Most of the regional areas of Christchurch - think Rolleston, Prebbleton, Lincoln, Rangiora - are constrained.

tim0001:

 

The lack of competition that Starlink has in some areas in a concern, and it will be interesting to see what happens to prices when Project Kuiper become available in a couple of years...

I think you're being a tad optimistic, I'd be surprised if Kuiper is able to serve NZ before 2027.
That assumes that Kuiper actually is a viable commercial entity, of course. Between Starlink, OneWeb, Iridium NXT, and existing GEO suppliers getting into MEO / LEO markets, it's going to be darned hard work for Kuiper and it's very expensive launch platforms to compete.

Pivotel (https://www.pivotel.co.nz/networks/oneweb/) are the NZ agents for OneWeb, but don't seem to actually sell any OneWeb products?

boosacnoodle:

 

Most of the regional areas of Christchurch - think Rolleston, Prebbleton, Lincoln, Rangiora - are constrained.

 

Interesting.  We are about 7km out of Lincon and very close to a Spark tower.  We get great 4G coverage and had no issue in lockdown when caps were removed. There is a very limited number of dwellings to use the tower and I don’t think it’s constrained.  But seemingly Spark will not consider a better plan or having no caps (we were on 350Gb) so have moved to Starlink.   It’s good, often getting speeds 150-200mb download so far.  Does seem to have”micropauses” that we didn’t  get on 4G but being uncapped is the major thing for us.

if Spark offered an uncapped 4G plan then we would consider moving back.

itey: We live rurally but the starlink website is not offering the rural hardware discount. Does anyone have any experience with contacting them / suggestions? Clearly their algorithm isn't quite working.

You can go in buy from Noel Leeming at the reduced price ($199) and they dont ask your address.  And its saves the shipping cost😄

pjays:

 

if Spark offered an uncapped 4G plan then we would consider moving back.

 

Try Skinny?  Spark network but cheaper and often offer an unlimited plan - https://www.skinny.co.nz/broadband#broadband-address-search .

Recommend for mobile and regular broadband too.

The local 4G tower here (Bay of Islands) seems to have improved recently.  Changed from around 40-down/40-up to more like 100-down/15-up - suspiciously like Starlink's asymmetric speeds.  I might try, though even with 'unlimited' 4G data, they still have a 'fair use' policy which could bite back.  Also, we've previously experienced 4G throttling on longer downloads or watching TV etc.  Starlink has been great in comparison, just the occasional glitch per day.

Nope Skinny was not an option.   Not available at out address. I guess spark are careful where and which towers they open up to Skinny on

OK just got Starlinkk yesterday and just have it setup a couple of feet off the ground. Was unable to use  app to check obstructions as my phone didnt have the compass thingy. Anyway I've aimed it south and guesstimated a 100 degree FOV and its avoiding large stands of pine to the left and right. The app seems to say no obstructions

I am getting up to 270 Mbs on the small form factor PC close to the modem. Less with cellphone and tablet (all on 5 Ghz) but over 100 Mbps

Problem is I have a few devices that are 2.4 GHz only. My Redmi 9C cellphone, LG Oled TV and old desktop PC by TV I use for streaming tv or web browsing.

I only get 31 on the desktop PC, 42 from the TV and 37 from the cell. I changed the 5 G capable devices to 2.4 G and they went down to similar speeds. Upload speeds seem OK - often as high as the download

I am aware that 2.4 GHz is slower especially with Starlink but had hoped for better

I did the change so there is now two wifi starlink networks - one 2.4 GHz and the other 5 GHz but this did not improve things

One wierd thing - if I do a speed test on the app I only get 15 Mbps. But if I do the advanced speed test I get 35 Mbps which correlates with what I get using speed tests on the internet through Edge

I havent hooked up my other PC in the bedroom yet as it was connected by ethernet to the old modem and plan to do the same when I get the Starlink ethernet adapter. Called local Noel Leeming and they are getting stock next week.

I dont know much about this stuff. I know the wireless adapter card in the hometheatre pc is only 802.n but as I understand it this should be capable of 100 Mbps if not 300 Mbps

Just wondering what I can try? I guess uf I buy a 5 GHz wifi card it will sort the hometheater PC out or is there a chance since the PC is pretty old that something else might hold it back (network adapter)

Lastly I read somewhere where Starlink might set the 2.4 GHz speed down to accomodate the slowest device - so could it be one device causing this. But if I turn off the slowest device it doesnt seem to help. Unless the device has to be removed from the router settings?

