Staying Connected

[Charliesmom-SMB]

Thanks. Through whom did you purchase the cables?

 

[Scalf77]

Starlink Mini Cable 32.8ft/10M, Extension Replacement Power Cable for Starlink Mini DC Male to Male Waterproof Cord

and 5.5mm x 2.1mm DC Power Connector Adapter, 9~36V Female to Female Power Jack Socket for Starlink Mini

 

[dbhost]

To the OP, not necessarily questioning your statements here, but I found this...

• "T-Mobile has a few core bands that are not supported by boosters. Band 71 primarily used for their long range for both LTE and 5G. This is again most important in rural areas where boosters work best. Band 41is used especially on 5G."

I have the HiBoost Travel 3.0 Explore X booster, similar to the WeBoost you showed, but different MFG, they claim, and my experience thus far with T-Mobile network (Google Fi) is I DO get boosted on 5G when out in nowheresville TX. Good example, the 5G towers closest to Gilchrist TX were not giving anything, closest was the far side of Crystal Beach, set up the booster and it dragged that 5G signal in to 5 bars.

I bought mine after a friend of mine on T Mobile that travels in his truck for work (industrial engineer, he spends a LOT of time in his pickup!) and he has no connectivity issues except going through certain mountain passes, particularly in Colorado and some areas of Utah...

Not sure how blanket of a statement what you said was, it might be that the WeBoost doesn't support that band maybe? Of the experience I have had as well as my friends, has not run into the band 71 issue?

I am still going with the Starlink setup as well, but do NOT want to put all my eggs in the one basket as it were... I had been resisting it, but the 50G account, the ability to upgrade or pause the service, and the sale on the Starlink mini kind of sealed the deal for me. I have a cross country coming up and need to maintain conectivity so as it were, here goes nothing...

 

[Scalf77]

So I stand by the data, Your booster supports Band 2,4,5,13,and 25 and the 5G version n2,n4,n5, n13, n25.
T mobile supports the standard bands 2, 4, 5, and 12, but has three bands outside of the standard
71, 41 and 25. Older boosters did not support Band 25, newer ones such as yours do.

For the record AT&T has band 41, that is not supported

Verizon is all in approved booster frequencies..

So my statement does not say that T mobile is not supported by booster, just certain bands , that they use

From the HiBoost FAQ page

I'm happy that you like your booster, and feel that it is useful for you. In general I would still hesitate to recommend a booster solution if asked.

I also like options and have a mobile modem that supports multiple SIM cards , so I can run T-Mobile and AT&T. The T-Mobile account is relatively new, so I probably might take the time to switch over from one to the other if I am not getting service before I connect to Starlink. I can probably look at my modem data and see what band it is picking up. At my house it is picking up Band 2 & N41 on T-Mobile at the moment.

I

 

[dbhost]

So I stand by the data, Your booster supports Band 2,4,5,13,and 25 and the 5G version n2,n4,n5, n13, n25.
T mobile supports the standard bands 2, 4, 5, and 12, but has three bands outside of the standard
71, 41 and 25. Older boosters did not support Band 25, newer ones such as yours do.

For the record AT&T has band 41, that is not supported

Verizon is all in approved booster frequencies..

So my statement does not say that T mobile is not supported by booster, just certain bands , that they use

From the HiBoost FAQ page
View attachment 1314657

I'm happy that you like your booster, and feel that it is useful for you. In general I would still hesitate to recommend a booster solution if asked.

I also like options and have a mobile modem that supports multiple SIM cards , so I can run T-Mobile and AT&T. The T-Mobile account is relatively new, so I probably might take the time to switch over from one to the other if I am not getting service before I connect to Starlink. I can probably look at my modem data and see what band it is picking up. At my house it is picking up Band 2 & N41 on T-Mobile at the moment.

I

That helps even more thanks. I feel pretty good about the combination of Google Fi + Booster + Starlink... It SHOULD cover pretty much everything. Of course time will tell. The sale on the Starlink mini plus the 50Gig plan, and the ability to pause / unpause the account really sealed the deal for me.

So for example, for this month, no need for Starlink, but I KNOW T Mobile network is a bit sketchy, actually everyones networks are sketchy out in the mountain / western states, that is where and when I think Starlink would work best for me, vs... Google Fi / T Mobile works wonders on the Texas coast, hill country, into Arkansas and Oklahoma etc... I can unpause the account for months I know I am traveling where cellular signal is pathetic at best, but inverseley the view is also the best... (Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado etc...).

 

[dbhost]

Aaand the Starlink Mini has shipped, FedEx tracking says it will be here Saturday.

