We have joined the 21st century, slightly reluctantly and I am posting this using our new Starlink satellite dish.
Twelve hours after I set it up I can say it provides excellent service and if you are used to high speed broadband Starlink can keep up providing all the performance I need. I’m not technically inclined but we tested it by watching a streaming movie and it was excellent, the picture came up and ran uninterrupted with no buffering. Using Starlink you can surf the web like an old fart with no delay and I assume games and stuff must be catered to for youngsters. Beyond that I read of other people who upload videos and work online using the satellite receiver without worries almost anywhere they drive. The dish needs a clear sky to the north and then it directs itself to find the signal. It boggles the mind.
We purchased the residential version which sells in Mexico for about half the US price, about $415 and DHL delivered it from Mexico City in two days. However the DHL driver covered himself in dishonor by completely by failing to locate our delivery location for a few days. That caused some stress as our paquete went AWOL. Nevertheless here it is finally and we can leave the campground Sunday morning. The RV version which works while driving costs $2500 which seemed rather excessive, and unnecessary for us. Stop, set up and surf the web is good enough for us.
Using the Starlink app you plug the various waterproof components in and the dish locates a satellite and you have a modem (above) that connects you to the world. Done and dusted. For $75 a month we can use it anywhere from Alaska to Argentina where the dish can find a satellite and by the end of 2023 that should include Argentina Bolivia and Paraguay leaving only Venezuela as the sole South American country not served.
If you want to consider a Starlink for yourself there is tons of information on YouTube with technical specifications and user experiences but if you want to overcome local internet WiFi logjams in the US this dish which also has a tall pole option is very serviceable. Stick the dish up high, log on and surf the web to your hearts content and let your neighbors struggle with local WiFi signals.
DHL first tried to deliver my package at 8:50 pm Monday evening before I even knew it was in Oaxaca. The second night I kept vigil outside the campground because they will only try three times so Omar and Greg brought mezcal and a guitar to keep me company on a cold rainy night. My luck of course had the weather turn foul as I waited at the gates for DHL. The driver on Tuesday was not going to claim he tried to deliver the package by buzzing the door bell to the campsite and running before anyone answered as he did on Monday. You meet remarkable people on the road and when my friends heard of my vigil they came and sat with me in the cold damp night. We had fun even if the package didn’t arrive! DHL fooled us again.
Our departure from Oaxaca has been delayed by a week but I think it’s worth it. Phone service south of Mexico is dependent on local SIM cards which you put in your phone and pay as you go. Every time we cross a border we will need a new local SIM card and in some countries you need a local address or social security number to get service. They are obstacles that you can overcome by begging for help from locals but I hope Starlink will reduce our dependence on phone service. Most of Latin America is on WhatsApp so we will be able to make phone calls using Starlink as we go.
I am not a fan of Elon Musk and his peculiar style of mixing politics, show business and commerce in the public eye but I would consider a Tesla were I in the market for an electric car as I try to focus on the product not the personality. I don’t think I’d buy shares in any Musk enterprise and I doubt he cares one jot if I prefer corporations run more traditionally. I suppose it’s normal to think your pronouncement matters when you have more money than anyone else but on the road those considerations don’t resonate. Equally I understand the disadvantages of filling the night sky with satellites but at the same time I’m not going to imagine my decision to buy or not buy Starlink would change anything in the world of astronomy. So here I am, a sell out to the future and enjoying it.
No idea what the above screenshot means from the Starlink app. I know Starlink works for now and that’s enough. If it doesn’t work on the road south I will be howling because I’m hooked!
