On almost every hike or camping trip I take in Washington state, there’s a moment on the drive when service drops, music cuts out in the car and texts stop coming in. That’s when I start hoping I remembered to download the trail map.
This disconnection is usually a welcome reprieve. I go off into the mountains partly to get a break from my phone, after all. But on this brisk Sunday morning in the North Cascades, that moment never came. I’d brought along a Starlink Mini in my backpack.
As my friends waited in line for the bathroom at the trailhead, I pulled out the small white square, about the size of a laptop, plugged it into my portable battery and waited for it to communicate with the Starlink satellites zooming invisibly 342 miles above our heads.
This was a slightly unusual way to use the Starlink Mini. The dish comes with Starlink’s Roam plans, which are designed for “high-speed internet on the go,” according to the company. It uses less than half the power of the full-size Starlink dish and weighs a little over 3 pounds, so it’s feasible to bring it along on a backcountry hike or camping trip. But more common use cases are RVs, vans and boats that aren’t tied to one specific location.
To test out the Starlink Mini, I also spent three days connected to it at my apartment in Seattle. I did everything I normally would on my regular old cable internet: chatted on Zoom meetings, streamed live sports and completed crosswords online with a friend.
I’ve written skeptically about Starlink in the past, but as I sat on top of a mountain in the North Cascades watching live NFL games in HD, I couldn’t help but grin. In this article, I’ll cover everything you need to know to get the most out of a Starlink Mini, and give you a full picture of the kind of performance you can expect from it.
It took about ten minutes for the Starlink Mini to find a connection in the mountains.
How to set up the Starlink Mini
Setting up the Starlink Mini is incredibly simple. Here’s everything you’ll get in the box:
- Starlink Mini dish (16.92 x 13.14 x 3.11 in)
- Kickstand
- Pipe adapter and flat mount
- Power cable (49.2 feet)
- Power supply
- Plug
The Starlink Mini was incredibly simple to set up, with only six items in the box.
Download the Starlink app
Your first step is to download the Starlink app, which you can access from a QR code on the packaging. This will guide you through the entire setup process, from finding an ideal location to creating a Wi-Fi network.
Check for obstructions
After the app is downloaded, it will prompt you to find a good resting place for the dish. Starlink says you need a “clear view of the sky” away from obstructions like tree branches, telephone poles or roofs. You can use the app to check for obstructions by holding your phone up to the sky.
The Starlink app directs you to hold your phone up to the sky to analyze obstructions in the area before mounting.
I wouldn’t get too bogged down in finding the perfect location. By design, the Starlink Mini probably won’t be staying in one place for too long. If you have a video meeting you want to ensure a stable connection for, you may want to run a quick obstruction check before you hop on. But for most Starlink Mini users, the obstructions surrounding the dish will constantly be in flux.
Plug in the dish
Once you’ve found a suitable spot, you plug one end of the power cable into the supply box and the other end into the dish. The power cable runs 49.2 feet, so you have some room to place the dish far away from the nearest electrical outlet.
Connect to Wi-Fi
Once it’s plugged in, you’ll be prompted to set up a Wi-Fi connection. Remember to follow best Wi-Fi practices to keep your network secure: Use a strong and unique password, create a guest network for visitors and set a time for automatic software updates.
It will take a few minutes for Starlink to communicate with satellites in the sky. Don’t panic if you’re offline or have slow speeds to start. It takes up to 30 minutes to optimize its connection and sometimes you won’t see maximum speeds until it’s been in the same spot for a full day.
Align Starlink
Once your network is set up, you can fine tune the dish’s connection with Starlink’s satellites by tweaking the alignment. You’ll be prompted to rotate the dish until it’s facing the right direction at the ideal angle.
Starlink’s alignment setup guides you to the optimal angle to mount your dish.
