Starlink is now available across three-quarters of Australia. Is the Low Earth Orbit satellite service the answer for businesses experiencing connectivity issues?
Across Australia there remain many locations that do not have reliable access to NBN or to a mobile network.
In our regional towns and even in our cities, there are many streets where geographical barriers hinder mobile reception. Meanwhile many rural areas have no access to an NBN service and mobile coverage is patchy.
Is the Starlink satellite service the answer for business sites that are not being served with reliable connectivity?
MobileCorp is is one of Australia's leading MSPs deploying both wired and wireless networks. We are now trialling Starlink with corporate customers who are unable to access a reliable connection by any other means.
Where is Starlink available in Australia
Where are Starlink Earth Stations in Australia?
How do I know if my business site is eligible for a Starlink service?
What is the Starlink Business service?
What is the Starlink Residential service?
What is the Starlink Roaming service?
What is Starlink's Maritime service?
What does Starlink cost?
Starlink for Business Managed Service by MobileCorp
Where is Starlink available in Australia?
About three-quarters of Australia has access to Starlink and all of Australia is expected to have coverage by March 2023.
Starlink first launched in Australia as a trial in northern Victoria and southern New South Wales in April 2021. Since that time the satellite service has steadily expanded.
Starlink coverage map September 2022
Starlink Coverage map July 2022
Starlink Coverage map 2021
Where are Starlink Earth stations in Australia?
Starlink has 20 Earth stations in Australia. The ACMA lists locations in NSW, VIC, WA, SA and Qld.
Starlink Earth stations October 2022 Source: ACMA website
Wagin Western Australia Starlink Earth Station
How do I know if my business site is eligible for a Starlink service?
To check if your address has access to Starlink go to https://www.starlink.com/map
When you type in your address, it will show if the service is available. Starlink cells are about 25km in circumference and the number of users in each cell is limited.
Below is the availability map for MobileCorp's Head Office at 247 Coward Street, Mascot, Sydney.
The service is available. The darker blue cells around the Hornsby area indicate that there is already congestion on the cell and no more users in that cell can purchase the service.
What is the Starlink Business service?
For fixed locations Starlink offers two service levels - Residential and Business - however many smaller business locations will choose to use a Residential service.
Starlink offers a Business service which used to be called Premium, but is now simply called Business.
Starlink Business offers advantages over the residential service with a higher gain antenna, additional throughput allocation, and better extreme weather performance.
Starlink says its business users can expect download speeds of up to 350 Mbps and latency of 20-40ms.
Starlink Business enables high throughput connectivity for offices of up to 20 users, storefronts, and demanding or critical workloads.
With Starlink, there is no contract, no data cap, and no exclusivity requirements. Business customers have access to 24/7 prioritised support and a publicly routable IPv4 address.
Starlink Business packages are shipped out of the US and take about 14 days to be delivered to an Australian address.
MobileCorp offers a Starlink Managed Service for business which includes hardware procurement, onsite installation, testing, and support helpdesk. We can also provide a failover-failback to 4G or LTE option.
What is the Starlink Residential service?.
Residential service is Starlink's standard internet service. When first launched the dish was a round shape but the second generation hardware has shifted to the new rectangular dish.
The Residential service offers best effort speeds of 50-200Mbps download and 10-20Mbps upload.
The dish can be placed on the ground, on a balcony, or on a roof but must be in a position with 100o clear Line Of Sight to the sky. For this reason most households will mount it on a roof.
In the box is a Starlink dish, a mount, a Wi-Fi router base unit, a power cable for the base unit and a 75-foot cable for connecting the router to the dish. There is also a simple instruction sheet.
Starlink units are tied to a specific Starlink cell. They are not designed to be moved from the allocated address and can only be moved to a new address in a different cell after contacting Starlink for a reconfiguration.
Starlink residential orders are shipped from within Australia so take only 3-4 days for delivery.
What is the Starlink Roaming service?
Starlink now offers a roaming service. The service is called RV, obviously in reference to its American target market of those who are moving around in a Reticulated Vehicle.
The roaming service is available across Australia with the exception of an area in WA and a few cells in Sydney.
What is the Starlink Maritime service?
There is also a Maritime service, designed for ocean going vessels and luxury yachts. It is Starlink's most expensive service at USD$5,000 per month and around USD$10,000 for the hardware.
The Maritime service does offer the ability to pause and un-pause the service at any time, and is billed in one month increments, allowing users to customise their service to their individual needs.
If staying within 100km of the Australian coastline, the Starlink Roaming service is recommended as the more cost effective and viable option.
Starlink Maritime was originally developed for SpaceX vessels and is currently being used to get high-quality video of SpaceX rocket landings at sea. The Maritime solution is already proving its resilience by providing continuous coverage of SpaceX launches and landings in the face of engines capable of generating up to 190,000 lbs (86,182 kgs) of force. The solution is also designed to withstand extreme cold, heat, hail, sleet, heavy rain, and gale force winds.
Starlink Maritime hardware bears a small footprint, demands minimal above deck space, and comes with an easy-to-install mount.
What does Starlink cost in Australia ?
Starlink billing began from shipping date and is month-to-month with no lock in contract. There is currently no data limit on any of the Starlink services.
| Starlink Service | Unlimited Data | Hardware |
| Residential | $139 per month | $450 |
| Business | $750 per month | $3,740 plus shipping $155 |
| Roaming | $139 per month | $450 |
| Maritime | USD$5,000 per month | USD$10,000 |
Starlink Managed Service for Business by MobileCorp
MobileCorp is a Sydney-based Communications Technology MSP who solves connectivity issues for Australian businesses.
We are a leading 5G and Wireless Network MSP and have added Starlink to our range of connectivity solutions for locations where there is untenable fixed or mobile coverage.
We will manage
- Procurement and shipping to site
- Onsite installation of the Starlink dish and cabling to your comms room
- Testing for optimal coverage
- Starlink service helpdesk
- Optional failover to 4G network (incurs additional charges)
For more information contact
Peter Jonson
Head of Managed Services, MobileCorp
e. peter@mobilecorp.com.au
m. 0400 299 909
t. 1800 243 252
About MobileCorp
MobileCorp is an enterprise ICT solutions company with a mission to deliver our customers a communications technology edge. We provide Complex Data and IP Networks, Managed Mobility Services, Enterprise Mobility Management, and Unified Communication solutions. We have a proven track record providing managed services for Australian enterprise and business, and we are a Telstra Platinum Partner for Mobility and Services.
