Article Updated November 1, 2024 (Important notes highlighted)
We have been using Starlink on our boat since June 2022. Having reliable, fast, unlimited internet gives us more freedom to cruise while we work remote jobs. For example, we just got back from spending the summer cruising Maine. We had always been hesitant to visit the state because we had heard that reliable cell signals were hard to come by. Starlink saved the day and broadened our cruising horizons. It is, at the risk of sounding trite, a game-changer.
Let’s look at Starlink’s benefits, limitations, and our experience using Starlink on a boat while at a dock, at anchor, while underway, and while offshore.
What Is Starlink?
Starlink is a new satellite internet service that has only been on the market for a few years. It uses a new technology that is much faster and much less expensive than previous satellite internet connections.
Starlink was originally intended to provide high-speed internet to rural homes, but it’s also great for boaters. Starlink now sells plans for home, boat, and even aircraft use. The Starlink kit comes with everything you need to get online, and the antenna is named Dishy.
Super Fast Internet Speed
Starlink is fast! Marina Wi-Fi often barely functions and delivers miserably slow speeds (like 2 Mbps); Starlink dishes up speeds approaching cable. We always get over 20 Mbps, usually get over 40 Mbps, and often see speeds above 100 Mbps. It’s fast enough to videoconference, download movies, upload photos, or do everything at once.
Unlimited Data
One of the biggest hassles of using cell data to work is the pesky limitations on high-speed data. A plan might say “unlimited data,” but it means 15 GB of high-speed data (I can run through that in a day of video calls). After that you get unlimited slow data, which will remind you of dial-up. There are no data caps with Starlink, so we can use up the GBs without tracking them.
However, there are “Priority” Starlink plans that have limits. More on that in a minute.
Coverage Everywhere
We have traveled from the Bahamas to Maine and always had coverage, including those pesky places on Chesapeake Bay or the ICW that have absolutely no cell signal.
While we were in Maine, we often had little or no cell service on one or both of our phones. Starlink made our summer in Maine possible. In the Bahamas, we no longer worry about how far away we’re anchoring from a cell tower.
Travel to New Countries Without Getting a New SIM or Paying High Data Rates
Cruisers used to go through a lot of hassle to figure out getting new SIMs for their phones and figuring out data cards in other countries. Now, you might still want to get a local cell number, but Starlink is available in many destinations, so the pressure is off. Plus, the dish just works wherever it is, so you’ll be connected from the moment you arrive.
In 2024, Starlink set a letter to some international users indicating they would no longer be able to use Starlink in nations that had not yet approved the service. This includes some Caribbean islands marked on the map as “Coming Soon” or “Waitlist.” It’s always best to check with cruisers in the area you’re headed to see what their experience is on the ground.
Things to Consider Before You Get Starlink for Your Boat
Despite all the benefits, there are some pesky limitations to Starlink on a boat.
Power Use
Starlink uses a lot of power! If you are off-the-grid, this may be the biggest consideration. Starlink uses 40 watts (about 3 amps at 12 volts) continuously. Our little freezer uses 40 watts, but only 30 to 50 percent of the time when it is cycled on. So Dishy would use at least 960 watt-hours per day if you always left it on.
In addition, the standard Dishies runs on household 110-volt AC power, which isn’t ideal on a 12-volt boat. That means you’ll need to run your inverter to use the internet with Starlink. Many cruisers have hacked into the antenna and converted it to run on 12-volt DC power, which might save a little power. There are also now aftermarket solutions that allow you to do the same without cutting cables.
To mitigate the power use, cruisers can add power capacity, hack Starlink into 12 volts, use Starlink intermittently, or do a combination of these approaches. The bottom line is that just buying Starlink and plugging it in might not be the end of your installation journey!
Some cruisers hack the system to make Starlink run on 12 volts. It’s not as easy as it sounds since the dish runs internally on 48-volt DC. Making the conversion, be it DIY or with a kit, saves you from running your inverter. How much power you’d actually save depends on the efficiency of your inverter. Some cruisers with ship-wide but inefficient inverts opt to simply buy a smaller inverter (say, a 200-watt pure-sine-wave inverter) to use with Dishy.
If you’re wondering precisely how much power does Starlink use, be sure to check the specs listed on the Starlink website. Here’s what they say about the current generation of dishes (2024): Old actuated standard dish: 50–75 watts, New Flat standard dish: 75–100 watts, Flat high-performance dish: 115–150 watts, Mini dish: 25–40 watts. These numbers don’t include the extra power your inverter will use as well.Note: Wondering how many apps that is? Watts = Volts X Amps, so it depends on your battery voltage. For example, 50 watts at 12.5 volts would equal 4 amps.
