Starlink is offering a new line of service, called Best Effort. Pre-order reservation holders started receiving emails in August 2022, regarding their pre-order status. In the email, Starlink outlines a new option for people patiently waiting for their full order.
Table of Contents
What is Starlink Best Effort?
Best Effort is essentially like Starlink RV, but for use at one location only. Like the RV service, Best Effort customers are deprioritized on the network, meaning they will experience slower speeds compared to Residential users. Also like RV, Best Effort customers will be able to pause and resume service at any time.
The big advantage over Starlink RV is the price. Best Effort is $110/month, which is less than the $135/month that Starlink RV customers pay.
See also: Starlink Internet Plans Explained
Who is eligible?
Customers with a pre-order are eligible. This offer isn’t being extended to Starlink RV customers. Right now, it’s not clear if all pre-order’s are eligible. We received reports from several people across the US, so it doesn’t appear to be limited to one region.
We also know it’s not being offered to every pre-order customer at this moment. Perhaps Starlink is rolling this option out in phases, depending on the capacity issues in each specific region.
Will I keep my spot on the waitlist?
Yes, customers who opt for the Best Effort service will maintain their place on the waitlist for Residential service. You’ll be able to convert to the normal Residential service when capacity opens in your area.
That makes this service a much better deal than Starlink RV for people who don’t need a portable dish to use at multiple locations. As a Starlink RV customer, you cannot convert RV to Residential. That means you’ll need to buy Starlink twice to have RV and Residential.
What are the expected speeds?
We expect the Starlink Best Effort speeds to be similar to Starlink RV performance. Best Effort and RV users are deprioritized on the network, which means they will experience degraded performance when there are many users on the Starlink network in a specific cell.
Here are the official Best Effort speed specifications:
| Download Speed | Upload Speed | Latency | Data Caps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5-100 mbps | 1-10 mbps | 20-40 ms | No |
For more about speeds, check out our full article on Starlink speeds.
Conclusion
Starlink Best Effort is Starlink’s latest attempt to serve more users with limited network capacity. The demand for Starlink is much higher than the network has the capacity for. As the satellite constellation is deployed over time, capacity will increase.
Starlink believes many customers will accept degraded performance over not having internet at all. With the success of Starlink RV, it was only a matter of time before Starlink realized many people were ordering RV just to have internet at home. This new Best Effort service gives those people a better option.
Did you get the email? Do you plan to subscribe to Best Effort? Let us know what you think in the comments!
Brooksville, Fl just received these emails today. My parents, a neighbor, and my husband all received the same email with a few minutes of each other. Neighbor was expecting service late-2022 but his email said he was being pushed to mid-2023. My parents and I were suppose to receive early-2023 but have been pushed to Mid-2023 as well. We all signed up as we are in rural locations- neighbor it 1/2 mile away! 😂 Once placing the order, it said we would receive hardware within two weeks! Pretty ecstatic as we have been running off Verizon hotspots for two years!
Received “best effort” e-mail September 22. Today I decided to access my Starlink account. After reading various items on this web site (starlinkhardware.com), I decided to sign up and order the equipment for “best effort”. The information I gathered from this site allayed some concerns about losing my place in line for “residential” service. Now to order the wired interface, as some of my equipment is not wireless/WiFi capable.
I am currently on Verizon Wireless at speeds of about 15Mb/s download, and $75.00/month, with a 100GB data/speed cap. No wired internet or any type of cable service available in my area.
I received my email for best effort. Do I have accept it in a timely manor or can I think about it for a while like a month or two?
I don’t believe there is any type of time limit for the Best Effort offer.
Is it worth getting the best effort plan or wait for residential plan
If you don’t currently have internet that you find acceptable for what you need to use it for, then it’s worth it. For example, people using mobile hotspots with limited data. Or those with really slow DSL. Best Effort will give you mostly excellent speeds, with potential slowdowns in the evenings during peak usage.
Best Effort is simply being able to enjoy a “better than nothing” Starlink experience while you wait on capacity to open up. For people without many internet options, I think it’s a decent tradeoff. Not having to wait in exchange for reduced performance during peak hours.
Yes I have 2 Verizon mobile hotspots with 150 gigabytes each for 120 dollars a month. It says I have a little obstruction at my house will that hurt me?
Any obstructions at all will hurt performance. For best results, you have to be able to mount it in a location where there are no obstructions.
Thank you
Can I get best effort in north alabama. I have been on the list for quite a while
Starlink is rolling Best Effort in phases. You’ll have to wait for the email invitation, it isn’t being done by request or anything like that.
How do I get on the list to receive Best Effort service? I am currently on the waiting list for residential.
If you have a pre-order, you’re already on the list. Starlink is selectively offering this to pre-order accounts. There is no way of knowing if you’ll get the offer or not.
Yes I am interested in the Best Effort service until I can receive my residential service.
I have 25down, 5 up right now. If I decide not to do the “best effort”, will I lose my place in line
No, you don’t have to accept the Best Effort service to keep your place in line.
