Looking at Starlink

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kandjc

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#323305 16-Nov-2025 15:14

We are rural and currently have a rural wireless service which is ceasing operation January next year.

We are considering Starlink, can it use the same cable from our present rooftop dish down to our current router? The construction of our house is such that running a new cable would be near impossible.

Thanks, Ken

Cam

Jase2985

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#3435091 16-Nov-2025 15:25

pretty sure it needs its own cable from the dish to the router/powersupply

xpd

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#3435093 16-Nov-2025 15:35

Can it be mounted elsewhere ? (Garage/barn roof)

XPD / Gavin

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coffeebaron

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#3435098 16-Nov-2025 16:38

As long as it is a decent grade of shielded CAT5e or higher, then yes there are ways to do this. I've done some installs using my own cable due to longer cable run required etc.

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Yetti92

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#3435135 17-Nov-2025 08:30

We have recently been through a similar thing when we moved away from a WISP due to cost and lack of speed, but the Starlink system is designed to be installed anywhere with a clear view of the sky. You could literally concrete a post in your backyard, mount it to that and run the cable inside or even leave it on your lawn, but I wouldn't recommend that, so long as there aren't any obstructions, which the app is good at indicating even prior to purchasing the dish. There are a few companies around that would do a custom install for you as well, but it's surprisingly easy to set up. Starlink also has its own extra-long cables you can buy. The Starlink official cables also have a rubber waterproofing gasket on their Ethernet cables as well so it seals into the back of the dish.

TLD

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#3454651 20-Jan-2026 14:23

We moved to Starlink after the second Spark outage in a few months, the second being for about 20 hours. That was for customers on copper in the top of the south. I found dish placement nowhere near as critical as I expected. The dish faces slightly west of south, which also surprised me. Obstructions need to below about 15° from the ground. I was waiting for a longer cable to put the dish where I wanted, so set it up temporarily in the garden with a platform on a painter's pole. I had a tall hedge and trees in the way, and expected compromised performance, but I was getting 380MBs down and 52MBS up. It was only slightly better when on the roof!

I had real trouble locating a swivel mount and long cable, but found both on TradeMe. The cable came from China and took about 20 days.

OK, here's the thing. Despite moving from VDSL2 with 72MBS down and 12MBS up, I am seeing no real improvement in internet use. I imagine it would be great if you have a house full of heavy users, but for my wife and I, it's much the same.

Trevor Dennis
Rapaura (near Blenheim)

acsylaa

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#3454737 21-Jan-2026 07:58

coffeebaron:

As long as it is a decent grade of shielded CAT5e or higher, then yes there are ways to do this. I've done some installs using my own cable due to longer cable run required etc.

I have done a few installs my self and used these to keep things water tight, they only work on the Gen3 and 4 Dishes as well as the Mini, https://www.gogog.co.nz/product/dmarec/

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kandjc

121 posts

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#3454786 21-Jan-2026 08:28

Many thanks for all suggestions. We managed to use the original cable as a draw wire for the Starlink cable (held our breath at times)

All works great. Very impressed with Starlink.

Cam

Frozenfox

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#3455427 23-Jan-2026 14:36

I've got the exactly the same question. End of next month I'm moving into a house that currently has a Primo Wireless antenna on the roof (installed around 2021) and wondered what their standard install would have been and if the connection on the roof would be a standard RJ45 plug into the antenna with CAT5e+ cabling. I would rather reuse what's there with a waterproof adapter than try re-cabling due to the low pitch roof tiny crawl space.

noroad

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#3455432 23-Jan-2026 15:14

kandjc:

We are rural and currently have a rural wireless service which is ceasing operation January next year.

We are considering Starlink, can it use the same cable from our present rooftop dish down to our current router? The construction of our house is such that running a new cable would be near impossible.

Thanks, Ken

https://starlink-customer-guide.readme.io/docs/cable-routing

There are longer cables available from places like Bunnings. You can use the existing cable as a draw string. Use electric tape to tightly wrap the end of the old cable to the new cable then carefully pull the far end after removing cable clips etc.