Review: Starlink Roam.

We added a Starlink system three years ago at our off-grid cabin, and in short, it has been an absolute game changer. But there are of course, pros and cons. Here’s a look at how the Starlink has been for us, and some of the considerations which may apply to your situation too.

Our cabin is located on and island in a very remote corner on the NW coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is about 110 nautical miles south of the Alaska border, about 60 miles away from the nearest road to anywhere on the mainland, and can only be reached by boat, float plane or helicopter.

Prior to getting the Starlink, our communication with the outside world consisted of VHF marine radio, and a Garmin Inreach Mini. Both, but especially the Inreach were used primarily for emergency communications.

Besides emergencies, the main communications need out there is of course, marine weather information. With no internet connection, that meant listening to clunky and old-school weather updates on the VHF weather channel.

Enter Starlink.

Getting right to the point, as far as connectivity goes, the Starlink is as good as, and sometimes seems even a bit faster than the broadband at home. I can’t give you actual speeds and numbers, but for standard internet browsing, online activities, phone calls etc  (i.e. no intensive gaming), it’s like being in the city. And although being connected and online out there was certainly a novelty, I was still pretty shocked and a little confused the first time my phone rang.

Placement of the Starlink antenna in our situation was the trickiest part of the whole operation. Although we are right on the water, we are also surrounded by a forest of tall trees which interfere with reception. The Starlink app did work well to help identify suitable spots - it’s just that suitable spots were a bit harder to come by in our location that I had anticipated, although we did get the longer cable knowing that a suitable site for the antenna would not be close to the cabin due to all the tall trees. The site that finally worked is right on the rocks in front of the cabin. It has a clear, horizon to overhead view of the sky in three directions. To the north, there is basically a wall of trees which are only about 10 feet away from where the antenna sits, but that doesn’t seem to affect the antenna/connectivity.

Once positioned, the antenna automatically adjusts itself to the optimal orientation to the sky, and this capability is considerable. In fact, during initial setup, this happens almost instantaneously. Last spring, we experienced a multi-day storm which battered our region of the coast with heavy rain and high SE winds. As our antenna is exposed to the south, it took the full brunt of these winds. During the storm, we were mostly hunkered down in the cabin and while I was concerned about the antenna, since we experienced no change to our connectivity, I chose to be lazy and wait for the storm to pass before going to check the antenna.

Sometime during this storm, however, although the base of the antenna was weighted down with rocks, the antenna had indeed blown over and partially into a large crack in the rocks. Luckily, it did not blow into the ocean. Equally impressive though, once the antenna stand had been blown over, the dish automatically managed to re-orient itself toward the sky - which was almost a 90 degree shift from its normal position. Quite amazing if you ask me, and the sole reason we experienced no drop in connectivity, even though the antenna had been blown right off its moorings!

Taking a step back, one of the main considerations in acquiring the Starlink for us, was the power source. Meaning, a portable power supply had to be part of the package as well, since running a generator constantly just for internet was not an acceptable situation to me. (See the Bluetti EB3A Portable Power Station review here).

If you choose to become connected in a remote, off-grid situation, the Starlink certainly represents an easy, very efficient and effective solution. The modem, antenna, stand and cables are all relatively small and very easy to transport. Initial startup costs for the equipment etc are a bit steep, but with the ability to snooze our subscription for the months we are not at the cabin, we find it manageable.

It seems then, that the main consideration is really if you want to be connected at all. In many ways, choosing to be online seems to defeat the purpose of being remote and off-grid to begin with. And as we all know, finding places you can actually be offline is becoming increasingly difficult in today’s world.

In the end, we chose to have the option to be online and it has been terrific. Having access to online weather resources, as well as instantaneous communications has brought additional peace of mind and has paid off in all the other ways you would expect. And so far, even though we could if we wanted to, the spectacular beauty of the NW BC coastal wilderness and wildlife still keeps us from spending all day just staring at our screens.

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