Limiting Use
We usually just have Starlink on during working hours and even turn it off during lunch. We download TV shows and anything else we want for the evening and then turn it off as soon as the workday is done. If I want to check the weather after work, I use my phone’s data plan.
Obstructions
Starlink needs a clear view of the sky and can’t see through objects such as tall buildings, trees, and sailboat masts. We have never had an issue with obstructions, even though Dishy is pretty close to our wind generator. However, if you were at a dock with tall buildings, trees, or other towering condo-style boats in Dishy’s line of sight, it could be an issue.
The truth is, Starlink’s network of satellites has gotten extensive enough that small obstructions just don’t matter like they used to. When we first started using the service in 2022, there were enough gaps in satellites that it needed a perfect view of the sky. Now, there are enough satellites in the sky that a small obstruction probably won’t be noticeable.
Starlink Equipment Quality
The marine environment is tough on equipment. Starlink doesn’t have a marine-grade antenna, so it may not last as long as you would like. We’ve had ours for over two years—full-time on a boat—and haven’t had any issues. The new dishes have a higher waterproof rating and should fare even better.
When it starts up, our standard Mobile dish uses internal motors to align itself for the best view of the sky. The motors are only used once, right when the dish starts up. This is a change that occurred in late 2022, so you might see references to the Starlink dish continually reorienting itself as the boat swings at anchor, causing many outages. This doesn’t happen anymore, and there is no reason to disable the motors.
In 2024, Starlink added a setting in the app to set our old actuated dish to “Flat.” This is absolutely the best of all worlds…there is no need to disable the motors now. With the dish flat, connectivity is excellent even at sea or while swinging on anchor.
Rain Can Cause Outages
I am writing this during Tropical Storm Ophelia. The boat is swinging all over the place in 35 knots of wind, and it’s bucketing down, but Dishy is acting like it’s the postal service and is bravely pressing on to give me all the Gigabytes. However, we have had five rain and storm-related outages over the past year. These have ranged from 2 minutes to 20 minutes and happen only in the worst conditions. Dishy seems to struggle to connect to its satellites in extremely intense rain (I.e., we are catching 80 gallons of water in 30 minutes.) These conditions are the type of conditions where the power would be going off in your office building, so hopefully, your boss will forgive you if you drop off a call. Or, you may be able to hotspot from your phone like we do.
Not Pocket Portable — Yet!
Before using Dishy for work, I relied on a local SIM in a hotspot. This was great because I could easily take the hotspot on road trips. You can transport Dishy. However, it does take more space and set-up. You probably wouldn’t take it on a short road trip, for example.
The new Mini dish is better for travel, but it’s still the size of a large laptop.
Is Starlink a Must-Have For Your Boat?
The main reason we use Starlink is for work. For my job, I need a reliable connection that can handle video conferencing—usually Microsoft Teams, which is more demanding of a good connection than Zoom or Google Meet. We use our Starlink everywhere: at marinas, at anchor, and even offshore.
Using Starlink at a Marina
We don’t bother even getting the Wi-Fi codes at marinas—their service is usually terrible, but even when it works, it is always subpar to Starlink or even phone data. We have never stayed at a marina with internet reliable enough to work from.
With Starlink, we have gotten lucky and haven’t had any obstructions to worry about at marinas. However, if your marina is right next to tall buildings, obstructions might be an issue.
Starlink for Videoconfernencing
Starlink’s speed is amazing and works well for videoconferencing. We usually get 20-100 Mbps download and 4-10 Mbps upload.
When we first started using Starlink in 2022, the connection would become unreliable while we swung at anchor or moved the boat. We joked about putting out a stern anchor, but mostly, I just put up with the occasional “Lucy, are you there? You froze!” incidents. Now that more satellites are in orbit, these problems have disappeared.
You’ll find many articles and how-to guides telling you to use a separate router with Starlink, like a Peplink/Pepwave router that allows you to bond multiple internet connections for hot failover. This allows you to connect to your router, and your router determines the most reliable connection to use: Starlink, cellular SIM cards, or marina WiFi. We bought and used a Peplink router, and it is an amazing piece of hardware if you need a bulletproof connection for work. My only complaint with the Peplink router is that you need to be an IT whiz to set it up. Sea Bits has a great write-up on using Starlink and Peplink.
However, Starlink has solved this with a software update and having more satellites in orbit. We haven’t had any issues with losing the connection while swinging at anchor or even while sailing long distances. We haven’t used our Pepwave router in over a year—it’s too complicated and unnecessary for our situation.
