Anyone looking to sign up for Starlink service in the US will have an important decision to make. Should you get the standard dish or spring for the brand-new Gen 3 dish? SpaceX has finally opened sales of the new dish to all interested parties; no invite required. However, you can only get the dish with more expensive service tiers right now, and the company hasn't confirmed if the new dish will get you higher speeds.
SpaceX quietly released this dish in November, making it available only with an invite. These invites were sent out to current customers who wanted to upgrade from an older dish, but now anyone can get the Gen 3 hardware when setting up Starlink service. The base service tier isn't eligible, though. We don't know if that's a permanent limitation or if SpaceX is simply dealing with constrained inventory.
A Gen 3 dish will run you $599, the same price as the second-gen "standard actuated" dish. Unlike that model, the new dish does not have motors to orient it. You simply prop it up with the kickstand pointed at the sky, and it'll get a signal. The device is also more durable, with an IP67 water and dust-resistance rating versus IP54 on the old model. However, it uses more power despite being stationary. You'll need between 75 and 100W of power for this dish, whereas the old one only pulled a max of 75W.
Credit: SpaceX
Many Starlink subscribers power their dishes with batteries or generators in remote locations, so the added power draw could be a problem. These are the consumers SpaceX is initially targeting with the dish, too. To get the new hardware, you must sign up for the "Roam" tier, which supports using the dish in multiple locations. This service costs $150 per month instead of $90 or $120 (depending on region) for the regular residential service. The dish is also available with the Business tier, which costs $250 per month. You'll also need to be in the US to get the new dish, reports PCMag.
All these service options have the same approximate service. Under ideal conditions, the standard service gets you around 100Mbps down on a good day. A more expensive high-performance antenna can boost speed to 500Mbps, but the dish costs $2,500. That makes the $599 Gen 3 look like a real steal. The Gen 3 hardware also comes with an updated router with support for Wi-Fi 6 and two Ethernet ports.
SpaceX has started deploying its new Gen 2 Starlink satellites in limited numbers. The company has been approved by the FCC to deploy 7,500 new satellites, but the bulk of that will have to wait until the Starship super-heavy lift rocket is done. Until then, we wouldn't expect the new dish to make a big difference in Starlink speeds.
"dish" - Google News
December 19, 2023 at 02:50AM
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Starlink's Gen 3 Dish Now Available Without Invite - ExtremeTech
"dish" - Google News
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