Starlink in the 4×4 camper – important facts

last updated on June 14, 2023

A preliminary note: Starlink is a very dynamic company. Changes were made often and numerously in the past, eg in relation to the service contract, the prices and the technology / hardware.
Here we describe the current status of mid-May 2023 for a service/order address in Germany. It is advisable to always refer to the current conditions for the respective country of the service order address https://www.starlink.com/roam or. https://www.starlink.com/mobility to retrieve.

Starlink Service Agreements

• There are now several suitable Starlink service contracts for mobile homes. These can be divided into the two main categories “mobile” and “mobile priority”.
  • "Mobile" is the cheaper variant, "Mobile Priority" is the more expensive variant with a focus on professional users
  • To order “Mobile” you must first click on the “Travel” section on the Starlink website (“Roam” in English), see https://www.starlink.com/roam - earlier (at the time of an order a few weeks ago) this area was still called "camper van" or "RV".
  • To order “Mobile Priority” click on “Mobility”, see https://www.starlink.com/mobility
• You can change Starlink service contracts monthly and conveniently using the Starlink app or website.

Service contract “Mobil Regional„

• The cheapest version of "mobile" is called "mobile regional" - this is the one we decided on.
• Recurring costs EUR 100 per month
• One-off costs (with “standard” hardware) EUR 450 (current special offer EUR 300 – addendum as of 14 June 2023: the special offer seems to no longer exist)
• No minimum term, cancellable at the end of each month.
• Can be paused per billing month, during the pause you don't pay any recurring costs.
• It is possible to change to a cheaper or higher quality service contract per billing month.
• Usable in all countries (not offshore) with active Starlink service coverage (see https://www.starlink.com/map?source=rv) of same continent as the service/order address.
  For users with a service address in Germany (i.e. the continent of Europe), this means, for example, that Africa is not included. In this situation, however, you could switch to the "Mobile Global" service contract for the duration of the trip to Africa, which is easy to do via the Starlink app or website and per calendar month.
  Attention: Popular travel countries such as Morocco, Turkey etc. currently do not (yet) have active service coverage, but may be in the planning stage.
• In Germany, the service contract is only available with the "standard" hardware (see https://www.starlink.com/specifications?spec=1) can be ordered. The use of the standard antenna while driving is not permitted.
• The data throughput of the Internet connection is not guaranteed, but is based on "best effort" or "deprioritization".
  This means that in places or at times of high usage, the available data throughput may be lower.
  So far we have mostly experienced download speeds of > 50 Mbit/sec and upload speeds of 10 Mbit/sec. In some cases, the performance was significantly higher (~ 200 Mbit/sec download, ~ 20 Mbit/sec upload), we have only experienced very low / insufficient performance with very heavy precipitation.
  Due to the concept, the actually achievable data throughput fluctuates significantly due to the constantly changing availability of the overflying satellites and possibly existing other users.
• The amount of data to be used is not limited, see https://www.starlink.com/legal/documents/DOC-1144-32881-68?regionCode=DE
• Prioritized data can be booked for EUR 2.27 per GB

Service contract “Mobile Global„

Differences to "Regional":

• Usable in all countries (not offshore) with active Starlink service coverage (see https://www.starlink.com/map?source=rv) on everyone continents.
• Recurring costs EUR 230 per month.
• You can easily switch from and to this service contract per billing month using the Starlink app or website.

Mobile Priority service contract

• Focus on professional applications
• Recurring costs from Eur 284 per month (with 50GB prioritized data) to Eur 5608.47 with 5TB
• One-time costs (with "High Performance Flat" hardware) EUR 2803
• Can be used while driving (with Flat High Performance Hardware)
• Usable in all countries with active Starlink service coverage (see https://www.starlink.com/map?source=rv) on everyone continents and the prioritized data quotas also on the open sea.
• Superior Starlink support
• In addition to the unlimited deprioritized / "best effort" data volumes of the regional/global mobile service contracts described above, surcharges apply prioritized data quotas add to
• You can easily switch from and to this service contract per billing month using the Starlink app or website.

technology / hardware

In principle, Starlink antennas require a field of view of the sky that is as free as possible. Nearby (especially tall) buildings, trees, etc. can decrease performance, as can heavy precipitation.
In return, you are completely independent of network infrastructure, such as mobile communications or WLAN hotspots, when you are out in the open.

"Standard" antenna

• The "standard" antenna is normally placed on or near the vehicle on the ground, the standard cable is about 20m long.
  We found it uncomfortable to have to assemble and disassemble the antenna every day (especially in bad weather).
  The antenna standing on the ground is also difficult to protect against theft and the like. protection
• For permanent mounting on the vehicle, a flat Starmount bracket can be used, see https://star-mountsystems.com/products/low-profile-flat-mount-for-rectangle-starlink-dishy - ideally, such a mount also has a really waterproof RJ-45 cable connection, such as with https://star-mountsystems.com/products/all-in-one-flat-mount-with-integrated-modem
  The fixed installation makes handling much more convenient, daily assembly and disassembly are no longer necessary, and theft is very difficult.
  For this, however, the antenna must be invasively adapted (saw off the back). This will presumably void Starlink's warranty claims.
  For details of fixed installation see Starlink - Fixed installation of the standard antenna (part 2)
• With some Bliss Units, the standard antenna fits permanently between the solar modules and can then also be easily reached over the bed and the roof hatch for possible maintenance work.
• When permanently installed in a Bliss Unit, the Starlink system can be conveniently activated via Loxone (i.e. also from the driver’s cab), and the Internet connection is then usually active via the Bliss Unit’s WLAN after about 1 minute.
• Energy consumption in our case between approx. 25W in normal operation (via special 24V DC control) up to approx. 80W (e.g. with Starlink Router 230V AC during the boot process, with high data throughput etc.)
• To enable 12V DC or 24V DC operation using existing routers, the original Starlink router can be replaced, see Starlink – operation with 24V DC (Part 2)
  This saves energy because the vehicle's inverter does not have to be switched on.
• Must not be used while driving.

"High performance flat" antenna

• Order addresses in Germany are currently only available with the more expensive "Mobil Priority" service contract
• Higher performance (better data throughput with poorer field of view to the sky) but also larger dimensions and higher power consumption, see https://www.starlink.com/specifications?spec=3
• Significantly more expensive, currently EUR 2803
• Can be firmly mounted flat/horizontally without invasive adjustment.
• May be used while driving.

Change history of this article:

• May 9, 2023 - initial release
• May 23, 2023 - Major updates
• June 14, 2023 - Minor adjustments