch the “places that don't even have addresses” part?

That's us. RVers. We are on the move and all they need t do is launch some more satellites to provide better coverage and to coordinate them all through some software.

The challenge is pretty amazing. In one of the online conversations the company had with fans, I was struck by this explanation of how complicated it all is:

“You should think about communication between the Starlink dish and the satellite in space as a ‘skinny beam’ between the dish and the satellite. So, as the satellite passes quickly overhead, if there is a branch or pole between the dish and satellite, you’ll usually lose connection. We’re working on some software features that are going to make this much better and long term, the clearance you’ll need is going to shrink as the constellation grows. So this will get much better!”

There is another element that has to be built out beside the satellites.

Ground stations will also be needed for Starlink Internet for RVers 

There has to be a very robust network of ground stations. In fact, you and your RV must be within the range of a ground station to make a communications connection with the satellite. The ground station “talks” to the satellite and then patches you through.

Eventually, the goal is to have thousands of Starling satellites up there, communicating with each other by laser beams, providing high-speed Internet connectivity to the entire planet.,

What is the Starlink system like right now?

The SpaceX Starlink Internet for RVers will be blazingly fast! [COMING in 2021?] 4
One of the SpaceX launches of 60 Starlink satellites

Big and growing. Starlink calls their system of satellites a constellation.

Since May 2019, SpaceX has been launching them in batches of 60, with the goal of creating a “megaconstellation.” 

Those launches have been coming closer and closer together, The company has even figured out how to reuse its booster rockets.

Today (February 13, 2021)  there have been 18 launches. That means there are 1,080 satellites up there.

When the system is fully developed. Starlink hopes to have 30,000 of them, orbiting the earth in perfectly synchronized orbits about 250 miles high, covering precise areas of geography, 24 x7, 365 days a year.

When will that be? We should see some beta tests for mobile connectivity happening by year-end or early next year.

Full implementation, alas, won't probably be till 2023.

 

The SpaceX Starlink Internet for RVers will be blazingly fast! [COMING in 2021?] 5
We love camping season!

Curious about the gear, gadgets, accessories, and RV products Mike & Jennifer use and recommend?

On this RV Lifestyle Travel blog, our RV Podcast and our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel, we mention all sorts of RV-related products and gear that we use, So we created special page links to them. We update this all the time. But if you ever hear us talking about an RV product we use, chances are we will have a link to it on our gear page.  CLICK HERE to go to it directly. 

 

 

 

 

Mike Wendland

Published on 2021-02-13

Mike Wendland is a multiple Emmy-award-winning Journalist, Podcaster, YouTuber, and Blogger, who has traveled with his wife, Jennifer, all over North America in an RV, sharing adventures and reviewing RV, Camping, Outdoor, Travel and Tech Gear for the past 12 years. They are leading industry experts in RV living and have written 18 travel books.

11 Responses to “The SpaceX Starlink Internet for RVers will be blazingly fast! [COMING in 2021?]”

June 02, 2021at8:20 pm, Top Stargazing Tips For Boondockers - 2boomersandababy said:

[…] The Starlink project by SpaceX is another opportunity for stargazers. Slated to eventually include 42 thousand satellites, these lights in the sky are visible to the naked eye as a string of lights moving in a straight line across the sky. There are already several hundred in place, and new launches increase the number on a fairly regular basis. You may need an app such as Starwalk 2 in order to know where and when to look in your geographic area. We also wrote a whole post on Starlink for RVers. […]

February 15, 2021at10:55 am, Terry Gillis said:

Great information. Learned a lot as we’d not been following these advances. While very interested, our limited internet need, as we do not need for working while RVing, and the estimated monthly price tag, will keep us away for quit some time. However, in time we too will likely be online with you.

February 14, 2021at2:27 pm, Sunny said:

I am not a fan of this in any way. People seem to forget that human beings are literally electrical beings – we are made of energy. While I respect the need to ‘work’ from the road (which is far superior to a stuffy office cube) the health impacts from all emf is very very real. I also do not wish for earth’s atmosphere to be littered with satellites making it impossible to escape them. Do we as humans really think 30,000 satellites up there is a fabulous idea? I find it beyond disheartening. I personally do not need my video to be downloaded faster, and in my opinion that is not the true intent of this technology. Now there are ways to mitigate the negative health impacts from the inescapable emf’s we all swim in every day – things like emf rocks for one (and I have no affiliation with them in any way). I want to live in the modern world, but not at the expense of my health or at the expense of earths health. Why do we think bees are dying off in insanely dangerous numbers? No bees, no food. Humans have to decide how we really want to live in harmony with this gorgeous planet of ours. I wish you all well, but I have zero interest in such harmful technologies as I value my human body and cellular health far more than faster downloads or connectivity.

February 15, 2021at7:25 am, Bev Parkison said:

Sunny I agree with you. Many people are sensitive to EMF’s and no long term studies have been done as to their health effects, especially on children and pregnant women. We have already seen cancer and autism greatly increase in children. I have done research on this subject while building a home with a safe haven from EMF’s and harmful electrical currents. Much of this information is hidden or ignored by the general public. We don’t need to be connected 24/7 to internet or a satellite. We need a safe haven to escape to our natural spaces to enjoy our surroundings.

February 13, 2021at2:40 pm, pnwkayaker said:

Do you truly need to use Internet while driving? It seems to me that as long as people could drive and deploy the existing antenna when arriving to a campground that many needs will be covered, even for non-urban boondockers (the current deployment limitations have more to do with the geometry and coverage of the deployed satellite constellation).
I’ve pre-ordered Starlink and I’m planning to use it in that manner once there are enough satellites that would allow for antennas to be deployed at multiple locations.

February 13, 2021at1:35 pm, Tom Clark said:

Hi there, Mike
All this sounds suspiciously like the old Global Star system that was all the rage a few years ago. Problem was, they were under-capitalized and when the satellites began dropping out of the system, it became unusable . Likewise there were/are a limited number of transponders on each bird and as was evidenced during the hurricane Katrina recovery, communications were locked down due to the limited transponder capacity, and again an almost total system failure. The maximum data transfer bandwidth was extremely slow–up to 900kb. Weather conditions also impacted the operation. Systems of this type are also low power, which also impacts reliability. I will have to see just whether these obstacles are overcome before I get excited about this, otherwise it is just “deja vu all over again”!

February 13, 2021at11:51 am, Jacquelyn said:

Has anything been mentioned with regards to the cost?

February 13, 2021at11:29 am, Kris said:

Someone close to me works at SpaceX and was told that some mobile units may be available by the middle of this year, for testing purposes.

February 13, 2021at9:58 am, Bob S said:

Great article Mike – thanks!

February 13, 2021at8:12 am, Jon Manley said:

Hello Mike,

Great information – one thing to note is that because Starlink is a satellite based technology you still need line of sight to the satellites. This will become even more challenging than the GEO satellite technology because the LEO satellites are moving across the sky. You will need line of sight across the entire path. I just wanted to point out this is another challenge for Starlink and the RVer. HughesNet and ViaSat are also working on next generation GEO satellites that should post speeds of 100Mbps – all great investments in satellite connectivity technology that we are keeping an eye on for the RVer.

Thanks!

Jon Manley

February 13, 2021at7:53 am, Anne said:

While this is very promising, the necessity of a ground station would seem to be a problem. In areas like national parks, where frequently there’s not even a cell infrastructure, how would ground stations be implemented? What would be the range for the ground stations?

It seems like there are still a lot of questions, and I say that as an enthusiastic early adopter.

Comments are closed.

Back to top
13 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin13
Email