VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions Wow!

When I heard brother Elon Musk was going to launch a fleet of low earth satellites and offer high speed internet I signed up to be notified when it's available in our area. You get download speeds up to 150MB with no data limits. I got an email yesterday evening that it's now available so I clicked the link to the sign up page. WOW! $500 for the hardware. $50 shipping and almost $40 tax just for the opportunity to pay them another $99 a month for service! Elon needs to stop doing drugs.

do you OWN the equipment once you pay for it ?? and what are you getting ?? a decent router & modem, and assume a receiver/dish for the satellite ?? may not be a bad deal if it sticks around and is reliable. that is about hte going rate if not cheaper than cable and fios speeds. internet is expensive... think base internet here is like $50 a month plus taxes and fees, and rental if you want to rent modem & router vs buying. and speeds are 25MP downloads and like 5-10 upload.

My understanding is you own the equipment and the monthly charge isn't the main issue. The up front cost is nuts. They must think everyone has buckets of money. Around here the average job pays $15 per hour. Spending $600 before you even pay the first month bill isn't going to happen. Yes we need internet but we need internet we can afford. The 150M speed is great but 99% of people will never need that. Nearly everyone can live with 25 and never have a problem. They'll make a lot more money selling the service to 1000 people at $70 for up to 50MB and $150 for equipment than they will selling the service to 0 people at the price they're asking.

How did you contact them.

How did you contact them ?

starlink.com

Thank you for the information. We are located in rural PA and get slow speed from the telephone company.

many satellite companies also offer internet packages :-)

I use my ATT cell phone to access the internet in my rural home and second property. Works well and not too expensive. Some of the less expensive cell phone companies have very economical monthly plans with plenty of bandwidth and use the same cell towers and phones as the BIG guys.

Tiny,

Thanks for the information on this interesting development. I remember that Musk had talked about this endeavor a few years ago.

I agree it seems like a lot of money, especially the up-front costs. On the other hand, if you have no alternatives and need this level of service then you have to determine if you can afford it. I also agree that Musk definitely is more than covering his costs including supporting whatever parts of his empire that might be losing money right now.

I'll take this discussion in a slightly different direction regarding internet access. If a moderator feels I am moving where we should not be, please edit as appropriate.

In Iowa this whole COVID situation has really highlighted the disparity in internet access not just in the rural, less populated areas. We are seeing a large gap in access based on economic status even in areas with higher population. This speaks to Tiny's point about costs of this service.

Our local school administrators and educators have gone well beyond the normal scope of work to try to provide a successful remote-learning experience. Our primary internet service provider, Mediacom, even offers a very low cost basic package for low income households with students ($10/month). However, all indications are that the results are nowhere near acceptable, especially in those households struggling economically.

Musk's technology offers quite an opportunity to address the access problem, especially in rural areas. All that needs to be done now is to reduce the cost so it is a realistic option.

What observations and experiences are others having?

same deal here with COVID, low income housing can apply and get access to internet at steeply discounted rates. concern is that the local company has a hike increase to paying subscribers as well as a FEE that is added on their bill to help cover this.

also they have started a flat rate prepaid service... basic internet of 25Mbps is like $50 all fees included. includes refurb router/modem combo free.

think it is a commodity thing, like phone service was getting out of hand then along cam the internet and now they can not give you phone service

another thing is buying a hotspot, which is basically a cellphone receiver that only gets data/ internet. some rural schools are using these, some call them pucks. have family members out in rural area that have cell service but no cable or dsl, and they have a verizon hotspot and it works fine, no blazing speeds but can do most general things. most of these hotspots are 20+50 for the equipment (small plastic box about the size of a cell phone) then monthly rates are $15+ depending on data usage.

Interesting to hear that for once something is not significantly more expensive in Canada compared to the USA. The rates you guys are throwing around is what we pay but with Canuck Bucks so 20% cheaper essentially. The Musk solution sounds way too expensive unless you are in the boonies with few adequate options.

I have a good friend that left Canada and now lives in Alabama. He opened some LaudryMats and part of his marketing is to provide free high speed internet and an area for people to work. He has gotten thank you letters from customers who bring their kids to work on school projects and of course feed coins into machines while they are there anyway.

I have both internet and phone only with Comcast and it runs $130.00+ per month. It includes the modem rental. I know I have paid three times over for the modem but it seems every 3-4 years it needs replacing either because of updates or failure . While the Musk equipment fee seems high I think it would depend on it's usable life. I've been renting for about 20 years at an average cost of $120.00 per year so $500.00 does not look so bad if it would last at least 5 years.

I'm really surprised we seem to be getting a deal lol. We usually envy the cost of nearly everything in the USA. I've never paid for or rented equipment here. May be different in other provinces. It's a necessary part of providing their service and they usually just bury it into the overall cost. If it breaks they give you a new one. It would be like the electric company renting you the outdoor meter - their service will not work without it so it better be included.
Our current internet is a middle of the road package and it's $85 CAD/month ($65USD/month) and the home phone is free as most people are cancelling them anyway to use a cell phone only.

I have a Consumer Cellular phone with unlimited text and phone and 10G of monthly data that costs me $ 40 plus taxes and fees. The phone cost $ 50 and uses 4G. They use the ATT towers and so far I can't tell much difference when I compare with my high $$ Samsung 5G phone which costs much more. I understand that there are other lower cost cell phone companies that also have data plans for ~ 1/2 the cost of the big guys. The advantage to me is I don't need to have a separate plan for my second property 120 miles from my home. Can use my cell phone internet link at both. Other options require separate systems, equipment, etc. Even works anywhere in USA with cell phone service. I have used it traveling and visiting relatives, etc. as well.