Mounting
There are many options for mounting your Starlink Mini. Several mounts are available from Starlink and others from third-party manufacturers. The Mini comes with a pipe adapter and flat mount accessory, which is designed to be installed on a pipe or flat surface in a “stationary location.” If you want to use the dish on a vehicle, Starlink sells a mount that’s designed to be removable from a roof rack and another that stays in one place permanently.
Optimizing your Starlink Mini for travel
The Starlink Mini is meant for on-the-go connectivity, but this presents a few challenges that you don’t have with a stationary dish. Here’s everything you’ll need to know to get internet on the road — or the trail, sea or campground.
Powering the Starlink Mini
Since you may not have access to an electrical outlet, you’ll have to find an alternative power source. Starlink says that the Mini dish requires a 100-watt (20V/5A) power source to operate optimally, or a minimum of 65 watts (12-48V). Absent a generator, you have three options for this kind of power: a vehicle, portable power station or power bank.
Using a vehicle to power the Starlink Mini is generally the simplest option. You’ll need to purchase an adapter that can be used with an automotive 12-24V auxiliary power outlet, also known as the car cigarette lighter. Starlink sells a Mini Car Adapter for $45, and there are a number of options available from third-party sellers. One popular combination is UGREEN’s 130W USB-C Car Charger paired with a Starlink Mini USB-C to DC Power Cable.
A portable power station is a good option for camping if you don’t want to worry about draining your vehicle’s battery, but these are more expensive and heavier than most power banks, so they wouldn’t necessarily be a good fit for hiking or backpacking. These generally have AC outlets on them, so you can use the provided power supply without having to purchase a separate adapter.
If you want something more portable or for more intermittent use, a power bank is your best bet. I used the Anker 737 Power Bank to test the Starlink Mini, which gets you 24,000 Milliamp Hours (mAh) capacity and 140-watt output. (Again, Starlink says the minimum you can use is 65 watts, but I’d recommend going with at least 100 watts for any power bank.)
A 24,000mAh Anker 737 Power Bank powered my Starlink Mini for about four hours at a time.
The capacity here is the key number. At 24,000 mAh, the Anker 737 is on the higher end of most power banks you’ll see. Starlink says the Mini consumes between 25 and 40 watts on average. Working from home on the Mini, my power draw was just 21 watts on average. That meant my Anker battery could power the Starlink Mini for about 4 hours at a time.
If you go the power bank route, you’ll need to buy a separate cable that uses a USB-C. There are a bunch of these for about $10 on Amazon. I ended up going with a 10 foot cable that had both a USB-C and cigarette lighter plug. That way, I could use the power bank as my primary source but also use my vehicle in a pinch.
Trees: Starlink’s Achilles heel
Starlink isn’t exaggerating when it says you need a clear view of the sky for it to work properly. I tried putting it under a variety of trees around my house, and it failed to establish a connection under any of them. Even where you could see patches of sky through the branches, the Starlink app still returned an “Obstructed” error message.
The Starlink Mini failed to establish a connection in wooded areas.
You could potentially move the dish to a clearing, especially if you’re camping near a lake or river, and set up the dish there. I was still getting a pretty strong connection from about 50 feet away from the dish, so you have some leeway in finding an optimal location.
Troubleshooting common issues
If you have a clear view of the sky and the Starlink app is still showing no connection to the internet, the first place you should check is the power. The status light on the back of the Starlink Mini should be blinking slowly. If there’s no light at all, it means there’s a problem with the power source.
If the power is on, but you’re still having trouble establishing a connection with the Starlink Mini, my first recommendation is to wait. When I powered it up on my hike for the first time, I was disappointed at first that I couldn’t get a connection. But after about 10 minutes of the dish searching for satellites, I was online and checking my fantasy football scores.
It took about 10 minutes for the Mini to establish a connection on my hike.
After 10 minutes, your Starlink Mini should have established some connection to the internet (and should continue to get stronger over the next 24 hours). If you’re still not getting a signal, Starlink recommends unplugging the Mini from the power source and plugging it back in. If that doesn’t work, you can reset it to factory settings, which will require setting up a new Wi-Fi network.
