Traveler’s Journal Entry November 3, 2022
Did Starlink solve all of your RV internet problems? Asfull-time digital nomads and 5th wheel dwellers who are Working fromRoam, we needed our internet to work seamlessly. During our proof of concepttrip with the tech we are utilizing today we found there were still areas wewanted to be that would absolutely not support our need to work. Planning ourtrips around those areas can be a challenge.
We went full time in April of 2022 and found that we usedWAY more data than we intended to and that while our LTE connections wereoptimized for voice and video collaboration, it seriously lacked the speedneeded to upload large creative files. That’s a major problem when you’reaccessing web based creative sites or uploading off-roading videos to socialmedia platforms. We have this amazing technology deployed that folks can’t buyin stores yet we’re still struggling in the area of acceptable upload speeds.
Enter Starlink RV! We weren’t shy about the cost of theequipment because as tech nerds we know what it takes to get rugged gear that’seasy to deploy and maintain. The monthly cost felt a bit abrasive however weknew we wouldn’t need it year round and more importantly, our ability to workis what affords us this lifestyle. We must have reliable internet. We areneither old enough or independently wealthy for retirement.
A quick decision was made to order the gear and add it intoour network was made and we shipped the gear to our friends who were about anhour away from us at that time. Bonus, it came in 3 days and we got to have anunexpected dinner with framily (friends that become family) when we met to pickup the gear!
The set up was super quick and easy. No swearing was involved,and we put the dish out on the patio to get acquainted with the way it workedbefore hauling it up to the roof of our Momentum Grand Design 397 TH 5thwheel. Russ found the broadcasting network, connected his phone and completedthe set up in less than 3 minutes. There are no written instructions. Just apicture. It is really that easy.
Once it was connected our next step was immediately to begin running speed and latency tests on the new connection. The results were unimpressive. We went to bed disappointed. There was a note in the app during set up about letting the system tune up over the initial 6 hour turn up of the gear so we held on to that silver lining.
Low and behold, the next morning it was all working much better and we were able to see where our obstructions were to better locate the satellite. From a latency perspective, it behaves a lot like an LTE/cellular SIM card connection with varying stability throughout a day’s use as the satellite moves above the earth. It didn’t get us as much additional upload speed as we had hoped however it is a great addition to our network connectivity through a WiFi. We created a separate SSID and a RV network route that sends our TV’s, cell phones, and non critical devices out to the internet using Starlink only and are now back to streaming and cloud back-ups! YAY!
Overall, we are quite happy with the purchase and continue to tweak our settings to get the most speed out of this additional connection. It does slow down in the evening during high points of network congestion however that’s not when we need it the most.
Starlink would not serve us as a single connection without our goRoam.tech gear while Working from Roam, as VoIP calls and Video collaboration is not stable enough on Starlink alone. It is a solid and relatively cost effective option to live and work in a manner similar to being in an office or sticks and bricks house. The huge advantage it gives us now is not having to plan our routes as specifically to where there is good LTE signal. That’s potentially a game changer as we spend more time in 2023 boondocking in the desert. Stay tuned as we share more of our experience and be sure to watch our Starlink unboxing and set up video wherever you consume your content.
