A few months after Starlink announced the new service tier, Starlink Business is now open for orders in certain areas. Starlink Business is designed for commercial users who need more bandwidth and support compared to residential users. Speeds, compared to the standard Starlink tier, are about double for both download and upload. Users needing higher speeds and 24/7 priority support are now able to purchase their Business hardware kit, with one big caveat…
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No New Hardware For Business Orders
Business customers who made a deposit will start to receive an email from Starlink letting them know they can proceed to purchase their Business hardware kit. However, the email also states that Business customers will receive the original round Starlink dish hardware kit, instead of the larger rectangular Business dish. Starlink says that Business users will be upgraded to the new Business dish when it releases in Q3 2022, at no charge.
The main cause of the delay in Business class hardware is FCC approval. Starlink cannot start selling the new rectangular Business dish until it is approved. According to the email, Starlink expects to start shipping the new dishes to Business customers in Q3 2022.
Mount Issues
Although Starlink is offering to upgrade the Business dish for free when it is released, customers will still be on the hook for mounting costs. The mounts for the circular Starlink dish are not compatible with the new Business rectangular dish. Business customers opting to go ahead and accept the circular dish now will have to repurchase mounts for their upgraded rectangular Business dish.
New Starlink Business Specifications
Since Business customers are receiving the older, original style Starlink dish, the specification page on Starlink.com has been updated. A new row was added, indicating that the circular dish included with Business orders is capable of virtually the same level of performance as the upgraded version coming out later.
Final Thoughts
The most interesting part of this story is that now we know the original round dish that many beta testers received is capable of impressive speeds. But it is now also clear that Starlink intends to charge customers for those impressive speeds, and that it is unlikely that existing standard hardware will ever really improve in terms of performance until the satellite constellation is more fully deployed. Reliability and coverage will no doubt improve as more satellites are added, but the Starlink pricing structure essentially throttles speeds based on how much you are paying to access their network.
What do you think of the decision to go ahead and launch Starlink business, even though the hardware isn’t ready?
I’m on the list for Residential but live in mountainous and heavily tree’d area where I’d like the upgraded dish to reduce dropouts and other obstacles that would reduce my service. I don’t have an issue paying for the higher priced dish but I still want to receive the Residential service and bandwidth. What is my process to order the better dish vice the smaller dish?
The Business class dish is going to be just as susceptible to obstructions as Residential. It wouldn’t help you to have the better dish. You’re going to have to get above the trees and have a clear view of the sky with any Starlink dish. The Starlink app has an obstruction checker tool that can be useful in determining suitable mounting locations.
I need a dish asap. Business I am and personal also.
As I have seen, most business owners can not or will not install a dish. I would be happy to wait and pay for one install but it’s up to management to decide.