 

[dbhost]

Trying to understand more about the Starlink Mini @Scalf77 was talking about extension cables for the Starlink Mini being 10m, however when I look at the specs for the Starlink Mini kit, it includes a 15m cable... What would the purpose of going with a shorter cable be? Am I misreading the Starlink Mini documentation?

How is the performance of the Starlink mini in stormy weather? One of the functions I would think would be to help drive away boredom on a stormy night by watching too many videos on youtube or Hulu or whatever... However if it works much like satelite TV, that signal will not be a happy camper on a stormy night...

As I have mentioned, I am planning on going with what I will call a mixed mode approach.

1. Google Fi (T-Mobile) unlimited plan + HiBoost booster for where that works. I KNOW places I intend to be here soon it will NOT work though so that brings me to...
2. Starlink Roam + Starlink Mini. Start with the 50Gb service This is a secondary service as MOST of what my connectivity needs are can be handled by the Google Fi plan.

What I would LOVE to see doesn't exist yet...

Combine the benefits of Starlink and Google Fi. Reasonable cost, good performance using LTE / 5G AND Satelite failing over between technologies as need be sort of in a whatever has the strongest signal wins manner. Useable in all areas that both Starlink and Google Fi can provide service so when I visit Manila, Tototlan, or Vancouver BC, I don't have to even think about it, I just go.

Honestly, if I could get all of that in one device / service, where I could use my smart phone as normal as well, I would sign up at the current Starlink Roam Unlimited price point TODAY....

Looking at my data usage for my fiber internet at home, and yes, I use a LOT of data, but I have a home lab, am udating servers, streaming on 4 devices at once to keep the house form being quiet etc... And even with downloading various .iso images and uploading videos, I rarely if ever go over 200Gb month. I am figuring on NOT backing my phone up over StarLink, but let it backup over cellular where it can, and do a direct USB storage to PC file transfers to move files kind of thing... That should keep my data consumption under 100Gb. I don't mind paying $100 for 100Gb, I start creeping closer to that 150GB point and I am switching over plans and just let it all fly then...

 

[Scalf77]

My use of extension cables is based on the fact that, my unit is mounted on the roof the majority of the time. I can dismount if I choose and such would need to extend the cables. I did not use the cables or wall power unit that came with the Starlink. The details of my starlink install are in my build thread.

 

[dbhost]

My use of extension cables is based on the fact that, my unit is mounted on the roof the majority of the time. I can dismount if I choose and such would need to extend the cables. I did not use the cables or wall power unit that came with the Starlink. The details of my starlink install are in my build thread.

Is your Starlink mini the version they are currently selling? Sorry mine isn't here until this weekend. I get the impression from the product description that it only needs one cable unless you are going to plug into the ethernet port on it... From what I recall older versions needed 2 cables, 1 for power, 1 to connect to the router that would be inside your camper... Those were the ones that had the motor that would point to the satelites on their own. (I believe Chrome / Vancity Vanlife youtuber has one of those...).

Sorry about all the questions, trying to wrap my head around this device and how best to use it.

If possible I would like to roof mount my Starlink Mini AND like you said, remove / relocate it for better coverage with a longer cable if needed. I would think the 15m OEM cable would in theory work as an extension (?)

Sorry online descriptions of the actual dish seem to all be wrapped up in HOUR LONG review videos...

 

[Charliesmom-SMB]

I had purchased a 3-way adapter cable online with 12 V, USB-C, barrel connections but only the USB-C would work with the mini, plus the adaptor cable was only 10 ft long. After learning about the voltage drop from longer Starlink cables on this thread, I knew I needed a converter (thanks @Scalf77). Not wanting to hard wire a converter in the van, I purchased this 12V=> 36.8V "Boost Adapter" to connect my Starlink Mini to the van using either the house or my EB55 Bluetti battery.

I have attached a *.pdf table of the data from testing multiple connections from the Bluetti and house batteries.
In summary, the inverter worked very well, but as expected used 3X the wattage of 12 volt sources. The voltage from the house 12 volt connections without the booster did not meet the voltage requirements of the mini using a short (10ft) or long (30ft) cable. The USB-C connection on the Bluetti worked well for the mini with a voltage output of 19 volts. USB-C connectors in the van did not come anywhere near this voltage. Using the converter with either the Bluetti or house 12 volt plugs provided good Starlink connections with the short or long cables (36.8 V each).