One tip to ensuring you get the best quality, however, is to watch which way Dishy is pointing. If you booted up this morning and it pointed north, then the current swung the boat so that it’s now Dishy is pointed south, you’ll have more outages and a poorer connection. Unplug Dishy and plug it back in, and in five minutes or so, Dishy will be realigned. Better yet, activate the new Flat mode and never worry about it again!
Which Starlink Plan for Boaters and How Much Does Starlink Cost?
There’s an upfront equipment cost and a monthly plan cost. Starlink is priced differently by country; prices below are for the US as of 2024.
The standard dish costs $499, but is on sale for $299. You can order the dish from Starlink, or from West Marine. The Roam – Unlimited plan we use costs $165 per month.
There are other products and services available from Starlink, however. Here’s a look at the Starlink plans and dishes compared.
Starlink Equipment
- Home and Roam dish (aka Standard dish) — flat, rectangular, not for in-motion use* — $499 but often on sale
- Mobile Priority and Maritime dish (aka Flat High Performance dish) — square, flat mounted, built for in-motion use on vehicles, faster speeds, fewer outages, higher power use — $2,500
- Mini dish — smaller and rectangular, may be slower with more frequent outages, runs on 12 volt — $599 (This dish is new for 2024.)
Starlink Plans
- Roam 50 GB $50
- Roam-Unlimited $165*
- Mobile Priority 50 GB $250
- Mobile Priority 1 TB $1,000
- Mobile Priority 5 TB $5,000
- Priority 1 TB $250
- Priority 2 TB $500
- Priority 6 TB $1,500
- Mobile Priority $2/GB*
Mobile Priority data can be used anywhere in the world, including offshore. It has priority over other Starlink users, so your speeds should be unaffected if you’re in an area with many other users watching their Netflix.
Roam-Unlimited is designed to be used in land areas within your continent. The lines and boundaries between continents are a little weird, but that would cover pretty much all of North America, including The Bahamas.
The budget option for boaters — Roam-Unlimited plan. This is what we do. This plan isn’t supposed to be used “in motion.” However, Starlink has so far defined “in-motion” as traveling at more than 10 mph. So, a sailboat cruising or at anchor does not count as being in motion. Plus, you can use it offshore (more below).
When you purchase a Priority plan, the way Starlink calculates the data usage is counter-intuitive for many people. If you purchase a monthly plan with 50 GB, your Starlink will use those 50 GB up first — whether you’re offshore or sitting in a marina. After the 50 GB has passed, you get unlimited non-priority data (which only works on land). If you want to go offshore, there is a toggle in the app to purchase additional Priority data for the remainder of the billing month.
Calculations of data use are another issue for Starlink customers. Starlink’s calculations (viewable in the app) often seem very high, mostly because we’re all used to a Wi-Fi connection being unlimited and letting our devices gobble up the GB. Photo libraries syncing to cloud services and automatic software updates are the worst offenders, but many apps need to be watched. Apple devices have a toggle that allows you to set a Wi-Fi network to be in “Low Data Mode” which turns off all the automatic updates and helps a lot.
Starlink discontinued the Roam–Global plan in 2024. This means that if you’re crossing an ocean to a new continent, you’ll need a Priority plan to get service for the whole trip. You can still use Regional plans once you arrive, however, so long as you have your service address set to a local address.
Sailing Offshore with Starlink
Unfortunately, big changes may be coming to sailing offshore with Starlink in 2025. We’ll keep you updated as things change, but here’s how it stands as of November 1, 2024.
Firstly, if you have a Mobile Priority plan, it will work everywhere, including offshore, with no issues. These are the plans that Starlink appears to want boaters who sail offshore and between countries to use.
At this time, you can still use a Roam plan and toggle on Opt-In Priority Data for $2/GB. This gives you in-motion and offshore service, even with the standard $165/mo. plan. Starlink has informed some customers that this option may disappear in the near-future. To the best of my knowledge, this does not work with the new Roam 50GB $50 plan.
The current cost for priority data is $2/GB in the U.S. When we sailed from Maine to the Cape Cod Canal, we were 50 miles offshore, and I made five Microsoft Teams video calls without any connectivity issues. I worked 16 hours on Priority data, and we kept it on continuously and downloaded podcasts, scrolled Instagram, and lived large online. Our Noforeignland tracker stayed live and kept our track updated for family and friends following along. Previously, we would have spent $ on our Garmin InReach tracker and gotten hourly text weather alerts. No way would I ever have been able to videoconference and keep up with my workload! We used 18 GB (mostly on videoconferencing in Teams) and spent $36.
