I've Used Starlink For Years. My Setup Guide Will Have You Online In No Time

For more than two years, I’ve been testing Starlink, checking out the latest dish and router hardware, measuring Starlink speeds, and finding out whether the popular satellite internet service is deserving of all those top customer satisfaction scores and Best ISP awards.

But I’m not just a reviewer—I’m also a customer. Starlink connects my home in rural Idaho, providing the speed and reliability I need to live the life of a tech journalist. It also connects my wife and kids, providing speedy internet for smart TVs, tablets, game systems, and phones. And I can tell you, while the service itself is great, installing the dish and router is the hardest part.

Professional Starlink installation services do exist. You can line one up through Starlink’s own website, if you’re willing to pay a little extra. But if you’re comfortable with climbing a ladder and maybe using some basic power tools, installing it yourself is free.

Here’s our guide to getting Starlink equipment, setting up your dish, and installing the Starlink router. I also have a few extra tips for enjoying the best service Starlink provides.

What Is Starlink?

For those who aren’t familiar with it, Starlink is a satellite internet service from SpaceX, Elon Musk’s commercial space business (soon to be a public company). Using thousands of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites, it’s a way to deliver high-speed internet to nearly everyone, even people living far from the usual cable and fiber networks most ISPs rely on. It’s not as fast as those alternatives, but in rural areas where DSL and satellite are your only options, it’s the better performer by far.

5 Things to Know About Starlink Satellite Internet

It’s not a perfect solution, and it can be a bit expensive from month to month, but as a full-time Starlink user, I’ve been a happy customer. You can learn more about Starlink internet plans, service, and equipment in our full review.

How to Get Starlink

Getting Starlink is easier than ever. With installation kits sold through retailers like Best Buy, Home Depot, Target, and Walmart, as well as carriers like Boost Mobile, the waitlists and limited availability of years past are over. Overseas, the company recently expanded into Venezuela, where it’s selling dishes through three retailers. In much of the world, Starlink is available and ready to provide speedy service.

Our Reviews of the Latest Starlink Gear

It’s also more affordable than ever. The residential installation kit used to be a sizable investment, with basic equipment priced at $599. But the kit now sees frequent discounts, while SpaceX has been experimenting with free Starlink Mini dish rentals.

How Much Does Starlink Service Cost?

The trade-off for lower equipment prices is higher monthly bills. Residential service costs $120 per month for the full-speed “Max” plan, which is more expensive than the average cable internet bill. A reduced-speed plan is available for $80 per month, and an even cheaper version is $50 per month. On the plus side, there are no data caps.

Meanwhile, the company’s $10-per-month 10GB Roam plan was recently axed, so now the cheapest plan is $50 per month for 100GB. It’s intended for use with the Mini kit in RVs.

(Credit: SpaceX)

The silver lining here is that in most cases, Starlink doesn’t require contracts. You sign up for the service through the Starlink app and pay from month to month. You are free to cancel your account or put it in standby mode (for $5 per month) at any time.

Below, I’ll share some Starlink installation tips for the residential equipment as well as the Starlink Mini.

How to Install Starlink Residential Equipment

The Starlink residential installation kit comes with everything you need to get going: a Starlink dish, complete with a kickstand, and a Starlink router base unit. (Learn more about the latest Starlink equipment here.) It also includes a Starlink power cable for the base unit and a 50-foot Starlink cable for connecting the router to the dish.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

You can get longer router-to-dish cables at the Starlink store (accessible only with a Starlink account). Additional accessories are also available through Starlink, including different kinds of mounting hardware and adapters for connecting other equipment over standard Ethernet. (Check out our guide to Starlink accessories to learn more.)

(Credit: Brian Westover)

The box includes a fairly simple instruction sheet with illustrations and no text (though you’ll also find a QR code that connects you to Starlink’s support website). After glancing through the instructions, you might think you only need to plug in the router and power adapter, then point the dish at the sky. But it’s a little more complicated than that. You’ll also need to properly position the dish, mount it using a Starlink dish mount, and probably run a cable through an exterior wall. Here’s what to do.

1. Before You Buy, Find a Mounting Location

Even before you order the Starlink installation kit, you can use your smartphone to tell whether you have a suitable location to mount the dish. Starlink requires an unobstructed view of the sky, with at least 110 degrees of obstacle-free space above and around the dish. This is necessary to maintain a connection with passing satellites.

Some ideas for mounting locations include an open field, a rooftop, or some other elevated structure (such as a pole) that’s above obstructions such as fences, buildings, and trees.