Starlink in the wild: How did it hold up in the backcountry?
To test out the Starlink Mini on the move, I strapped it to my backpack for the hike down from Cutthroat Pass.
To test out the Starlink Mini in the wilderness, I powered it up at various points along the 10-mile hike and took some speed tests. Once I got to the top (and wouldn’t annoy my hiking partners too much), I ran some more real-world tests. The Starlink Mini passed all of them beautifully. I streamed live NFL games, FaceTimed a friend and streamed Game of Thrones in 4K. In every case, the experience felt no different than if I were doing those things on my cable internet connection at home.
That said, the numbers tell a slightly different story. I took 12 speed tests on the 5-hour hike, and the Starlink Mini returned averages of 127Mbps download speed, 17Mbps upload speed and 46 milliseconds latency. That was shockingly close to what Ookla reports as Starlink’s median US performance: 105Mbps download, 15Mbps upload and 45ms latency. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same company as , Ziff Davis.)
While those numbers were certainly serviceable for most online tasks, they didn’t come close to my cable internet through Xfinity. Though it’s a slightly unfair comparison. Starlink Mini is meant to keep you connected where broadband infrastructure doesn’t exist, but I think it’s worth putting Starlink’s speeds into context.
I pay $63 per month through Xfinity and got speeds of 422/175Mbps with 20ms latency when I tested my connection over the same period. That’s less than I would pay for Starlink Roam ($80 per month), and I’d only get 50GB of data each month with Starlink.
I use about 90GB of data at home in an average week, and I don’t do any particularly bandwidth-intensive activities, just a few Zoom meetings every day, working in Google Docs and streaming TV for an hour or two. With that diet, I would run out of data with Starlink’s 50GB Roam plan in a few days. Starlink charges $1 for every GB you go over your data cap each month. If you want unlimited data for the Starlink Mini, it’ll cost you $195 monthly.
Starlink’s upload and download speeds were high enough that most small to mid-size households probably wouldn’t experience many limitations. But there is one group that would: online gamers. Starlink’s had an average latency of 45 milliseconds in my tests. I usually say anything below 50ms is good enough for gaming, but there were several spikes above 100ms in my 24 speed tests with Starlink. That’s not a huge deal if you’re just checking emails or streaming Netflix, but it could make an online gaming experience nearly unplayable over the course of a couple of hours.
Starlink Mini: Key benefits and drawbacks
Pros
- Internet isn’t tied to one location
- Lightweight and portable
- Plenty of speed for most online activities
- Simple setup and installation
- Intuitive and helpful app
Cons
- Signal is easily blocked by trees and other obstacles
- Uses a significant amount of power
- Latency spikes were common
- 50GB monthly data cap is extremely low for most people
Is the Starlink Mini worth it?
I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say Starlink is a miraculous technology. One user in Alaska described it to me in a previous interview as an absolute game changer where he lives.
“You bring a Starlink dish out there and plug it in. Two minutes later, you’ve got the whole world again in the palm of your hand,” he said.
My experience with the Mini was no different. It was absolutely surreal to be on top of a mountain deep in the backcountry watching a live NFL game in crystal clear HD. But there are only a few specific situations in which I’d recommend the Starlink Mini.
If you’re going to be traveling for a long period of time and won’t have consistent access to an internet connection, the Starlink Mini is essentially your only option for staying connected. But that comes at a significant price. The dish itself retails for $299, though Starlink is currently offering it for free to new customers. And you’ll pay another $165 per month if you want unlimited data, which is essential if you plan on using it like you would a home internet connection.
If you just want to use it periodically, you might be able to get by with the 50GB plan for $50 a month. Starlink used to let you pause service on Roam plans, so you could activate it only for specific trips. As of August, you now have to pay $5 a month for that stop-restart privilege.
I could see how having the peace of mind to check email or look up directions while traveling would be worth the cost for some people. And in those situations, the Starlink Mini performs beautifully. Just don’t expect the same performance you’d get at home.
