Starlink brings satellite internet to moving vehicles
With a constellation of artificial satellites that already has more than 2,300 units in orbit, Starlink’s global coverage offers broadband Internet access in more and more areas of the planet. It already covers almost all of Europe (except Russia), the Middle East, New Zealand and almost all of Australia, a good part of North America and Central America and some Latin American countries.
The new Starlink antennas allow constant access to Internet via satellite in much of the planet from moving vehicles
Until now, the way to access this service that allows connecting to the Internet from remote areas and lacking any telecommunications infrastructure is as simple as a small antenna (before they were satellite dishes, now they are flat), recently taking the step of incorporating the possibility that vehicles such as boats or caravans could access, although the latter were stationary.
Starting in December, Starlink goes one step further with a new type of antennas and a new type of service. These are completely flat antennas that will be attached to the roof of vehicles that can access the internet connection while on the go.
This advance has a price that is already higher than the “fixed” version of the Starlink antennas, which cost $599, and in the case of needing the connection while the vehicle is running, the price increases to $2,500.
At least the price of the access is maintained (135 dollars a month), but the complexity of the technology necessary to capture and send the moving signal, compressed into relatively thin flat antennas, mean that the price is only at the height of the very wealthy or companies with special needs for constant broadband connection while their vehicles are on the move.
These new antennas are resistant to bad weather, especially rain, and are designed to be permanently installed on vehicles, which seems more geared towards buses, trains, cruise ships and planes than private vehicles. Perhaps the latter will have their turn in the future.