Depending on the size of your house, a mesh system would probably be the easiest way to get the most out of your Starlink.  Running some ethernet cables throughout the house is good too, but will require a bit more effort.  (Even better is connecting the mesh units via ethernet) 

I’ve found the TP-Link Deco M4 to be a good match for Starlink.  Currently $233 for a set of 3 at PBTech.  These mesh units have two ethernet ports, so you could cable the HTPC into the back of a mesh unit.

juliant:

 

OK just got Starlinkk yesterday and just have it setup a couple of feet off the ground. Was unable to use  app to check obstructions as my phone didnt have the compass thingy. Anyway I've aimed it south and guesstimated a 100 degree FOV and its avoiding large stands of pine to the left and right. The app seems to say no obstructions

 

I am getting up to 270 Mbs on the small form factor PC close to the modem. Less with cellphone and tablet (all on 5 Ghz) but over 100 Mbps

 

I only get 31 on the desktop PC, 42 from the TV and 37 from the cell. I changed the 5 G capable devices to 2.4 G and they went down to similar speeds. Upload speeds seem OK - often as high as the download

 

I don't think you say how far these other devices are away from your Starlink router, or what walls etc to go through?  The Starlink WiFi router is pretty good but not the best.  Main thing is 5Ghz is faster, but doesn't travel as far.  2.4Ghz is slower, older but travels better through walls etc.  2.4Ghz should be around 100Mbps close to router, 5Ghz much faster. 

In the App's "Network" page you can see each device, and clicking on them should show you what their receive speed is and wifi connection.  You can also use the "Check Wifi Range" option in there to do a walk about your house and see wifi strength - quite cool.

Options:

• Try moving your router more central to your house
• Get Starlink ethernet dongle and use ethernet connections to more devices - TV etc.  Be a little careful as these dongles sometime default down to 100mbps rather than 1gbps erthernet. Connecting via a switch may help
• Try powerline plugs from Ethernet dongle to devices in different rooms.
• Add one or more Starlink mesh devices to extend wifi signal  (ethernet dongle not needed).  Not the best featured for the money.
• Get a new/different router - e.g. Unifi LR (Long Range), or other Mesh system like Orbi.

If the 2.4GHZ device is single chain, and you are being sensible and using a 20MHz channel, then the speeds you are seeing are about right for 2.4GHz. the 300 is a fantasy rate for 2.4GHz, that is 2x2 with a 40MHz channel.

20Mhz 1x1 will be a 72megabit air rate, halve that to get what you will see in best case usage.

Its a steel frame house (could that be an issue) - about 200 sqm but only approx 140 excl Garage. One level. Only one nearby neighbour

It is about 15 metres from HTPC to modem but is open plan all the way and almost direct line of sight

Modem is close to one bedroom - just one wall to go through and the other bedroom only about 5 metres away but two walls to go through but plan to use existing ethernet connection there once I get the dongle

Dont fancy running any more ethernet - no crawl space in ceiling over lounge area.

I wont look at new modems etc at this point. One day I might get a new phone with dual band and wifi calling at the same time (since our cell coverage is patchy). With a dual band wifi card in the HTPC that would only leave the TV itself which will be slow but I can always use the HTPC if watching something that needs more bandwidth

I tried the tablet on 5 GHz from HTPC location to modem and got 140 GHz (230 GHz right by modem) so should get that with the HTPC with new wifi card which is plenty

My phone doesnt support check cellphone range feature - can try when wife gets home with her phone

Signal strength Cell -37 dBm HTPC -57 dBm TV -67 dBm

RX rate 78 Mbps 28 Mbs 585 Mbs

What surprised me is it is saying the TV  is on the 5 Ghz (this must have changed when I separated the wifi into two bands) so the TV must support 5 GHz after all. I did a speed test and the TV got 65 Mbps so more than before but not great for 5 GHz band - maybe 15 metres to far

Starlink app does suggest moving modem

Ok didnt realise that half of 75 Mbps is "normal" for 2.4 GHz band.

My speed doesnt change if I have my single band phone right by the modem or at the other end of the house, so putting in access points and other suggestions is not going to help there?

I guess it might help the 5 GHz devices but speed there is Ok anyway

Cheers,

I've been reading about throttling (over at reddit - r/Starlink) has happened to users downloading large files. Don't know how widespread this is.

I did notice what could have been throttling last night.  Someone brought a PS5 round and was downloading a game.  Our SL connection stayed at a almost constant 50Mbps.  The youtube and appleTV that I was watching on a firestick was badly impacted (poor quality and totally stopping occasionally).  The PS5 was moved to Ethernet, but no change

I might do some further testing at some stage.  What speeds do PS5's download at when on fibre?