Starlink to the Rescue!

Fast reliable Internet access is a must on the the homestead. In addition to its necessity for Bob to work from home, it provides us access to voluminous educational content on homesteading – and boy do we need educating!

 

We had heard that rural internet access was challenging. We had no idea! Our property is relatively close to civilization, so we assumed it would be serviced by cable or fiber. It seemed we had three options: satellite internet (the geosynchronous kind), 4G LTE over cellular and StarLink. Satellite, such as HughesNet,  is expensive, requires a long-term contract, offers speeds comparable to DSL, and has severe data restrictions.  4G seemed a better choice, but we get lousy cell coverage here in the valley. After much homework mapping nearby cell towers, we concluded an AT&T reseller was our best option based on signal strength.

 

By this time, I had been commuting to the property to progress projects after work. This required a daily drive to a coffee shop in Fort Payne for internet access. I was thrilled to get the router and SIM card in the mail. Set-up was refreshingly fast and simple. With all the excitement of a kid on Christmas, I immediately performed an internet speed test. Hopes were dashed as I watched the speed indicator barely rise above 1.5 Mb/sec. My issue was a weak cell signal. The fix seemed simple enough; get an external antenna and elevate it. The nearest cell tower was less than 3 miles away – on the other side of the East ridge. Back to Amazon I went. The following week a package arrived with a high-gain 2.4 Ghz antenna, coaxial cable, various connectors and mast mounts. I think I secretly wanted a radio project.

 

The following Saturday was experiment time. I fastened the antenna to a 20 ft. mast and walked fastidiously throughout the South pasture in search of stronger cell signals, all the while checking both of the nearest cell towers with the sensitive directional antenna. None were to be found. What dawned on me was that our valley is shadowed from the cell tower by the 150-foot hillside East of us. Maybe I just needed to get the antenna above the ridge?

 

The following day, I climbed the ridge with the mast, antenna, tablet and fresh batteries while managing to not break anything. Sure enough, as soon as the antenna cleared the ridge, the signal strength rocketed to 5 bars and download speeds to 50 Mb/sec. But how would I set up the antenna on the ridge and get internet to our cabin more than 1,000 feet down in the valley? With my good friend Richard’s help, we designed an approach that involved solar cells, batteries, an AC inverter, a waterproof cabinet and wireless access points to connect the hillside router to our router in the cabin via long-distance WiFi. Once we mapped out the nearest location of the solar cells (well away from trees), the location of the antenna (high on the hillside) and location of the wireless access points(no obstructions between them) plus the wiring and trenching involved, it became clear that this was going to be an expensive science project. There had to be a better way.

 

Enter StarLink. If you’re not familiar, look into it. It’s fascinating. Unlike the legacy geosynchronous orbit satellite based internet providers, StarLink works using a constellation of over 1,000 low-earth orbit satellites, providing lower latency and higher bandwidth. There was (and still is) a waiting list for service. I paid a $99 refundable deposit and forgot about it while we endured our 1.5Mb.sec 4G service. If Christi was online, I was unable to conduct a Zoom call and vice  versa. “Honey, please log-off so I can take this client call”.

 

About 3 months later, I received an email from StarLink with the good news that our wait was over. We had one week to place our order before losing our spot in line. Still put off by the >$500 initial equipment investment, we decided to take the risk since there is a 30-day full-refund return policy.

 

The key to success with StarLink is obtaining a clear view of the sky. The East ridge would be a non issue, we just couldn’t have trees in the line-of-sight between the StarLink dish and the orbiting satellites. That meant either getting the antenna high or well into the pasture away from tall trees, or both. At least we didn’t have to place it far off atop the hillside. We decided to locate the antenna about 100 feet directly in front of the garage and mount it on a utility pole left by the previous owner. We could power the equipment from the garage with a small investment in wire and conduit. And, once online, we could install wireless access points – one one on the utility pole and another on the cabin 300 feet away. I already had most of the items from the previous experiment.

 

Once the equipment arrived, we were eager to test it. I placed the antenna on its enclosed temporary tripod right where we thought it should go and set the router on a folding chair in the middle of the driveway powered by a long extension cord. 5 minutes later we were streaming Top Gun from the front porch!

 

I swiftly ordered a waterproof enclosure online to house the equipment and sourced an antenna mast from a local steel distributor. That left the matter of setting the utility pole. Have you ever set a utility pole?  My fence post auger tractor attachment was too small. Even if I drilled the requisite 18-inch diameter 4-foot hole, how would I set the pole without a crane?

 

As an interim measure we mounted the gear on a fence post not far from the eventual location. Being lower and closer to trees, we had about 3 minutes each hour with no satellite signal. Not ideal, but acceptable until we could figure out how to set the utility pole.