Look out Ilox here comes Starlink

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/technology/heres-how-many-people-are-already-using-elon-musks-space-based-internet-service/ar-BB1drgYN?li=AAggNb9

Interesting. But $99 US per month is kind of expensive. I suspect or perhaps hope that the monthly rate comes down.

That is just too expensive for me. But then again Soy Codo. (I'm cheap)

Agreed. If he wants world internet domination he will have to roll out different price points in each country to compete with each local market.

Bell in Canada is currently offering 10 bucks off a month for your first 6 months. So $65 instead of $75. But they also want $60 to sign up. What a deal.

And what a deal! For that they promise a max download speed of 25Mbps. With "unlimited" data... up to 350 Gigs. Then they start throttling your speed.

Here in Mexico, a "developing country", with iLox I get 350Mbps down with absolutely no cap and no restrictions for that same $75 Cdn. That's more than 10 times the speed and actual unlimited data. I have read that Canada is the worst country in the world for pricing.

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/elon-musks-spacex-invites-pre-registration-for-satellite-internet-service/

It would be good for those without any alternatives.

ferret wrote:Yikes! The price per month (after buying the equipment) for the speed they are offering is way out of line.

Price will drop over time but it is very fancy hardware with motors and electronics to find the bird and stuff  to move the dish in addition to the normal dish electronics.  I will bet that they are not making a penny off the hardware. Think what they are paying for all the sats and rockets to get them to space. As far as speed goes 50 to 150 is amazing. Latency is 20 to 40 milli seconds. Not bad but ILOX is 2 at my house. Remember in more rural area one could share the service with 3 or 4 houses with external WIFI antenna and cut the cost to 125 dollars for hardware and 25 bucks a month per house. Very doable in a village. I agree alot of money for one house by itself. People are going to get clever with this system you watch.

ferret wrote:Yikes! The price per month (after buying the equipment) for the speed they are offering is way out of line.

How much was a VCR when they came out?   1000 to 2000 dollars. Before the VCR market died they fell below 100 dollars.

On the other hand, Shaw Direct has only continued to increase the price of their hardware instead of dropping it, and dumped the more affordable box too. Meanwhile their subscriptions go up regularly $5 every six months (plus all that Canadian tax). Bell, Rogers and Virgin subscription rates for Internet and everything else continue to go up, with plans mired in so much customer misdirection that even the governing body CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television Communications Commission) can't figure them out.

We are lucky in some ways here with TelMexand TelCel. The price hasn't gone up in 20 years, and the plans and speed get better all the time. I think that's an anomaly in this world. Of course, if they tied that with halfway decent service, it would be very special.

Some friends of mine just got the Starlink system in northern BC. They are quite happy with it.

There are several YouTube videos on StarLink installs (elementary) with excellent user experiences. The techie in me made me register and put down $99 (fully refundable). We'll see if I follow through when the time comes. Very appealing not to be reliant on a terrestrial internet provider. Assuming you have solar with battery backup, it would be the ultimate hedge on a massive power outage.

Maybe not. I suspect there would be servers on the earth involved with communications back and forth.

CanuckBob wrote:Maybe not. I suspect there would be servers on the earth involved with communications back and forth.

I was thinking more of a Lakeside/Guad outage. On the other end, I read Starlink has filed for a couple of dozen+ downlink sites in North America (have five now).

ComputerGuy wrote:On the other hand, Shaw Direct has only continued to increase the price of their hardware instead of dropping it, and dumped the more affordable box too. Meanwhile their subscriptions go up regularly $5 every six months (plus all that Canadian tax). Bell, Rogers and Virgin subscription rates for Internet and everything else continue to go up, with plans mired in so much customer misdirection that even the governing body CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television Communications Commission) can't figure them out.

We are lucky in some ways here with TelMexand TelCel. The price hasn't gone up in 20 years, and the plans and speed get better all the time. I think that's an anomaly in this world. Of course, if they tied that with halfway decent service, it would be very special.

After I looked at the price of replacing my MPEG 2 DVR Shaw box with an MPEG 4 PVR box I switch to an Android TV box and Clear Choice as a programming provider over the internet. Takes a little bit of learning and you do have to be a little bit of a techy so its not for everyone but It worked for me. Note I do have fiber in my home. Don't miss Shaw at all.

Possible changes coming up!   https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rogers-signs-deal-buy-shaw-1.5949825

I believe the deal is only for cellular. I would still like to find out exactly what Shaw has done to cause all these channel bumps. Signal comes and goes on different channels at different times.

Looks like it's only mobile not cable or sat. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rogers-signs-deal-buy-shaw-1.5949825 Nothing to see here, move on.

TomQC wrote:Possible changes coming up!   https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rogers-signs-deal-buy-shaw-1.5949825

I was wrong, it seems... reports are now that it is the entire Shaw Communications.

Riverman wrote:Looks like it's only mobile  not  cable or sat.  https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rogers-signs-deal-buy-shaw-1.5949825    Nothing to see here, move on.

TomQC wrote:Possible changes coming up!   https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rogers-signs-deal-buy-shaw-1.5949825

Before moving on I would take a closer look! Rogers Communications Inc. has made an offer to buy Shaw Communications Inc. and "Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services.
Products: Cable television, high speed internet, telephone, satellite television, network and specialty broadcasting, logistics tracking, radio".

CanuckBob wrote:It would be good for those without any alternatives.

Those without alternatives AND who can afford that ridiculous monthly cost.

After a 13 month wait, I received an email allowing me to “Confirm my order.” Expensive, but I have to give it a try…. Updates to follow.

I know 2 people who recently received their equipment and have hooked up. 1 is getting 190 MBPS and the other 300 MBPS. Not sure why the discrepancy but it is what it is.