Starlink – mobile internet worldwide

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Updated - June 2, 2025

Anyone who relies on worldwide mobile internet has it Starlink, next to a conventional satellite connection, is currently the cheapest alternative, although not exactly affordable for everyone.

Pricing (2025)

While a Starlink kit for stationary use with - unlimited - data volume currently costs a moderate EUR 50 per month, this increases almost fivefold to EUR 230 as soon as you want to use it worldwide.

If you want optimum reception, especially in mobile use, you should opt for the high-performance antenna, which can be mounted firmly and evenly (using an additional pole mount). The self-aligning antenna (Gen2, obsolete) at 299 euros (2023) also fulfills its purpose, but must always be set up before use and then dismantled again, including laying the cable to the router, in a motorhome or caravan, e.g. through an open window, skylight, etc.

The Internet connection is maintained when driving at a speed of no more than 16 km/h. A travel tariff of 72 euros, on the other hand, enables an uninterrupted connection even while driving - and then without speed limits.

The "kit", consisting of antenna, cable and router, is temporarily available for 0 euros as a Special offer (06.2025) available. The usual kit costs are only payable if the 12-month contract is terminated before expiry, but then only pro rata over the contract term. Starlink seems to prefer a fair pricing policy.

Private or business tariff

Whether you choose a private or business tariff depends less on the fact of private or professional use, but rather on whether you want to claim a guaranteed DL/UL service.

In the business tariffs, satellite channels are prioritized, which means that the resulting data rates are higher than in non-prioritized operation.

As you can switch tariffs at any time, the "try before you buy" strategy is recommended from an economic point of view: Choose the private tariff and switch to the business tariff if necessary - and back again if the increase in benefits does not seem to justify the higher financial outlay.

Starlink support

The support team also responds to questions of any kind quickly and in detail and is definitely very customer-oriented, even when it comes to contractual changes, even when it comes to non-"everyday" requests. "We are here to make things possible for you that are not generally available," was the response of one employee.
The high-performance antenna is only available in the Business tariff. In situations where natural conditions (e.g. treetops) mean that reception is only possible with interference, but you only need a (private) travel tariff with the high-performance antenna, this is of course more than welcome!

Power consumption

In mobile use, the power requirement of 75 - 100 W with the standard antenna, or 110 - 150 W (230 V AC) with the large, heatable (snow melting capacity 75 mm / h) flat antenna is not to be sneezed at. In sunny areas and with sufficient installed PV power, this is not an issue, but on average and in winter, especially in more northerly regions, it is probably more of a knock-out criterion

Data transfer rates

The download and upload rates (with the Gen2 antenna) are up to a measured 280 and around 28 MBit/s (which actually corresponds to the business priority data throughput, while the non-prioritized throughput is officially 30 ... 100 MBit).
Clouds, rain and atmospheric conditions can cause the rates to drop, even if only briefly.

On the whole, however Starlink a high-performance and reliable solution for all those who are dependent on mobile Internet or stationary, if no alternative connection via LTE or fiber optics is available, and can therefore also claim the sometimes higher monthly amounts for tax purposes.

Alignment of the antenna (Gen2)

The motorized version automatically aligns the antenna horizontally and vertically. They always face north.

If you are standing on a plot of land with about 20 ... 30 m high within a radius of about 15 m, you will receive a message in the normal position that you should remove obstacles in order to have optimum reception.

Now you don't want to cut down trees to remove the obstacles, so you help yourself with the horizontal antenna alignment, which can be selected alternatively in the Starlink app in the settings and also corresponds to the position that is intended for reception while driving, even if it is not (really) recommended.
You may have to manually optimize the position of the antenna by trying to reduce the ping times (ping is an automated, interval-like server request sent by the Starlink system. The time until the requested server responds is measured in ms and represents the latency time: the shorter, the better. Ping success is the rate at which requests are answered: the higher, the better).

Below are the now perfect reception conditions as they were after horizontal alignment:

Alignment of the non-motorized antennas

All non-motorized designs are simply aligned horizontally flat. This can be, for example, on a flat roof, boat, mobile home, etc., but also on a pitched roof using a conventional antenna tube on which a corresponding starlink adapter is placed.

The (flat) high-performance antennas have a 25m Ethernet cable and offer up to three times the data throughput. However, the kit costs around 1,500 euros. In view of the current promotional kit and the 30-day trial period with full refund, which is always valid anyway, it is also worth testing. If the performance of the promotional offer proves to be insufficient, you can always switch to the high-performance version.

Ethernet connection

The Ethernet cable is a specific one, but 15 m long. The router should be connected to the end of the cable - without an extension. A CAT8.1(!) Ethernet cable runs from the router to the existing or newly purchased switch (e.g. CISCO), from which the further network distribution to the end devices starts.

CAT8.1 cables currently offer the best data transfer rate of 25 ... 100 GBit/s (longer lengths fall back to CAT7, corresponding to 10 GBit/s), the highest shielding dimensions and are therefore ideal for working with the lowest losses.

The marginal price difference of around 10% (24 euros to 27 euros for 30m of pre-assembled cable) should more than justify the leap in performance.

Even when using switches that do not support the CAT 8.1 standard (10GB), but only the CAT7 standard (1GB), CAT 8.1 is still a good investment, as you can always achieve the maximum data rate - and benefit from the full utilization of the cable capacity when replacing the switch at a later date.

CAT8.1-capable 24-port 10GB switch

The switch should of course support CAT8.1 speeds. As we are in the professional router segment here, CISCO with the 24x 10GB port, for example, is available for less than 800 euros. Cisco Catalyst 3850 in the race.