Remote work isn’t easy with a slow internet connection. It’s even more difficult when data caps or bad weather disrupt that connection altogether. Data caps? Bad weather? That’s right. Satellite internet. When you want to get away but stay online, keep in mind not all space internet is made the same.
Problem
After you reach the edge of human civilization, if you go just a little bit farther, you lose your internet connection, at least as you know it. From that point on, your online presence is determined by a dish, programmed for a particular beam and aimed at a fixed point in the sky. Every download is an eternity; every upload, an impossibility.
A real-time visualization of crappy internet. (Credit Viasat)
With significant caps on data the norm, streaming is considered a luxury, and online gaming, an exercise in futility. Without even 3G there to save you, the local satellite internet providers are more than ready to overcharge you for subpar internet service.
Hypothesis
If only someone would craft a modern satellite network with innovative, proprietary technology that could compete with the existing infrastructure?
When Starlink was first announced in 2015, for anyone with any experience in satellite internet, its promises of high-speed, low-latency satellite internet were met with skepticism at best. But with over 1,700 Starlink satellites now operating in low Earth orbit, much lower orbits than traditional satellites, SpaceX has made significant progress toward those goals.
SpaceX launches another batch of Starlink satellites. (Credit SpaceX)
Seven years later, should you find yourself past the edge of human civilization but within a Starlink coverage area, should you take the plunge?
Test
Eventually, you can endure no more. You sign up, pay the initial fee, and wait. Then one day you receive a package in the mail.
All packages must be thoroughly inspected prior to opening. (Credit Drew.0)
Setting it up is simple. After identifying the best location for the dish and checking for obstructions in the Starlink app, you connect Dishy McFlatface to the provided router. Then plug in the router to a power outlet and configure your wireless network in the app. Unlike your traditional satellite services, getting started is a breeze: no tools, no customer service, no complicated activation.
Dishy McFlatface scans the desert sky. (Credit Drew.0)
In the next hour or so, once sufficient telemetry data is gathered to optimize the dish’s performance, you should have high-speed, low-latency satellite internet as promised. Now get back to the seamless, high-definition streaming you thought you’d never enjoy again.
Final Thoughts
Often, the only roadblock to working from anywhere is a reliable internet connection. But throughout much of the US, many households still lack access to broadband internet. While Starlink is still in beta, if you’re crazy enough to move so far off the grid that space internet is your only option, you might be crazy enough to invest in this cutting-edge technology. And just in time too. Things are really starting to heat up.