I've been a user of the Starlink satellite internet system since January 2021, when I became a beta tester. I've learned a lot about Starlink over the years, but there's always more to know.
My message in this post is simple: if you're having a problem with your Starlink, be sure that the power supply is properly matched with your dish. I discovered this the hard way recently.
It all started when I came home in the late afternoon and found that our Starlink broadband had gone offline. Usually restarting the router solves the problem.
That didn't work. I tried other suggestions on the Starlink app on my iPhone, which I could only access with our dreadfully slow cellular connection, just 1-3 Mbps at best. We have a Verizon range extender, but it requires an internet connection.
I reset the router to factory settings. Didn't work. I switched the router with another Starlink router I'd installed downstairs to form a mesh network for better coverage. Didn't work. Sometimes the router would connect with the dish on our roof, but almost instantly the connection would be lost. That told me the problem likely was with the router, not the dish.
I'd put in a support request with Starlink, but aside from what looked like a canned response based on the key words in my request, I couldn't contact a real human being. Starlink is a technical marvel but its support can be lacking, as it can take days to get a response. That night I decided to order a new Starlink router from Amazon. The delivery was to be the next day between 5-10 pm.
As soon as 5 pm arrived I started opening the front door frequently to see if the new router had arrived from Amazon. At 7:30, it had. I ripped open the box and replaced the old router with the new one, then waited for the good news.
Sadly, there was bad news.
A red light appeared after several minutes, a sign that the router couldn't connect with the dish on our roof, which happens via a cable. I reset the router. The same thing happened. Now my frustration was really extreme. I'd been convinced that the problem was with the router, not the dish. If the dish needed to be replaced, that was going to be more expensive and take more time.
Still, I started to look at how quickly I could get a new dish, either from Starlink or a local reseller. Staring at the list of things to purchase on the Starlink web site, I noticed that a DC-DC power supply looked like the AC power supply of our current third generation dish, which is considerably smaller than the power supply that came with the new router I'd just bought. (Starlink used to have a separate power supply for the dish and router; now the dish gets its power from the router.)
That led me to what turned out to be a great idea: use the old power supply with the new router. When I did that, bingo! Almost an instant connection. I'd been correct that the old router was the problem. But I'd assumed that I should use the power supply that came with the new router, which apparently didn't have enough oomph (technical electrical term) to power our dish.
This is the Starlink router that I got from Amazon.
This is the power supply that came with the router. The output is 30.0V.
This is the power supply that came with the Gen3 dish. The output is 57V. As noted above, I figured that I should use the power supply that came with the new router. After all, the Amazon listing said that the router was compatible with the Gen3 dish. Which it was. But the power supply that came with the router wasn't. At least, not for our Gen3/Version 4 rectangular kickstand dish.
The day after I got our Starlink working again, I heard from someone at Starlink support that they'd concluded that our router had a hardware problem, and that they'd send me a new router. Of course, I'd already gotten a new router from Amazon, but I was grateful for the Starlink router that arrived in a few days, as now it could be a backup.
There wasn't a power supply in the box that came from Starlink support. Today I tried to order the 57.0V output power supply (UTP-232C) as a backup, but it wasn't available to order. Apparently the only way to be able to buy one is to put in a support ticket, which I've done.
It seems strange that the current router for the standard dish comes with a smaller power supply that, for our dish at least, wasn't strong enough to power both the router and dish. I'm not sure why. I got one of the first Gen3 dishes. Maybe it had a larger power requirement than dishes manufactured later. But this is just a guess.
Anyway, the lesson is that if you're unable to get a new router to connect with your standard Starlink dish, be sure that you're using the correct power supply -- which may not be the power supply that comes with the router.
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