Starlink is changing for cruisers

[Frank 236]

Starlink is changing for ocean sailing apparently

 

 

[John B 126]

There's been a few murmurings about possibly having starlink as primary and emergency coms for IVC, something that is not accepted right now. I'd say that idea has flown the coop because of this.

A shame really, it's transformed cruising coms. 

We'd thought we might just forget the fibre when we got home, just take the mini and use it , but now after this debacle we probably won't.

So there's the law of unintended consequence for them ,  they're going to lose customers on sea and land for a greedy little marine grab  and snatch.

[Frank 236]

According to AI the logic is 

Reasons for the Plan Changes

• Preventing Region Shifting: Users were buying cheaper Starlink kits in countries with lower local subscription rates and permanently roaming them in expensive regions or commercial shipping lanes. []

• Network Management & Congestion: Uncapped mobile usage on standard consumer dishes created strain on specific satellite cells, forcing Starlink to separate casual land roamers from heavy ocean users. []

• Monetizing Commercial Demand: Many offshore cruisers and working liveaboards effectively replaced multi-thousand-dollar maritime enterprise connections with cheap consumer Roam plans. Restructuring forces professional or high-data users onto proper priority tiers. [1]

Looks like the party is over and noise control have arrived.

[Zozza 376]

Is this an example of 'enshitification'?

[Psyche 973]

Elon is feeling the pinch these days, it tough job being a trillionaire but someone has got to pay for it

[John B 126]

Competitors are coming,  we'll be reliably hot spotting off our phones soon.

[Black Panther 1,845]

We have been hotspotting for nearly a decade around the nz coast.  No problem 

[Frank 236]

17 hours ago, Zozza said:

Is this an example of 'enshitification'?

I think that's more about content, this smells like Elon needs the money or maybe the shareholders were revolting over the Vulgar Boatmen.

[John B 126]

2 hours ago, Black Panther said:

We have been hotspotting for nearly a decade around the nz coast.  No problem 

Same here, I'm talking about satellite at sea. Reliably.

[khayyam 117]

3 hours ago, John B said:

Competitors are coming,  we'll be reliably hot spotting off our phones soon.

Maybe. But for now the starlink constellation is far ahead. Turns out competing in this space (literally) means launching 10,000 satellites... pretty significant barrier to entry.

Hotspotting is fine when it works, but even say te kouma tends to be a dead spot inside and that's what 50k from akl?

[John B 126]

16 minutes ago, khayyam said:

Maybe. But for now the starlink constellation is far ahead. Turns out competing in this space (literally) means launching 10,000 satellites... pretty significant barrier to entry.

Hotspotting is fine when it works, but even say te kouma tends to be a dead spot inside and that's what 50k from akl?

Yes I'm aware of that, I'm posting from the Lau on starlink. My point is that spark and one already have some vestigal satellite coms going now, that's what the ads are about. Ive even heard that there has been some success offshore but I wouldn't trust it yet. And asking a spark employee if the satellite coms will work at sea  is like asking a computer sales guy if iPad has GPS. They just say yes because they have no comprehension what so ever of being out of sight of land and cell towers.

 I'm sure that in a year or two that coverage will expand as they nail down deals with starlink and upcoming competition. So I think what Starlink is up to is gaining as much revenue now while they have the monopoly. 

 

[Black Panther 1,845]

Watched a cool documentary on airships last night. One company is working on high altitude geostationary blimps to take on starlink (at a fraction of the cost)

[khayyam 117]

5 hours ago, John B said:

Yes I'm aware of that, I'm posting from the Lau on starlink. My point is that spark and one already have some vestigal satellite coms going now, that's what the ads are about. Ive even heard that there has been some success offshore but I wouldn't trust it yet. And asking a spark employee if the satellite coms will work at sea  is like asking a computer sales guy if iPad has GPS. They just say yes because they have no comprehension what so ever of being out of sight of land and cell towers.

 I'm sure that in a year or two that coverage will expand as they nail down deals with starlink and upcoming competition. So I think what Starlink is up to is gaining as much revenue now while they have the monopoly. 

 

Spark and oneNZ are just selling you starlink direct to your phone. It's not another network, just another way of selling the same one. 

