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Finally...after decades great Internet is here in Espanola

Starlink Internet

We've all waited a long time for solid, fast Internet here in our community.  Well, Starlink is finally here. I've written about it here previously. For more check out this Wikipedia article.

Basically, there is a band of over 3,000 satellites all linking up to each other creating a "net" (like Indra's Net!) around our entire planet. Are you thinking "SkyNet" yet? (Remember Terminator 2?) There's a very cool app called "Starlink Watch" which allows you to see the net of satellites in real time, see the ones that you're connected to, and even see where other Starlink users are located.

Unlike other slow, geosynchronous satellite based services (Dish, DirectTV,) the Starlink satellites are only 450 miles up and always moving. The little, flat Starlink antenna tracks their motion electronically. The dish doesn't need to move. That's right, when you first set it up the antenna moves itself once.  That's it. It simply sets itself up.  There are no instructions, just pictures.

 Now the old earth-based methods of connecting to the Internet: Cable, DSL, point-to-point terrestrial radios (like Blackmesa, Cybermesa, etc.) which we've been using up till now in Espanola are obsolete. Instead of looking sideways for the Network we can look up.  And looking up works great here in New Mexico. We have LOTS of sky! 

It's solid and it's fast. I'm seeing between 60 and 140 mb/s speeds at all times. That's fast enough for 4K UHD television streams and multiple HD streams on multiple devices. No, it's not inexpensive. You must plunk down $100 up front to reserve your antenna and router kit. When it arrives, you'll plunk down another $500, and you only have five days to do so after you receive the "You're up!" email from Starlink.  When it arrives it works right out of the box.  Down the free "Starlink" app for Apple or Android and use it to check for the perfect location before the kit arrives. When it arrives, plug it in, run the app and select "Setup," and it sets itself up. 

Once you're up and running it costs $110/month. Yes, it's expensive, but you own the hardware and guess what, it's portable. Yup. You can stow the whole rig and set it up again anywhere in the WORLD and it just works. SpaceX sent over a hundred free Starlink kits to Ukraine so Ukranian ground troops could have solid internet on the battlefield. How cool is that?

You can order Starlink at starlink.com

So far, Dr. Satsiri Kaur, Kulwant Kaur and I are the only ones I know personally who are up and running on Starlink. Are you using Starlink too? Thinking about switching? Do you have any questions? Just write to me at [email protected]

 

All Love, .....Guruka Singh

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