Out with the old, in with the new. Starting today, another major Starlink market gets access to the next generation hardware. Starlink officially launched the 3rd generation “Starlink Standard” hardware kit in Australia, making it only the second country to have access to the new dish.
Starlink originally released the Gen 3 Standard dish in the US back in December 2023. Initially, they offered customers a choice between the Gen 2 Standard Actuated hardware, and the new Gen 3 Standard dish. Several weeks after the initial launch, Starlink stopped offering the Standard Actuated model, and it’s no longer available in the US.
Australia’s Gen 3 rollout will be more abrupt, with the new Standard dish replacing the Standard Actuated version right away on all hardware purchases. The old Standard Actuated kit remains available for rent, which makes sense, as most rental hardware is refurbished. The Standard kit is available to buy on most service plans, including Residential, Roam, and Business.
The Standard kit costs $599, the same as the previous version. Starlink’s 3rd hardware iteration features a larger, more powerful antenna. It has an increased field of view, a low profile design, and is paired with an upgraded Wifi router. In our testing, the Gen 3 router delivered up to 4X faster Wifi speeds compared to Gen 1 and Gen 2. The biggest design change for Gen 3, however, is the removal of the electric motors that automatically aimed the antenna. The new unit must be manually aligned during initial setup.
Starlink’s choice to launch Gen 3 in Australia comes after the company just announced hitting 200,000 subscribers in the country:
The rollout of Gen 3 has been odd, to say the least. Starlink chose to offer the new hardware by invitation-only for several weeks, before ultimately making the hardware option public. Nearly three months after the kit launched in the US, the Gen 3 Router is still unavailable in the online shop. Customers needing additional Gen 3 Router’s to use as wireless mesh nodes are having to use the backwards compatible Gen 2 Router, or 3rd party mesh systems instead.
Overall, this is a good sign for the future of the Gen 3 Standard dish. Progress with the rollout can only mean Starlink is satisfied with how the new design is performing. Some of the design choices are controversial to customers posting to online Starlink communities. One of the Gen 3 mounts, for example, had to be redesigned after some initial failures. But, despite some initial hurdles, Gen 3 seems to be a successful product for Starlink.
See also: Should You Upgrade To Gen 3?
I’ve just signed up to StarLink on the rental plan, which now includes the Gen 3 kit (standard dish and Gen 3 router). Happy with it so far!
Installed earlier this month with very stable results. For rural areas the perfect solution.
Is the Gen 3 router compatible with the Gen 2 dish? I ask as I am mobile every now and then.
Yes, however, it isn’t a direct replacement. You will hook it up with the Ethernet Adapter and then put the Gen 2 router in bypass mode. If you just want the Gen 3 for wireless mesh, it will easily pair as a mesh node with the Gen 2 router.
Can we get in SE Alaska?
Yes. We have installers there.
Should be able to get Gen 3. You can tell when you enter your address on Starlink.com. You should see the equipment described as Standard for Gen 3.