Starlink Mini review: space internet goes ultraportable

Space net is the crushed I’ve been capable to enactment from immoderate precise distant locations implicit the past 2 years, ever since I subscribed to what was past called Starlink RV. Now, SpaceX has launched the diminutive Starlink Mini. It changes the crippled for portable connectivity.

The $599 Starlink Mini combines the terminal and Wi-Fi router into a azygous crockery that’s truthful efficient, it tin beryllium powered by a portable battery, contempt needing to fastener onto a constellation of Starlink satellites traveling astatine speeds of 17,000mph astir 350 miles supra the Earth.

Hell, the full happening fits into a tiny backpack with country near implicit for a laptop, folding star panel, and a pocket-size USB-C powerfulness bank, offering hours of connectivity. That makes the Starlink Mini perfect for anyone similar maine looking to harvester distant enactment with off-grid adventures by foot, bike, boat, oregon van — either for an extended play travel oregon arsenic a lifestyle.

I precocious bought the Starlink Mini, which I’ve been investigating erstwhile hiking, vanlifing, and astatine location successful the city. It’s not rather arsenic accelerated arsenic my ample and unwieldy residential dish, with its motorized basal and abstracted Wi-Fi router. But the Starlink Mini is much than susceptible of supporting connectivity speeds required for some enactment and play.

After much than a period of regular usage successful 5 European countries with up to 10 progressive devices connected the aforesaid connection, I tin accidental that if you’re looking for accelerated net with debased (enough) latency that you tin deploy rapidly successful places wherever 4G and 5G don’t reach, past the Starlink Mini is for you.

The Mini is an angular, rectangular crockery with a removable kickstand. It’s astir the size of a stack of printer insubstantial and weighs conscionable 2.56 pounds (1.16kg). In my testing, the Starlink Mini consumes little than fractional the vigor of my overmuch larger Standard Actuated dish with its abstracted Gen 2 router — a huge savings for a instrumentality that mightiness beryllium moving connected artillery powerfulness 24/7 erstwhile mounted connected an RV, boat, oregon off-grid cabin.

For maximum portability, you’ll request the close USB-C cablegram and a decently specced USB-PD battery. But erstwhile you person that figured out, the show is alternatively remarkable.

Speeds and trees

I tested the Starlink Mini’s connectivity successful respective scenarios: head-to-head with my Standard Actuated crockery and router placed connected the extortion of my house; placed wrong a backpack connected a hike done a forest; and mounted successful respective locations successful and astir my Sprinter van to trial show erstwhile driving and parked.

Running a velocity trial connected a Starlink strategy tin nutrient a wide scope of results arsenic the dish’s antenna switches betwixt satellites each fewer minutes. You tin spot that reflected successful the max and min speeds I grabbed for each script successful the array below:

Just look astatine those backpack numbers! I didn’t deliberation the Starlink Mini’s 110-degree tract of presumption would beryllium wide capable for the phased array antenna to support a outer transportation erstwhile carried vertically successful a backpack. But erstwhile I got a outer fastener by holding the battalion horizontal successful my hands, I was capable to support it during a 40-minute loop done the forest, with regular drops owed to histrion coverage. But the transportation ever returned successful the clearings, allowing maine to watercourse Netflix video.

The different large takeaway is however good the Mini (and its integrated Wi-Fi router) performed connected the extortion of my van erstwhile parked. Sure, the Standard Actuated crockery would person been faster, but that would person required maine to acceptable up that elephantine terminal, motorized stand, and abstracted Wi-Fi router for possibly a 20 percent summation successful performance, based connected my erstwhile experience. Not worthy the trouble.

The Starlink Mini’s integrated Wi-Fi router did mean I had to beryllium much thoughtful astir placement compared to the modular array with its abstracted router. When parked, I recovered that placing the Mini extracurricular connected the extortion of my van successful the spread betwixt my rigid star panels and windshield was best. Placing it connected apical of the star panels chopped show successful half; SpaceX’s enactment leafage notes that “Wi-Fi show is champion underneath and down the Mini.”

Setting the Mini connected my van’s elephantine dashboard worked amazingly good erstwhile parked, but I experienced mixed results erstwhile driving. At a standstill, it worked astir arsenic good arsenic putting the crockery connected the Sprinter’s roof. In fact, the transportation was usually faster owed to the uninterrupted Wi-Fi signal, but I did acquisition a fewer seconds of dropped connections each hr oregon so. Driving with it connected the dashboard adjacent connected long, consecutive stretches of treeless roads successful cardinal France was frustrating, arsenic it could lone clasp onto the transportation astir 50 percent of the time. But it did acold amended successful Belgium and the Netherlands, wherever it suffered conscionable a fewer seconds of mislaid transportation during immoderate 15-minute sample.

I besides discovered that the Mini’s predisposition doesn’t substance excessively much. The fantabulous Starlink app offers to assistance you find the perfect placement with a superimposed people container placed implicit the crockery that updates successful existent clip arsenic you rotate it — thing my Standard Actuated crockery does automatically. It’s neat but besides not often necessary, according to my testing. As you tin spot successful the table, the download speeds for the Mini placed connected a array maximally misaligned (on the horizontal plane) were faster than erstwhile it was perfectly aligned! I tested this repeatedly and recovered that predisposition didn’t importantly interaction show truthful agelong arsenic the crockery was comparatively flat.

Overall, upload speeds connected the Starlink Mini (like each Starlinks) are beauteous dilatory crossed the board. Uploading a 4K video often means uncovering a Wi-Fi transportation astatine a cafe oregon hunting down a 4G / 5G signal. Otherwise, you tin ever commencement an upload astatine nighttime and anticipation that it finishes by the morning.

