Category: Snowbirds

There are a few options for RVers who need internet on the road. The best tactic is redundancy. Having a couple of options is always better than only having one. Depending on location, one provider might work better than another.

Many RVers use cellular providers to get their internet. T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T offer unlimited plans or data-only plans. Whether through a hot spot or a cell phone, RVers can connect to a device and have internet capabilities to work and stream.

Another option for internet is through a satellite service. Viasat, HughesNet, and Starlink are the most popular options. While Viasat and HughesNet operate mostly in rural communities where cellular service is minimal, Starlink burst onto the scene in May 2022 as a service targeted at RV users and other nomads frequently on the move.

Many RVers have ordered Starlink RV internet and have been using it for months. A few are very positive about the progress and future outlook but most agree that Starlink isn’t going to be replacing other internet providers RVers use any time soon.

And that was before Starlink announced big changes in late February 2023.

All Starlink for RVs service users in the US have received an email alerting them that their monthly service cost is going up $15/month—from $135/month to $150/month. This price change will take effect on April 24, 2023. 

The new pricing for RV service is already effective immediately for new customers. 

Starlink for RVs was officially launched in May 2022 as a service targeted at RV users and other nomads frequently on the move. The price for this service at the time of launch was $135/month.

Users on the RV plan can expect deprioritized best effort service wherever they used it which can often result in slow speeds in congested markets. But there are benefits including being able to order it anywhere, use it anywhere in your home continent, and pause service when not using it. 

The Starlink website describes Starlink for RVs as follows:

• Immediately access unlimited high-speed, low-latency internet on an as-needed basis at any destination where Starlink provides active coverage
• $150/month with a one-time cost of $599 for portable hardware or $2,500 for in-motion hardware
• Starlink for RVs service is available for portable use with the Standard Dish at $599 and also supports official in-motion use with the optional flat HP dish at $2,500

Starlink residential service price is changing based on capacity

Starlink Residential customers also received an email notifying them of a price change that will occur on April 24, 2023 but this time the price could go up or down depending on the network capacity in their service area:

• Customers who are in a limited capacity area will see their service increase by $10/month to $120/month
• Customers who are in an excess capacity area will see their service decrease by $20/month to $90/month

So depending on the area where your service address is located, you could see a price increase or decrease. While the price decrease will be nice for some customers, it is probably more likely that most residential users are in a limited capacity area and will therefore be seeing a price increase on their service.

The majority of the eastern half of the US is a limited capacity area along with large portions of California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and Colorado. The areas of the US with excess capacity are generally lower population areas.  

The Starlink FAQ notes that the service plan cost is subject to change dependent on service location. This seems to suggest if customers move their service address to areas with excess or limited capacity, their monthly cost will change accordingly. And if your service area changes from one capacity to the other, you can potentially expect your monthly cost to change also. 

Those in excess capacity areas enjoying a price cut now could still see their prices go up if their areas become limited capacity in the future.

This price change also comes with the implementation of the delayed 1TB priority fair use policy data cap on residential service which is now slated to go into effect in April. 

Portability for Starlink Residential users is gone

One of the most surprising and disappointing changes in this big shakeup is that portability (the option to roam from your service address) is no longer allowed on US-based Residential Starlink accounts. This wasn’t communicated to users over email but rather updated in the FAQ.

Note: Portability is not available for Residential service in the US. You may change your service address or change your service plan to RV through your Starlink account.

This is a very abrupt and unfavorable policy change.

Many RVers choose the residential service over Starlink for RVs to have priority service at their home service address. This also gave the option to move their service address to open locations they visit to get priority service. But this policy change means that option is no longer available.

Unfortunately, this means many RVers will have to give up their Starlink Residential priority service and change to Starlink for RVs or maintain two lines of service. 

Residential users that wish to change to RV service can do so right on their account page. They will have to agree to the policy changes and acknowledge that they can’t go back to Residential service. Returning the Residential service requires new equipment and starting a new plan, assuming there is available capacity. 

What if you have portability enabled now? 

For current Residential Starlink users traveling with active portability, it’s not quite clear what will happen next for these users. At this time, it appears portability is still working if you were lucky enough to have it enabled before this change took effect. But how long this will last, remains to be seen. Will these users be able to ride out portability indefinitely until they select to remove it or will it stop abruptly before that? 

Users with portability are kind of stuck at the moment not knowing what is next for them and parts of Starlink’s FAQ still have outdated information as I write this article. Since this change was not communicated over email, there is limited info on what is next for current users with portability enabled. 

Some Starlink customers have already received responses from customer service indicating that they can keep portability turned on until they turn it off. Hopefully, this will continue to be the case.

However, customers should be aware that Starlink could at any point decide to sunset portability on Residential plans and force either changing your service address or switching to Starlink for RVs. 

If you don’t want to give up your Starlink Residential plan and service address, you should start figuring out your other options so you are prepared when that change comes. 

Portability already gone if not enabled

Some users may opt to have two Starlink lines of service—Starlink for RVs and Starlink Residential.

Residential Starlink Customers who currently have portability turned off might be shocked to notice that the portability option has already been removed from their account page and they can no longer add it. If you were hoping you could slide in under the radar for a grace period, it’s already too late.

This means if you want to travel with your Starlink and can’t move your service address, you have no choice but to convert your existing Starlink to RV service. Which means when you return to your fixed home base location, you’ll still be at best effort service without the ability to switch back to Residential. 

If you have a permanent residence where you depend on Starlink residential service and don’t want to be deprioritized on the RV service then your only option is to purchase a second Starlink for RVs kit that you’ll travel with. This option means at times, you’ll be paying for two Starlink services which can get expensive especially with the price increases. 

Overall we expect many part-time RVers that depend on Starlink at their residence to find this new policy change a pretty big slap in the face.

