SpaceX Starlink engineers answered questions from Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Saturday, covering topics such as data caps (which they never hope to implement), when the public beta will expand to more users, and how satellite-broadband service will be. . Expand and change in the future.
“Starlink is a very flexible system and will get better over time as we make the software smarter. Latency, bandwidth and reliability can all be significantly improved,” the engineers wrote under the Red Dead username “Deshimsyflatface,” Which is also nicknamed the SpaceX Starlink Satellite Dish.
Here are some highlights from AMA.
There are no data caps “at this time”
When asked if users ever face data caps, the Starlink team gave a vague answer: “At this time, the Starlink beta service does not have data caps.”
While that response did not cover the present in the future, Dishimkflafface’s subsequent comment responded in more detail, suggesting that SpaceX was trying to avoid data caps:
So we don’t really want to enforce restricted data caps like people have faced with satellite internet in the past. Right now we are still trying to find a lot of things – we have to do something in the future to stop the abuse and make sure everyone else gets quality service.
Extended beta in January – no bribe required
Starlink satellite dishes and appliances in the Core d’Allen National Forest in Idaho Panhadel.
Many who have not been able to get the Starlink beta are eagerly awaiting updates on availability, and AMAA responded. The Starlink team wrote that SpaceX was “steadily increasing network usage over time to bring in as many people as possible.” “Notably, we are considering moving from a limited beta to a comprehensive beta at the end of January, to give more users a chance to participate.”
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX Similar update on Twitter A few weeks ago when a user asked when Beta Florida would arrive. “Low-latitude states need more satellites in position, so maybe January,” Musk wrote at the time.
As before, people hoping to get Starlink can enter their email and service address on the Starlink website and hope to hear back. Bribery obviously won’t help. When a Reddit user asked, “How are beta users selected and what is the best amount of bribe?” The Starlink team responded, “No need to bribe, our goal is to ultimately serve everyone.”
More engineers are needed
The Starlink team has repeatedly told Reddit users that SpaceX is looking for more engineers. In response to when the beta will expand, Dichimsiflafef wrote, “If you really want to help run it, you can send the best software engineers to Starlink to help make it work better.”
There are over a dozen jobs available in Starlink Product Design, Product Design and Software software and links to job posts can be found in this DishmicFlapse comment. The Starlink team wrote, “We are very excited about the initial feedback and future prospects of Starlink, but we still have a ton to learn,” the Starlink team wrote. “If you know any great people who can help us with that, please email them resume at starlinkંકspacex.com.”
Will Starlink work away from home?
A few weeks ago, we wrote about a Starlink beta user who took Satellite Dish and a portable power supply to Idaho’s National Forest, where he got fast internet service. But that doesn’t mean you can take the dish anywhere, as SpaceX currently only promises that it will work at every beta user’s service address.
A Reddit user who lives and works on a ducked boat in South Florida wanted to know if Starlink would provide service on the high seas. “The mobile system that gives me reliable connectivity will really set me free to travel to the coastal US, the Bahamas and finally.”
Starlink replied:
For now, we can only serve at the address you sign up to at Starlink.com. If you try to use Starlink in nearby places, you will be lucky, but the quality of service may be worse.
Mobility options – including moving your Starlink to different service addresses (or places that don’t even have addresses!) – are coming once we’ll increase our coverage by launching more satellites and rolling out new software.
SpaceX recently asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to test Star Sync user terminals “on a sewing platform” and on private jets.
Storms and extreme temperatures
The Reddit user asked if the satellite dish would work in strong winds, such as when “flying on the tail of a flatbed trailer with intermittent crashing thunder.” The SpaceX team said it was not a recommended use and that the “dish was not made for tropical storms, tornadoes, etc.”
A Reddit user living in Canada asked if the dish would work at temperatures below 45 degrees Celsius (which is 49 માં below Fahrenheit). Starlink engineers responded that the dish is certified to operate from 40 to 40 નીચે below zero to 30 પર on a Celsius scale (which is 22 below zero to 104 ° F). SpaceX has “tested cold temperatures without these issues.”
The team also said the Starlink Satellite Dish has “self-heating capability to deal with a variety of weather conditions.” In the coming weeks and months, they plan to deploy software updates that will “improve our ice melting capacity.”