(Credit: Starlink)

Just download the Starlink app for Android and iOS and scan for obstructions. The app has an interactive tool that helps you find and validate the proper position for a new dish, and the guidelines are easy enough to understand.

(Credit: Brian Westover/Starlink)

With the Starlink app, use your phone’s camera to scan the viewing area of the dish. The app’s obstruction-scanning feature walks you through this process, during which you point the camera at the sky. This may require some creative positioning on your part to let you view the screen and move the camera. Ideally, you want the camera in approximately the same position as the dish.

Now, sweep around the outer edges of that viewable area. The app places green dots on the screen to indicate unscanned areas within the dish’s field of view, and an arrow shows you what area to scan next.

(Credit: Brian Westover/Starlink)

Once you scan enough of the sky, the app takes some time to process the data. After a few moments of number crunching, it tells you whether or not you can get good reception from that position.

(Credit: Starlink)

One additional consideration: snow. The Starlink dish has a snow melt feature that does a good job of keeping the dish surface itself clear, but if you think you will get a lot of snow piled up around where you want to put the dish, consider whether it might cause an obstruction.

2. Unbox Starlink

Unpacking the Starlink install kit is pretty quick and easy, but make sure you’ve got everything you need:

Starlink dish
Starlink router
50-foot Starlink cable
Power adapter

(Credit: Brian Westover)

If you’re setting up your dish in a yard or next to an RV, that may be all you need. The integrated kickstand on the dish makes it super easy to set on any level ground, with a clear view of the sky. And the kickstand has holes that will accommodate stakes or screws if you want to secure it for a more permanent installation. But if you want to install your Starlink dish on a roof or a wall, you may need to buy the appropriate mounting hardware from the Starlink store.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

For my installation, I mounted my Starlink dish onto an existing mast left over from the previous homeowner’s satellite TV dish. That meant buying a Starlink pipe adapter, which had to be ordered separately from my Starlink installation kit.

3. Connect the Router

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Before you can get your dish up and running, you’ll need to connect your router. The router communicates with the dish and also provides power to it, so you’ll want to set it up first.

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(Credit: Brian Westover)

The router offers Wi-Fi 6 and has an external power adapter—the previous model had the power adapter integrated into the unit. The design works well enough sitting on a table or shelf, but if you want the equipment out of the way, you might consider buying a mounting bracket from the Starlink store.

4. Connect the Dish

Next, you’ll connect the dish to the router. That may sound a bit counterintuitive since you still need to mount the dish, but you’ll need your dish to be powered on and connected to your Starlink app before you can properly position it for mounting.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

For an outdoor installation, that might mean running the Starlink cable through an open window, or you might already have a hole drilled into the wall that you can feed a cable through. In any case, you’ll need to have enough cable to cover the distance between your router and the mounting position, plus some extra length for making adjustments.

5. Mount the Dish

After scanning and validating your position, it’s time to mount the dish. For basic installations, that simply entails placing the dish mount on the ground.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Even for some roof mounts, the included kickstand will be sufficient, but most will find that they need something specific. The Starlink Shop (again, only accessible with an account) sells a ridgeline mount for rooftop peaks, a pivot mount for sloped roofs, or even a wall mount. In my case, as mentioned earlier, I needed a pipe adapter, which let me mount my dish on the existing satellite-dish mast.

The only real requirements for mounting are that the dish has a clear 110-degree view of the sky and is close enough to your router that you can connect it with the included 50-foot cable (or a longer 150-foot cable, if you ordered one of those).

(Credit: Brian Westover)

As part of the installation process, the app will show you how to reposition the dish for the best view of overhead satellites. You may need to rotate the dish one way or the other, but as long as it’s pointing straight up, you’ll already have most of the hard work done.

6. Run the Cable

(Credit: Starlink)

For an initial setup, you might be fine running your Starlink cable through an open window. For permanent installation, you’ll need to run that cable through a wall. Starlink sells cable routing kits, as well as kits specifically for masonry walls. This kit includes the necessary drill bits, plastic grommets, and silicone sealant, but you’ll need to provide the drill.

Once you have the pilot hole drilled and the hole widened to accommodate the cable’s bulk, you’ll fish the cable end through the wall and seal up the hole with the included cover and silicone caulk. From here, you’re ready to activate Starlink.

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How to Install Starlink Mini

(Credit: Brian Westover)

1. Find a Clear View of the Sky

Just like the residential Starlink dish, the Mini requires a clear, unobstructed view of the sky to connect to the satellites passing overhead. Use the Starlink app to scan for obstructions and make sure you’ve got a suitable spot for the dish.