Starlink has for the past year made it clear that users who use Starlink at home could enjoy use outside their service address by enabling portability while they were traveling.

They just took that away from every one of these users, with no warning at all.  

Starlink should not be your only internet source

As I’ve said before, Starlink should be thought of as a complement to cellular versus a replacement. Starlink is a great option to keep connected where cellular signal doesn’t exist or in places without congestion. And it comes with other downsides like higher power usage and constantly shifting costs and terms. 

If mobile internet is an important part of your lifestyle, having multiple options is usually key to a reliable connection. Assembling a solution that combines cellular, Wi-Fi, and cellular has advantages—but certainly has costs and complexities.

Each of us has to determine how much redundancy we need in our setup to meet our unique mobile internet needs.

Hang on to those unlimited cellular data plans

In particular, if you have certain legacy unlimited data plans from the carriers, its worthwhile keeping them in active service. Once you give up those sweet unlimited cellular plans, you can never get them back. Unlike Starlink’s shifts many cellular plans tend to remain grandfathered in as long as you keep paying the bill. 

No contracts mean things can and will change

While it’s nice in some ways that Starlink doesn’t make you sign a contract, allowing you to stop service when you want, it’s also becoming quite obvious that SpaceX has no loyalty to existing customers.

No contract goes both ways—Starlink can change the terms of its offerings at any time. These latest price changes and plan changes are just more examples of how Starlink has abruptly changed over its rather short two-year run. For those with any history following SpaceX, this should not come as a surprise.

Starlink is proving once again that while it is revolutionary for what it has done for mobile internet, it can and will change at any time. 

Option to cancel service if you don’t agree with the changes

In the email customers received notifying them of the price changes which varied based on your plan and location, it was also noted that if you did not want to continue service, you have the option to cancel since there is no contract.

If you were within your original 30 days of purchase, you have the option for a full equipment refund. If you are outside your 30 days, but still within 12 months since you purchased, you can get a partial refund of $250 for your equipment. 

Up to this point used dishy terminals were generally bringing more than $250 on the private market but with these new changes there could be a flood of used equipment for sale driving the price down so it’s up to you to decide which path is best for you if you decide to cancel service. 

Key Points

In review, here are the big changes affecting Starlink Residential and Starlink RV Service:

• Starlink for RVs monthly charge is going up $15—from $135 to $150/month.
• Starlink Residential Service increases $10/month for limited capacity locations but drops $20/month for excess capacity areas. Now it is $90-$120/month, depending on your location. 
• Portability is removed as an option for Starlink Residential Customers in the US only forcing many nomads to Starlink for RVs Service at the increased price if they regularly travel with their Starlink.
• Existing customers won’t see a price change until April 2023 while new customers will see the new price immediately.

Starlink Roam replaces Starlink RV

And then on March 8, 2023, Starlink announced additional changes. Although not all affect RV users directly, I include them below.

The Starlink RV account type has been replaced with Starlink Roam. This subtle account name change comes with a couple updates to cover their services more broadly. They now offer Starlink Roam Regional which is basically the same as Starlink RV was. They now have the option of Starlink Roam Global for use anywhere (instead of use only on the continent of purchase).

Starlink Roam pricing

The Starlink Roam Regional comes in at the recently hiked monthly price tag that Starlink RV was at of $150. This can be used anywhere on land within the continent that you purchased your service in.

The Global option comes in at $200. This can be used anywhere on land that Starlink has regulatory approval to work.

Starlink Roam for Land Use only

One interesting thing that Starlink is being clear on now is that it is intended for land use only. Now that they explicitly state this in their wording on their site and order page, expect them to start geo-locking use on these plans to land only (may be fine close to shore also) at some point soon.

Starlink has put wording in their Terms of Service (TOS) about geofencing now. They state “Regional plans are geo-fenced to work on land within the same continent as the registered Shipping Address while the Global plans work on land anywhere there is active service coverage.” Time will tell if this is being enforced.

For boaters, this will likely mean there will be more Maritime specific plan options at higher rates (probably much higher) than many have been taking advantage of on the RV or Residential with Portability account types.

There are already some third party authorized resellers with some options out there but expect to see more directly from Starlink.

Starlink Terms of Service

As always, Starlink service and policies are evolving so quickly that their TOS don’t get updated quickly enough to keep up with these changes. For a little while, you will probably see conflicting info on their site regarding these changes depending on where you look.

Starlink RV accounts will likely turn into Starlink Roam accounts but for now you will see both names being used in their wording.

Starlink rent option in the UK

Starlink recently emailed potential customers offering a new rental program in the United Kingdom (UK). The new offer would make Starlink Residential service more affordable. The offer allows Starlink customers in the UK to rent the dish and router for £15 per month versus the full purchase price of £460 (High Performance Starlink hardware costs £2,410) with a one-time activation of £99. Buying outright works out better if you keep the service for more than two and a half years. While not available in North America at time of writing, a rental program may be offered in the coming days.

Concluding thoughts

I dislike sharing big negative changes like this with my readers especially for full-time RVers using Starlink Residential with portability and part-time RVers that depend on Starlink at their residence but still travel with it occasionally.

I know this is a huge disappointment.

Your Starlink terms of service are not locked in. With such a young company with lots of demand offering a niche service not offered by any other company and their business growing at an incredible rate what you have today may look drastically different tomorrow. 

RVers depending on mobile internet should always have redundancy in their arsenal of internet tools and Starlink is proving that for us once again. 

With two price increases in less than a year, what is the next big change that Starlink will surprise us with? 

Unfortunately, we will have to wait and see.

Check back for updates as this big change plays out!

Worth Pondering…

We are all now connected by the Internet, like neurons in a giant brain.

—Stephen Hawking