Starlink Antenna Position

[Gad-Westy]

Due to some on-going local issues with EE, we ordered a starlink kit which has now arrived.

I'm not in a desperate hurry to switch over so can take my time to install it in an optimal fashion.

Our house is wired for LAN and currently we have a all of the kit in in the loft including a network switch so I really need to 'feed' the starlink comms cable into there too.

The ideal to me seems to be to mount the antenna on our chimney and then feed the cables straight through the gable wall into the loft and route the cable through the loft from there. That pretty much guarantees an unobstructed signal but 2 problems, firstly I'm not up for going up there myself to install it like that (though i know someone who will) and secondly I'm concerned that it doesn't really lend itself to any on-going maintenance though perhaps these things never need to be touched again after install? There are other places I can put the antenna but tree coverage might be a problem.

Any real world experience to share with this stuff?

I have an ethernet adapter and long bracket on order.

[badgerade]

Unless the dish gets damaged there shouldn't need to be a need to touch it. We use ours with our camper van and have had the dish orient itself North/South/Pretty much straight up, but no consistency based on where we've been in the country. (Some people suggest that it will point South if you are North of Manchester and vice-versa).

I'd say that the important thing is getting clear of obstructions - trees can cause dropouts/slowdown.

[Mr Pointy]

Given the dish isn't passive but has motors in it I'd be siting it where it can be accessed using a ladder at most. Is it possible to set it up in a more accessible place than on the chimney & see how it performs?

[LooneyTunes]

There are a couple of things to be aware of:

First, the antenna must be wired directly to the Starlink router, even if you set that into "modem" mode to use your own routers etc.

Second, the connector fixed to the end of the cable is quite large (which means a largeish hole through the wall that you may want a cable entry plate to cover and/or some silicone to fill).

Third, you can get different lengths of cable/extension but can't use regular ethernet cable to extend. As a result it's important to figure out your route (and where you'll hid excess cable) in advance.

Ours has been installed for 6-12 months now and I've never needed to get back up to it.

The starlink app allows you to scan the sky from wherever you are considering installing it. Admittedly that means going up there to do it, but it'll give a better idea about how happy the system is going to be. I was surprised at how much sky it wanted to see (which made a low level install tricky) but up on the highest point of the roof it has been very happy and stable.

[Jasandjules]

We have ours roof mounted with the cable going into the loft with the router up there.

Then we have the kit to hard wire directly to our deco extenders (one is in the loft). If you get a Gen 3 I don't think you need the extra box we have to connect to a Deco Mesh. I did try the Starlink "mesh" but it did not connect to the router at all so we stuck with the Deco.

No real problems so far.

[.:ian:.]

A neighbour had theirs fitted recently, interestingly it is at just above gutter level on the north side of the house, so the dish has little view of the south as the roof is in the way.

It was professionally fitted so I presume this will work fine!