[CarpeDiem 581]

 

14 hours ago, khayyam said:

Spark and oneNZ are just selling you starlink direct to your phone. It's not another network, just another way of selling the same one. 

Kind of.  The telcos are renting capacity on the Starlink constellation to transmit their NZ licensed LTE radio spectrum, this is spectrum they would usually transmit from a terrestrial cell tower.

Specifically OneNZ took their Band3 (1800MHz) and contracted Starlink to transmit it from their satellites.  SparkNZ have not published what they are using, but some sleuthing has determined it's Band 7, which is kind of odd for reasons I won't go into.

This is why space comms works with existing handsets everyone has in their pocket

14 hours ago, Black Panther said:

geostationary blimps to take on starlink (at a fraction of the cost)

Geostationary and blimp don't really work in the same sentence. Ones in the atmosphere, the other is in outer space.  This blimp idea is a motorized platform that can stay airborne for a couple of months at a time.  Ignoring the fact these blimps need permission to be in a countries airspace we'd need 160,000 of them airborne simultaneously to provide worldwide coverage.  

The real issue is the wind. Summer over NZ no problem... winter is another story, with the polar vortex whipping up 90knot winds in the southern hemisphere that a blimp couldn't hold station against. 

These blimps are a great idea for disaster recovery comms or solving black spot/coverage holes at holiday hot spots, but they aren't a South Pacific Ocean seamless coverage solution. 

On 16/08/2026 at 1:42 PM, John B said:

So there's the law of unintended consequence for them ,  they're going to lose customers on sea and land for a greedy little marine grab  and snatch.

What's actually happening is the opposite.  Cruisers are buying multiple dishes to get around the 30 day limit.  And then switching jurisdictions every 90days. Meanwhile the people who could previously afford Inmarsat are switching to the substantially more expensive Global Priority.  This has been well thought out.

[Black Panther 1,845]

Airship internet relies on High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS)—large, solar-powered, helium-filled airships that float in the stratosphere roughly 20 kilometers (60,000 feet) above the Earth. Operating like floating cell towers, these uncrewed craft beam 4G and 5G connectivity directly to standard, unmodified smartphones without requiring user satellite dishes.How Stratospheric Airships WorkAltitude: Cruising at around 18 to 20 kilometers high, they stay well above commercial air traffic and weather systems.Power: Covered in advanced thin-film solar panels ("solar capes"), they capture energy by day and use high-density batteries to run through the night, remaining stationary over target regions for months at a time.Direct-to-Device: Because they sit much closer to Earth than low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, they offer lower latency and higher capacity while working seamlessly with standard mobile devices.Current Developments and ProjectsSceye and SoftBank: New Mexico-based Sceye has partnered with Japanese telecom giant SoftBank to commercialize stratospheric connectivity, running extended endurance tests and preparing deployments to bridge digital divides.Global Trials: Commercialization phases and partner trials span regions including Japan, the United States, and South America to supply reliable broadband to remote or underserved areas.

[aardvarkash10 1,184]

On 17/08/2026 at 8:16 AM, Black Panther said:

We have been hotspotting for nearly a decade around the nz coast.  No problem 

me too.  Didn't even need a phone in the old days.

Ohhhh, THAT hotspotting.  Ok.  Ummmm, yeah.  No phone is the only type I know.

[Frank 236]

Sounds like connectivity was spotty in those days too

[Black Panther 1,845]

I'm lost

[motorb 61]

On 18/08/2026 at 10:11 AM, Black Panther said:

Current Developments and ProjectsSceye and SoftBank: New Mexico-based Sceye has partnered with Japanese telecom giant SoftBank to commercialize stratospheric connectivity, running extended endurance tests and preparing deployments to bridge digital divides.Global Trials: Commercialization phases and partner trials 

Translation: this idea is still unproven and not ready to provide any service.

Its not impossible, but has significant challenges due to being a passive device carried along on the stratospheric winds.

As helpful as the Ai summaries sound, the robot is trained to maximise your usage by being be helpful rather than critical.

[John B 126]

New Personal maritime plan announced for cruisers. Many of the boats I know have switched to Fiji on a roaming plan and that'll get us back to NZ,  but this new plan should do the business.