Starlink continues to disappoint customers! Starlink’s latest updates and price increases have taken RVers by surprise…and not in a good way! Many RVers (including us) have given up on them and looked to Starlink alternatives. is pointing to…
We’ve been hoping that Starlink’s internet service options will improve with the same lightning-fast speeds SpaceX is known for. We were well aware of Starlink’s shortcomings, but we believed they would fix them quickly enough to make them a valuable service for RVers.
But we have lost faith in them. They let their customers down in a rather abrupt way with his two major changes affecting RVers.
Let’s take a look at these two major changes.
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Two big Starlink changes
Starlink recently gave RVers a double blow. The first is price increases. price increase again.
The second is the complete retirement of the service Starlink advertised to RVers.
Let’s take a closer look at these changes and what they mean for new and current Starlink customers.
1. Starlink for RV plan price increase
Starlink’s monthly fee for RVs has increased by another $15, from $135 to $150 per month. This price increase will take effect on April 24, 2023.
The one-time cost of the portable hardware remains the same at $599. Starlink for RV services will continue to support on-the-go use with optional flat HP dish ($2,500).
The $15 price increase isn’t a catastrophic price increase per se, but it’s the latest in a number of price increases that have actually been added. When I signed up a year ago, it was just $99/month. And this latest price shows no improvement in service. The five major Starlink disappointments I wrote about earlier still remain.
The latest price hike gets RVers another big slap in the face…
2. End of Starlink portability
Another major change has been removed in the current release livability and portability User without warning. Starlink stopped portability and didn’t even warn users about the change.
They just removed the feature from people’s accounts overnight.
In a previous article, I emphasized that Residential + Portability has one big advantage over Starlink for RV. It is priority service at your home address. Currently your only option is to travel using Starlink for RVs which throttles internet speeds during peak times and in many places.
Additionally, if you want to use Starlink at home and on the go, you’ll need two separate services. Housing services at home, and his Starlink for his RV while traveling. So, if Starlink for RV is active, you’re paying $300 each month.
What does this mean for current portability users?
Starlink has been silent about this change, so we don’t know what it means for current users. From what RVers says, it seems that portability still works if you have portability enabled when this change is made.
It is unknown how long it will remain active (probably not very long). Starlink apparently doesn’t mind shutting down without warning. Moreover, once you turn off the power, you cannot get it back.
For Residential + Portability users did not If portability is enabled when you change it, it’s lost forever. The “Turn on portability” option is no longer available for these accounts.
Can Residential + Portability users switch to Starlink for RV?
Regular users can switch to the Starlink for RV service from their account page. However, please note that once you accept the policy change, you will not be able to return to Residential Services.
To return to residential services, you must pay for the new equipment and start a new plan. And that assumes that your location has available capacity.
Why I gave up on Starlink
Those of you who have followed us over the past year know that we had high hopes for Starlink. A big disappointment with Starlink, but I patiently waited for it to evolve and improve. After all, they are innovative, and innovation requires solving problems.
Well, our hopes were dashed. Instead of making improvements, they silently discontinued one of the major service plans his RVers use and started raising prices.
Worst of all, Starlink dropped these changes on users without warning or empathy.
This could be a strategy to spread backlash from angry users. Think about how many users won’t notice the change until they turn on portability for their next road trip.
Therefore, it does not depend on Starlink. I have a Starlink subscription, but it has been suspended. One day Starlink may fulfill its first promise of reliable and fast service. But for now, we rely on cellular internet service for our daily use on the go.
Some of the countries where Starlink excels at RVers
We don’t want you to think Starlink is useless for RVers. That’s what he’s for one subset: sailors and campers in wilderness areas where cell phone service isn’t available.
Most of the time we are talking west of the Mississippi River.
For those RVers, this is the Internet’s best choice.
East of Mississippi, Starlink is mostly oversubscribed, throttled, and not much faster than cellular. In fact, newer cellular advancements like C Band are almost always better than Starlink.
Starlink Alternative: Nomad Internet
So what are we using now?
On a recent trip across the country, I tested a cellular service called Nomad Internet in my RV and am very pleased with its fast, unlimited, unthrottled internet access.
In my 11 years of RVing, it’s one of the better solutions I’ve found to reliably stay connected on the road while traveling or camping for the night.
Nomad uses the newly activated C-band portion of the cellular band. This provides low interference, long range, and lightning-fast connections. If C-band is not available in your current region, it will default to 5G or 4G service.
I got speeds over 2000 Mbps on Nomad. This is the best I’ve ever recorded on cellular.
We keep Starlink for when we’re in remote areas without cell service, but Day to Day Nomad is what we use these days.
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