A good spot for the Starlink Mini will offer a clear view of the sky above, free from any trees, buildings, or other obstacles that might interfere with the signal between the dish and satellites. If finding a clear spot of ground isn’t feasible, it can also be mounted on a pole, on top of a vehicle or RV, or on a building rooftop, provided you have the right mounting gear.

2. Unbox or Unpack Starlink Mini

Whether you’re unboxing it for the first setup or pulling it out to get connected for the 20th time on an extended trip, you’ll want to make sure you have the necessary equipment. The Starlink Mini kit includes the following:

Dish/router combo
Kickstand and pole mount
50-foot power cable
Wall outlet plug adapter

(Credit: Brian Westover)

It actually comes pre-assembled with the kickstand, so setting up is as simple as flipping out the kickstand and setting the dish on level ground. And if you need something more specialized (like a rooftop mount or a vehicle power adapter), those accessories are available through the Starlink Store. (As with accessories for the standard kit, you can check out our guide to Starlink accessories to learn more about the accessories for the Mini.)

3. Plug In and Power Up

You now need to make the physical connections, but for the Mini, you’ve got only one cable to worry about: the power cord. The included 50-foot cable and 120-volt power adapter are both rated as IP66 Type 4 for indoor and outdoor use, meaning that they’ll stand up well against rain, sleet, snow, wind, and dust.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

The only consideration is that to plug it into the dish, you will need to thread the cable end through the openings of the kickstand to get the right cable positioning. And make sure that the cable is fully and firmly inserted into the dish, since the weatherproofing seal won’t work if it’s not completely plugged in.

4. Place and Position the Mini

Finally, it’s just a matter of pointing the Mini in the right direction. Whether you’re setting the little dish on level ground or mounting it higher to get clear of obstructions, you’ll need to align the angle of the dish so that it can establish a strong link with the satellites.

(Credit: Brian Westover/Starlink)

Getting the right general orientation and the specific angle is done with the Starlink app as part of the activation process, which I’ll discuss next.

Activating Starlink

Once you have the dish properly positioned and the cable run, all that’s left is to activate the dish using the Starlink app. The app setup guide will walk you through the process, which is quite straightforward.

(Credit: Starlink)

It takes a few moments for the dish to establish a connection to the satellites above, so be patient. It’s a quick (but not instantaneous) process. Once the dish establishes a connection, the Starlink app informs you that you are online and prompts you to set up your Wi-Fi name and password. Starlink then may take up to 20 minutes as it connects to the satellite network, downloads updates, and finishes its boot sequence before it’s fully active and ready to use.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Even with that initial delay out of the way, your Starlink internet may not offer optimal speeds for the first 12 hours of service. During this period, the system downloads additional software and drivers; scans and maps the satellites around the dish; and calculates the optimal positions to communicate with the different satellites above. These connections adjust automatically, so you shouldn’t have to worry about constantly tweaking your setup.

How Fast Is Starlink?

Once your Starlink is up and running, you should have a stress-free internet connection. How fast is Starlink? In my most recent tests, I saw average download speeds around 150Mbps and up to 325Mbps. My most recent tests averaged upload speeds of 23Mbps, and latency below 30 milliseconds. Over the past few years, upload speeds have gone up, and latency has gone down every time I’ve tested the service (in 2022, in 2023, in 2024, and in 2025).

(Credit: Brian Westover)

The dish-to-satellite connection takes care of itself, and while you may occasionally have a hiccup from a firmware update or a blip in service caused by something in the greater Starlink network, I have personally experienced very few disruptions in service over the two years I’ve been using it.

Since our first review of Starlink in 2022, we’ve seen steady improvements, and the latest changes to hardware and infrastructure have delivered the best speeds and lowest latency yet. The service is fast enough for gaming and working from home, as well as video streaming and other common online activities.

The single router in my Starlink setup does a capable job of covering my entire five-bedroom house (and most of the yard) with a strong, stable Wi-Fi signal. But for larger homes and some construction styles, you may want to use Starlink’s built-in mesh capabilities by adding a second router as a mesh node or connecting it to a mesh Wi-Fi system you already have in place.

Get Even More From Starlink

With your installation done, check out some tips for upgrading your Starlink experience, from weathering power outages to speeding up your web browsing or using Starlink’s built-in content filtering. We have guides on using the Starlink app, on reaching Starlink customer service, and even on how to DIY a Starlink cable repair in an emergency.

Finally, if you’re still on the fence about Starlink, check out our latest review and see how well Starlink compares to other satellite internet providers.

I’ve Used Starlink for Years. My Setup Guide Will Have You Online in No Time

What Is Starlink?