by David Vacanti, Vacanti Consulting Services LLC
Starting in the summer of 2022, and growing rapidly in the summer of 2023, we observed a large number of boats cruising the San Juan Islands of the Washington State and Gulf Islands, Broughtons and the Inside Passage to Alaska carrying various installations of Starlink Mobile and a few Starlink High Performance antennas aboard both Sail and Power boats. On the water experience led to many reports of excellent Internet access and WIFI calling capability all the way to Ketchikan, AK. While technically the waters of Washington and Southern British Columbia (along Eastern Vancouver Island) are notionally “protected” and are not directly exposed to the Eastern Pacific Ocean, they can nonetheless become hazardous with open fetches of 150Nmi and widths of more than 20Nmi in many places. High mountains fjords offer spectacular vistas but also create significant weather conditions. Certainly anyone venturing North of Cape Caution at the Northern end of Vancouver Island would be exposed to the Eastern Pacific at several locations on the way to Prince Rupert BC, Ketchikan AK and finally Juneau AK and would require timely weather and sea condition reports. Cellular coverage is very sparse approaching the Northern end of Vancouver Island and cannot be relied upon for collection of weather data, sea conditions or cell phone calling.
As a result there has long been a need to provide some form of internet service in these remote locations, preferably by Satellite so as to solve the massive infrastructure problem of locating hundreds of miles of remote cell towers along the BC and AK coasts.
The first generation mobile version of Starlink, initially reserved for parked RV’s, was later licensed for operation in motion at slow speeds (below 10Kts) using the 2022/23 “Standard Mobile” mechanically actuated antenna. It was later joined by the “High Performance” flat mounted Starlink antenna designed for in motion operation on high speed vessels. Both of these antenna systems proved to be a huge benefit to boaters of every walk of life by providing precisely the needed connectivity for exploring these fabulous cruising areas with safety via continuous phone coverage using WIFI calling and weather data for critical cruising plans in these very remote areas. These two critical functions were also accompanied by creature comforts like streaming favorite movies and high speed email access.
A “New Standard” Antenna Released
In December of 2023, Starlink announced the release of a “New Standard” Mobile antenna that no longer used motors to tilt and scan the entire Starlink antenna to follow overheard Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites that passed overhead. This “New Standard” antenna has a simple plastic “Kick Stand” that tips the antenna up about 11 degrees but otherwise has no mounting pole and no motors inside the antenna structure. I read many RV / Boating Blogs and viewed many YouTube videos that described all manner of “hacks” to get a Starlink “Mobile” antenna installed without the motors activated and without the OEM mounting pole. These hacks even involved using CNC machines or hand held Dremel Routers to cut off the back of the antenna or drill large holes at precisely the right place and disconnect the motor DC power and control lines. Any of these physical changes immediately invalidated the Starlink warranty and involved the potential for moisture or water to directly enter the antenna system and damage or destroy it.
Simplified Installation and Better WIFI
The New Standard antenna not only solves all of the antenna complexity issues, it comes with a fantastic WIFI 6 router that sports two Ethernet Cable connections and a separate Power Supply module that makes installation far easier than anything seen on the web for the “Standard Actuated Antenna”.
The old Mobile Antenna is now called the “Standard Actuated Antenna” and the new antenna without motors or mounting pole is now dubbed the “New Standard Antenna”. Anyone intending to purchase a new Mobile Starlink antenna should be aware of the large differences between the two and make sure they are acquiring the “New Standard Antenna” because it allows direct flat mounting on the roof of a pilothouse or coach roof with the simple one handed pinch and pull removal of the “kick stand” and then manufacturing simple mounting blocks that can capture the corners of the new antenna. There is no doubt that clever companies will soon sell flat mounting kits for this New Standard antenna.
The other issue associated with installing and using a Starlink antenna aboard a vessel is the supply of power to the unit. The “New Standard” antenna requires on the order of 100W of 120V AC power on startup and on a transient basis when in motion. Power requirements drop to 50-60W of quiescent power for fixed operation. At 120VAC this amounts to 0.5 – 1 Amp of power but at 12VDC this amounts to 9 amps input to an Inverter. While operation underway could easily be accomplished by most Inverters using engine alternator input, once the vessel is at anchor, power transitions to batteries at 12-24VDC. Thus it becomes necessary to provide an Inverter capable of at least 100W and preferably double that to avoid operation of the inverter at near maximum capability over long periods of time. We have seen still more “hacks” by DIY folks on the web to replace the older combined Starlink WIFI Router / Power Supply but the cost of the components required is very high and the complexity of cutting OEM cables and rewiring them for Ethernet Data and DC to DC converters is usually beyond many DIYers capabilities.
Happily the New Standard Antenna comes with a separate high performance WIFI 6 Router complete with two Ethernet ports to connect to onboard hardwired systems and a separate 120VAC power supply that can be located as needed. As a result of all of these changes, all a boater needs to install this new version of Starlink Mobile antenna is the courage to drill a hole for the Ethernet cable (9/16″ Diameter) and configure some simple “stand offs” at each corner of the antenna. The cable access hole must be sealed using a typical cable gland but otherwise one is looking at a total of 5 holes topsides to mount the antenna. Alternately, if flat space is not sufficient, the standard “house mount” intended for wall mounting affords an easy way to mount the antenna on the side of a mast or dry stack mast system on larger vessels. Mounting the new WIFI 6 router can be as simple as placing it on a chart table or desk and the power supply can be hidden away if necessary.
In our case I opted for a hidden installation of the WIFI 6 router and power supply and using a 250W dedicated inverter with remote On/Off control above the headliner in our pilothouse. Each installation will be a bit different but essentially there is no longer any need to modify the Starlink equipment and the only addition is the consideration of a dedicated Inverter ($150 by Victron) so that the vessels large 2000 – 3000 Watt inverter is not being toggled on an off (along with all appliances it may power) to save battery power when the Starlink system is not needed.
Please see the attached PDF file for more information and detailed photos
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