You could spend a lot more to have a Priority data plan, but it makes no sense at all for us. The Roam-Regional plan, while occasionally purchasing Mobile Priority data is perfect for our needs.
There are a few bugs with the Mobile Priority toggle button that you should know about. First, it’s not where you might think to look: It’s located in the “Data Usage” section of the app and website, and not in the “Manage Subscription.” Second, the toggle has been known to disappear if you’re looking for it on the first day of your billing cycle (crazy, right?). Finally, you need the internet to make the change, so you can’t toggle it on if you’re already offshore and cut off. So, it’s really important that you activate Mobile Priority data before you leave the coast!
Time Outside of Home Country
Unfortunately, it would appear that taking away the opt-in toggle for Priority data is not the only change Starlink wants to make. They are also going to begin imposing limits on using the Roam – Unlimited plan outside of your home country. They have intimated that accounts will be cut off after 60 days, or perhaps after five consecutive days. It’s all a bit hazy at this time, and since it’s not yet official policy, we don’t know how it will play out.
If they do implement such a change, many expect that they will also make it easier to change your service address into a new country. That should work, but it might change the price you pay. Plus, some countries do not allow the use of Starlink, so it may become impossible to use it in nations where the serivce is not available to everyone.
It’s also unknown whether or not this will affect all Starlink customers or only Roam customers.
Starlink on a Boat — Always Subject to Change, But Still Pretty Perfect
Starlink made us feel like we were just part of a massive experiment for the first year we had it. Most cruising boats were using the RV package (now called Roam), even though a much more expensive “Maritime” dish and package is available. There were random rumors that any in-motion use would be cut off or that they would start geofencing it so that you couldn’t use an RV dish offshore at all, ever.
None of that happened. Ultimately, Starlink provides us with an incredible service at an amazing price. It is expensive, but we were paying $100 monthly for unlimited cell phone data in the US. If you’re working full time, the ability to not be tied to cell phone towers makes all the difference in the world.
Software updates and more changes are inevitable. The software updates so far have improved Dishy’s reliability at anchor. However, future software updates may change service areas, and costs are always subject to increase. Starlink is not a perfect service, but we think it’s one of the most amazing improvements to boat life to happen in our lifetimes. It is nothing short of a game-changer.
Are you thinking about trying Starlink? If you’ve never had it before, use this Starlink referral link to purchase a dish and receive a free month of service.
Starlink on a Boat FAQs
Does Starlink replace SSB, Iridium Go!, or InReach?
Yes and no; Starlink has some benefits over older offshore communication tech, but it also has some downsides. Many cruisers no longer operate SSB radios. But portable satellite messengers like InReach, OnSpot, and Go! are still valuable as they provide battery-powered, portable, and search-and-rescue connected messaging services. If you wind up in your liferaft, chances are you won’t have the power or ability to take your Dishy with you and plug Starlink in.
Can I use my Starlink RV or Roam Dishy offshore?
Yes. By toggling on Mobile Priority Data, you will pay per gigabit to operate the dish in motion and at sea.
Will Starlink work through fiberglass?
Starlink can work through some materials such as fiberglass or canvas, but even these thin materials will adversely affect it’s performance. It’s always preferable to mount your Starlink dish outside, away from obstructions with a clear view of the sky.
Is the Starlink receiver waterproof?
The Starlink dishes are all built to spend their life outdoors in the rain, snow, wind, and everything else. They are not completely waterproof and should not be submerged. The newer dishes, both Flat Standard and Mini, have a rating of IP67.
Does Starlink work on a rocking boat?
Yes, Starlink satellite internet works like a cell phone antenna to track fast-moving satellites in orbit. So, movements of the receiver do not matter as long as the dish remains generally upright. Starlink receivers works anywhere they have a clear view of the sky, so it works very well on moving boats.
Can you get satellite internet on a boat?
Yes, there are several satellite internet providers for boaters. Starlink is the newest option, which offers the highest speeds and best prices. Most marine satellite internet providers cost much more and deliver substantially slower service.
What’s the best way to get internet on a boat?
Most boaters get internet on their cruising boat in one of three ways. Near shore and at marinas, some boaters rely on marina WiFi. Nearly everyone uses their cell phones, and some people use cellular SIM cards to get their laptops and tablets online, too. Finally, satellite internet from Starlink is a good option for getting internet service anywhere, even outside of areas with cellular coverage. Read more about getting internet on a boat in our article.
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