 

[dbhost]

I had purchased a 3-way adapter cable online with 12 V, USB-C, barrel connections but only the USB-C would work with the mini, plus the adaptor cable was only 10 ft long. After learning about the voltage drop from longer Starlink cables on this thread, I knew I needed a converter (thanks @Scalf77). Not wanting to hard wire a converter in the van, I purchased this 12V=> 36.8V "Boost Adapter" to connect my Starlink Mini to the van using either the house or my EB55 Bluetti battery.View attachment 1315332
I have attached a *.pdf table of the data from testing multiple connections from the Bluetti and house batteries.
In summary, the inverter worked very well, but as expected used 3X the wattage of 12 volt sources. The voltage from the house 12 volt connections without the booster did not meet the voltage requirements of the mini using a short (10ft) or long (30ft) cable. The USB-C connection on the Bluetti worked well for the mini with a voltage output of 19 volts. USB-C connectors in the van did not come anywhere near this voltage. Using the converter with either the Bluetti or house 12 volt plugs provided good Starlink connections with the short or long cables (36.8 V each).

That pictured "boost adapter" is the one I am having delivered allegedly today. It is allegely sufficient to run the starlink dish off of the provided cable without using the inverter.

Something to note. My solar panels are connected using 25' 10awg SAE to SAE extensions into a parallel whip / Anderson connector into the camper. The eventual plan is to have 50 footers, which is about the max I want to run outside of the camper to put things like solar panels, Starlink dishes, or the antenna for the cell booster. The idea is to get as straight a line as possible into the sky / sunlight / etc... while being able to shade the van itself... I CAN and I have in the past laid the solar panels across the pop top and just ran them there as there was no other non shaded spot...

 

[quietglow]

The sale on the Starlink mini plus the 50Gig plan, and the ability to pause / unpause the account really sealed the deal for me.

This did it for me as well. Mine arrive overnight (!) and I used it this past weekend. I went from it being in the box to it being deployed and getting 200mbps in about 10 min. Super cool tech, and for me this basically solves all communication needs I have that my phone does not. I am opting not to mount mine as critical adjustment (like an inch or two movement) makes a very large difference in throughput. Besides, my use case for it is basically allowing me to work remotely if I need to, and I have to be stopped to do that anyway.

 

[dbhost]

This did it for me as well. Mine arrive overnight (!) and I used it this past weekend. I went from it being in the box to it being deployed and getting 200mbps in about 10 min. Super cool tech, and for me this basically solves all communication needs I have that my phone does not. I am opting not to mount mine as critical adjustment (like an inch or two movement) makes a very large difference in throughput. Besides, my use case for it is basically allowing me to work remotely if I need to, and I have to be stopped to do that anyway.

Your use case sounds suspiciously like mine. I want / need cellular for contact and honestly sound en route, like anyone plays CDs in a vehicle anymore... so I am still trying to figure out the booster antenna situation and not coming to any good solutions yet... The plan is to only use Starlink when cellular won't cut it. At some point though, I am going to have to just bite the bullet and go with the unilimited service...

 

[dbhost]

Starlink Mini arrived about a half hour ago. It is raining dogs and cats right now so wait till tomorrow to set it up.

 

[dbhost]

Okay so I have it figued out now as far as mounting goes...

Booster exterior antenna, use a CB RAdio antenna mirror mount clamped to the spare tire carrier (Found one narrow enough to do the job). Thread the 3/8" steel rod I am using for a push pole with a 3/8-24 thread, and use a spare Beehive mount to secure the shaft to the mirror mount. Possibly use one of my spare 6" CB Antenna mount springs. then mount the Cell Booster antenna rig to the top of the push pole. The Combined assembly with the antenna in the upright position will clear the pop top with a couple of inches before the actual antenna elements... Route the cable down and penetrate through the door and route into the cabinet using silicone grommets along the way to keep it sealed and prevent chafing.

Put the inside antenna by the dashboard where it will be most useful.

I have 2 marine 12v power sockets routed the the outside of the van. One for the pump for the Joolca heater, and one for the Starlink Mini.

Starlink Mini has the 12 to 30(ish) V converter and it all including the starlink cable stows nicely in my laptop bag.

So in theory I should be able to keep signal on the road and well off the beaten path to boot!

My 5G Google Fi connection I have done speed tests on and when 5G is happy with full bars I can get 600Mbps. Not a guarantee obviously... But nice to see.

Like I said previously, the plan is to use the Google Fi service until it basically becomes unreliable / intolerably slow due to poor signal, THEN switch over to Starlink. Starlinks theoretical speed is slower than 5G for one thing, and their data cost, once I pass 70Gb, I pass my entire Google Fi unlimited bill...

 

[dbhost]

A bit of an update. Others here have pooh pooh'ed cellular boosters, and that is fine, there are going to be those that chose to use them anyway this message is for those people. If you have not bought one yet, steer clear of HiBoost. Apparently HiBoost as a company / brand has gone out of business and taken their website down, so if support is needed, you are S.O.L.