SpaceX has launched a new Starlink feature called Portability, allowing existing users to use their satellite internet service away from their home location, such as camping or visiting a friend’s house (via @SawyerMerritt).
For $25 USD extra per month, the Starlink Portability feature “enables users to temporarily move their Starlink to new locations in order to receive service anywhere within the same continent Starlink provides active coverage,” says SpaceX. Coverage will depend on where service is best actively available.
How to add Portability to your Starlink account? Just log in to your account page and add the feature, which will kick in right away. SpaceX says if you have multiple Starlinks, you need to pay the extra charge for each location you select. Charges are added to your next monthly invoice and cannot be pro-rated. The feature is ongoing until you disable it.
SpaceX says “Portability service is provided on a best effort basis. Stated speeds and uninterrupted use of services are not guaranteed. Starlink prioritizes network resources for users at their registered service address.”
When you take your Starlink dish to a new location, you may get “degraded service” during times of peak usage and network congestion.
You can only use Starlink within the same continent as your registered account service address. SpaceX says if you use Starlink in a foreign country for over two months, you’ll be required to edit your registered service address to your new location, or purchase an extra Starlink.
This means people traveling across borders for vacation, such as RV customers can only use Starlink for two months at a time. SpaceX says you can purchase an extra Starlink to maintain service at the new location.
SpaceX says they do not support “in-motion use” at this time and those using their Starlink dishes in motion will void their warranty. “While our teams are actively working to make it possible to use Starlink on moving vehicles (e.g., automobiles, RVs, boats), Starlink is not yet configured to be safely used in this way,” says SpaceX.
Monthly Starlink service at $110 USD per month plus the $25 Portability charge means $135 per month (at two months max for Portability) to use your internet away from your home address.
According to Canadian readers of Tesla North, we can confirm pricing will be $30 CAD per month.
SpaceX is targeting Friday, May 6 for its next Falcon 9 launch of 53 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit, set to take place from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