I have been on the list almost from the beginning, as I seen from several other commenters. I pay for DSL, but I’m not sure why. It rarely allows me access to the internet, but even when it does, all I can do is send and receive email. What I want to know is, having been on the pre-order list, why was I not notified of availability when Starlink first had coverage in my location? I’ve heard that the equipment/accounts were not provided in the order that the pre-orders for a given area were received. That instead, it was a free for all of everyone who requested service when it became available here. Is this true? Why? This does not seem like an appropriate way do do business.
No, that’s not true. Pre-orders were filled on a first come, first served basis. However, it’s important to understand that capacity is based on cells, which are arbitrary boundaries determined by Starlink. There could be multiple cells within a city/county, etc. So someone down the road may have ordered after you, but got their dish first, because they might be in a different cell. This has led to the belief that it was a free for all, when in reality it’s based on which cell you are in, and the capacity for that cell.
I got on the waitlist the day it opened and waited until Sept 1st 2022 to get my starlink. I signed up for the best effort and I pull between 50mb/s-90 mb/s during the day and roughly between 2mb/s-10 mb/s in the evenings as the speeds slow when the network is in more use. However, it is WAAAYYYY better than viasat and even at the slowest speeds I can stream Monday night football or watch a TV show. I love it and I’m looking forward to the final expansion 🙂
Glad it’s working out for you. The nice thing about Best Effort is that you don’t have to do anything, just wait until capacity opens up and you are converted to the higher priority Residential account.
I was an early order, expecting service spring 2021. I just got the email, ordered and received equipment 5 September 2022. Set up went smoothly. Speeds: down 10/ up less than 1. 🙁
Better than what I have, but I feel I was stepped over for residential. Hopefully will get full service soon.
Are those speeds on Wifi? If you do the speed test in the Starlink app, you can swipe up for an Advanced Test. Check the Router to Internet speed. That’s the best indication of performance because it eliminates any Wifi variables.
First I’ve hear of this – So nope I didn’t get the e=mail. Been on the list since March 2021 and keep getting pushed back. I’m almost as frustrated with getting delayed as I am with my current garbage service (ViaSat)
I have not received the email, I will jump at the chance as my DSL is very limiting right now and would love to move forward with Starlink.
Noah, Curious if you know if there is any recourse if Best Effort is ordered and the service level is simply not good enough for your needs? Is there an option then to pause it indefinitely until residential is available? Or other approach?
Yes, the best thing to do would be to pause the Best Effort subscription and wait until Residential is available. If you cancel and return the hardware, you will lose your spot in line. If you just pause Best Effort and wait, you can eventually use the same hardware when the Residential account opens up.
I haven’t gotten the email yet, but certainly hope I do soon. I am one of those that have no other options. I’m trying to use mobile broadband with a cell phone booster and a mobile hotspot right now. With the foliage and mountains, I’m just blocked. I am the exact customer Starlink is targeting. Been on reservation list since March 2021. My time for regular service now says 2023. Come on Starlink, send me the email!
Been pre-order since Feb ’21. Current status still “Mid 2022”. Not sure when midyear ends! But my current ISP costs $199.95 for 25/5 service and is 95% reliable but random outages. Anyway, new Electric Company (ISP) fiber rollout planned for Q423 to Q124. So I’m calculating this “Best Effort” which I have not yet been offered.
I would wait a week or two for the Best Effort email. Trying to buy a used dish is the second best option. Just have the seller check with Starlink to see if it can be transferred to your address before you pay.
The last option would be to just buy Starlink RV, although you cannot sell or transfer it when you get fiber.
Noah
Thanks for responding 🙂
Re: Starlink RV, I had evaluated that when first came out and didn’t like the additional monthly charge nor the potential that you could not convert it to residential. I think likely they will create a policy to allow that but….
Anyhow, I’ll probably do just that and wait a week or two and if no email decide then.
I received my equipment last week should I expect service if I install it ?
Yes, if you received the dish, your credit card is already on file and it will be charged 15 days after it shipped out from Starlink. Monthly payments will be made until you cancel.
Fantastic news! I was thinking about getting the RV Starlink, but this would be great for the meantime and would allow me to transition to residential when it becomes available. How do i sign up? I had assumed since i received the email that that option was already there?
thanks! Jacqueline
If you received the email, there should either be a link, or you can visit your account dashboard on the Starlink website to sign up for Best Effort.
I first read about Starlink almost a year ago, and vaguely remember something about replacing cable TV as well as the internet service provided by cable companies. Does the TV feature already exist, and if not, when is it expected?
I have been following starlink since the beginning and have never heard of them doing TV. The internet is targeted for those without cable or fiber as an option.
I wish they had thought of this 3 months ago instead of the RV service. It would have saved me $600; I got the RV service because I had zero internet and my place in the queue for Residential was late 2022. I had RV service for two months and then got an email that my Residential service was ready to ship. So I got Residential and paused the RV because Residential was a bit better and $25 cheaper and would pay for itself in two years.
I am moving to Brazil and the area I’ll be has no internet and poor phone service What do you suggest I buy
Make sure the area that you’ll be moving to is even covered currently:
https://www.starlink.com/map
Type in your address and try to order. If you can order the full kit, Residential is best. The only downside to Residential compared to other plans is that it cannot be paused.
I would be interested in purchasing your Starlink RV equipment
This website just has information and resources, we aren’t affiliated with Starlink. But to order RV, just head over to http://www.Starlink.com and click on RV.