Cables and batteries

Unfortunately, the Mini kit lone ships with an AC partition adapter and a 49.2-foot (15m) cablegram with weather-resistant 5221 tube jacks connected each end. To truly instrumentality vantage of its portability, you’ll request a decently specced USB-C cablegram and battery.

The Starlink Mini requires a artillery that supports 100W (20V/5A) USB-C powerfulness transportation (PD) — thing you’ll lone find connected pricier powerfulness banks sold implicit the past fewer years. SpaceX explicitly states that the “Starlink Mini volition not enactment with USB PD ratings of 65W oregon lower.”

I’ve been investigating the Mini with a assortment of batteries, including a random 140W USB-C PD 3.1 powerfulness bank I recovered connected Amazon with a 27,600mAh (99.36Wh) capableness — the ineligible bounds for airplane carry-ons. It powers my Starlink Mini for 3 hours erstwhile mounted connected the extortion of my home, oregon astir 2 hours erstwhile the crockery is successful a backpack during a hike.

In practice, the Mini requires precise small power. I’ve yet to spot it propulsion much than 50W astatine highest times similar startup oregon erstwhile streaming 4K content. During a mean workday successful the halfway of Amsterdam, the Mini consumed an mean of astir 30W (usually floating betwixt 22–38W) erstwhile plugged into a battery. In agrarian locations, I mean betwixt 15–20W, according to the StarLink app. That’s accordant with what the USB-C larboard connected my star generator was showing, arsenic the Mini pulled betwixt 12–25W portion transitioning betwixt outer connections and dealing with incoming and outgoing information requests.

The Starlink Mini is truthful overmuch much businesslike than my Standard Actuated Starlink system, which consumes an mean of astir 42W, successful my testing. That’s an vigor savings of up to 64 percent — precisely what I privation to perceive arsenic a budding vanlifer and bikepacker.

But you inactive request the close cable: 1 that supports 100W USB-C powerfulness transportation and can bung into the Starlink Mini’s 5521 port. SpaceX precocious started selling a 16.4-foot (5m) USB-C-to-5521 cable for $31 / €31. After investigating a fewer cables and adapters from Amazon with mixed results, I highly urge buying the authoritative cable.

The SpaceX USB-C cablegram has 2 advantages. First, it ensures the Mini maintains its IP67 extortion against h2o and particulate ingress. I recovered immoderate shorter USB-C-to-5521 cables rated for 100W that successfully powered the Starlink Mini, but they near a spread for rainfall and particulate to participate the unit. You’ll request the Mini to beryllium watertight, particularly if you’re mounting the crockery connected the extracurricular of your conveyance for in-motion use. 

The different vantage of the SpaceX cablegram is the tiny LED connected the USB-C extremity that glows reddish if the connected artillery can’t nutrient the required 100W. That tin beryllium ace utile if your household has a stack of random powerfulness banks laying astir astatine location (like I do).

I bash privation that SpaceX’s USB-C cablegram were astatine slightest arsenic agelong arsenic the 5521-to-5521 powerfulness cablegram that ships with the Starlink Mini. I could person utilized that other 33 feet (10m) erstwhile parking excessively adjacent to a histrion due to the fact that the Mini — similar each Starlink terminals — requires a wide presumption of the entity for optimum performance. 

I did effort utilizing a 5521 tube adapter to person that longer cablegram to USB-C. It worked for a while, but the Starlink Mini would inevitably reboot aft losing powerfulness nether aggravated load — astir apt due to the fact that the added absorption of the agelong cablegram was excessively overmuch for the powerfulness slope to overcome.

Other worthwhile observations:

Pricing for the Starlink Mini varies wide by region. SpaceX sells the kits for little successful underserved locations and much “in high-usage areas similar the US, wherever Starlink Mini places further request connected the outer network.” Currently, that means the kit costs $599 successful the US, but it’s priced person to $200 successful Guatemala. In the Netherlands, I paid €399 (about $438) for the Starlink Mini kit. 

You besides person to wage for service, which — importantly — tin beryllium paused for the months you’re not utilizing it. In the US, the Starlink Mini is disposable with either the Roam 50GB ($50 / month) program oregon Roam Unlimited ($165 / month). Both let for usage anyplace wrong the state of purchase, internationally “for up to 2 months per trip,” and connected a conveyance moving astatine speeds of up to 100mph / 160kph connected onshore oregon up to 12 nautical miles disconnected the coast. I wage €72 / period (about $79 / month) for my Roam Unlimited plan.

For me, the outgo of the Starlink Mini kit and subscription are a bargain for the manner it enables. I had considered paying respective 100 dollars for a Star Mount just to person my aged Standard Actuated crockery converted into a 12V strategy that could beryllium easy powered by a ample powerfulness presumption without immoderate of that inefficient AC/DC conversion mess. Now, SpaceX has done each the hard enactment for maine and I get to support my warranty.

As idiosyncratic who likes to occasionally unrecorded and enactment arsenic acold disconnected the grid arsenic possible, the Starlink Mini is the crockery I’ve been waiting for. It’s the astir energy-efficient Starlink terminal SpaceX offers, and its astir portable by a mile, with lone a humble driblet successful performance. That makes it an implicit game-changer for anyone who wants to enactment afloat connected successful areas excessively distant for broadband providers to attraction about. I humbly taxable that those are the champion places to be.

Photography by Thomas Ricker / The Verge