Can you Travel with Starlink? Best Options

Being a digital nomad at heart I always wanted to take my Starlink with me on my travels.

It took me a stupidly long time to realize that there are plenty out there looking at options to get a solid internet service during their travels, no matter on air, road, or at sea.

Not a lot of people know that Starlink does have a few cards that can help in enabling just that, and this has motivated me to write this article on how you can travel with a Starlink connection.

To travel with Starlink, Starlink RV or the portability feature for Starlink Residential are the best choices. Starlink also provides options for boat and aircraft owners with their Starlink Maritime and Starlink Aviation plans.

Travelling on Road with Starlink RV

By road is the most common method of travel for many, and Starlink has quite a few plans that cater to such an audience.

Starlink has Starlink RV, which is specifically designed for those who are out and about on their RVs and require a solid internet connection.

Starlink does have two plan options for Starlink RV: A plan with a regular rectangular Starlink RV dish, and a plan with a high-performance dish on board

There is also a workaround option where you can temporarily take your existing Starlink Residential connection on the road by enabling a feature called Portability

Here is a brief comparison of the options for users who want to utilize a Starlink connection for their on-road travels:

	Starlink RV	Starlink RV with flat high-performance dish	Starlink Residential with portability
One-time Hardware fee	$599	$2500	$599
Monthly Service fee	$110	$135	$90 (high density areas) or $120 $25 portability fee
In motion use	❌	✔	❌
Download speeds	50-200 Mbps	100-350 Mbps	50-200 Mbps
Upload speeds	2-10 Mbps	10-25 Mbps	2-10 Mbps
Latency	20-40 ms	Less than 20 ms	20-40 ms

Starlink RV with Rectangular dish

This is the most popular Starlink RV plan, and the brief chart below summarizes every aspect that this plan offers for its users:

Hardware cost (one-time)	$599
Service fee (monthly)	$135 Can be paused
Waiting list	No
Priority of service	Deprioritized
Data cap	No
In motion use	No
Rated download speeds	50-200 Mbps
Tested download speeds	9-220 Mbps
Rated upload speeds	2-10 Mbps
Tested upload speeds	5-10 Mbps
Rated Latency	20-40 ms
Tested latency	30-100 ms
Power supply rating	100-240V AC 50-60 Hz 2A

The Starlink RV basically is Starlink Residential for remote users but with a few downgrades to counter its nomadic nature

This is reflected in the hardware, which is almost identical to what you receive with a Starlink Residential connection.

But the similarities end there.

Starlink RV costs a bit higher, at $135 per month instead of Starlink Residential's base $90.

This service fee can be paused and enabled as per your needs, in case you take a break from your regular travelling spree.

There is also no waiting list for Starlink RV customers, unlike Starlink Residential. This means you can utilize the Starlink service immediately after subscribing.

But this does come with a slight downgrade, in that you will need to be content with a deprioritized service.

This effectively means that the Starlink Residential customers around you will have more priority for the Starlink connection, leading to potentially slower speeds.

This is entirely dependent on the usage in the particular cell that you are currently hosting the Starlink connection from.

Since your service is already deprioritized, there are no soft data caps for Starlink RV connections.

One key factor that might affect your usage of Starlink RV is that the regular plan does not support internet connectivity when in motion.

This means that you will have to be stationary in order for your Starlink dish to connect to a Starlink satellite constellation above.

Coming to its performance, it is entirely dependent on the location you try to connect your Starlink from.

We noticed high peaks and low troughs with our testing, with speeds ranging as low as 9 Mbps and as high as 220 Mbps.

The upload speed situation was surprisingly more stable, hovering around 6 Mbps on average.

The power consumption charts were also pretty decent, with similar power consumption reports as of a regular Starlink Residential connection.

Starlink RV with Flat High-Performance dish

This is Starlink's higher tier option for Starlink RV customers who want better performance and features than their regular counterparts.

The flat high-performance dish is a redesign of the high-performance dishes that Starlink provides for their Business and high-end Residential plans for better speeds.

Given below is a brief outline of what you can expect from a Starlink RV connection with a flat high-performance dish:

Hardware cost (one-time)	$2,500
Service fee (monthly)	$135 Can be paused
Waiting list	No
Priority of service	Deprioritized
Data caps	No
In motion use	Yes
Rated download speeds	100-350 Mbps
Tested download speeds	60-360 Mbps
Rated upload speeds	10-25 Mbps
Tested upload speeds	8-20 Mbps
Rated Latency	Less than 20 ms
Tested latency	15-50 ms
Power supply rating	100-240V (AC) 50-60Hz 6.3 A

The primary difference that the Starlink flat high-performance plan has over the regular version is the ability to connect to a Starlink satellite when in motion.

This is a huge boon for those who are constantly moving and require an active connection when literally on the road.

This does come at a steep cost, as the $2500 hardware fee is a hard pill to swallow.

The portability is also in question here, as the Starlink dish needs to be permanently fixed to your RV.

The high-performance factor does also aid in increasing power consumption, so you might need to frequently juice up your external power source when on the road.

But on the bright side, you get much better speeds overall and that is all that matters for most of the folks that opt for this plan.

Travelling on road with Starlink Residential and Portability

Another option for road dwellers is to just simply take your Starlink Residential connection with you when you travel!

Yes, this is an option that Starlink has provided, but it does come with its fair share of challenges.

To do this you need to enable the Portability feature, where you can temporarily change your service address for a small fee.

Here is a brief rundown of all the aspects you can expect out of simply travelling with your Starlink Residential connection with the portability feature enabled:

Hardware cost (one-time)	$599
Service fee (monthly)	$90 or $120
Portability fee (monthly)	$25 Can be paused
Waiting list	Yes
Priority of service	Prioritized data at the service address Deprioritized data everywhere else
Data caps	1 TB cap for prioritized data No cap for deprioritized data
In motion use	No
Rated download speeds	50-200 Mbps
Tested download speeds	9-220 Mbps
Rated upload speeds	2-10 Mbps
Tested upload speeds	5-10 Mbps
Rated Latency	20-40 ms
Tested latency	30-100 ms
Power supply rating	100-240V (AC) 50-60Hz 2 A

If you are already a Starlink Residential customer and would like to take your Starlink on a trip, this might be the best option for you.

You get a similar experience as the Starlink RV, and you will have to shell out a nominal $25 as a portability fee for the month that you are travelling.

Travelling on the sea with Starlink Maritime

If you plan on taking your regular Starlink Residential or RV connection on a boat, you might be out of luck.

But if you are someone who owns a boat, and wishes to implement a satellite internet connection for use while at sea, Starlink has the Maritime plan.

Here is a brief rundown on what you can expect from a Starlink Maritime plan:

Hardware cost (one-time)	$10,000
Service fee (monthly)	$5,000 Can be paused
Data caps	5 TB priority data
In motion use	Yes
Rated download speeds	100-350 Mbps
Rated upload speeds	10-40 Mbps
Rated Latency	Less than 99 ms

The $10,000 hardware cost might seem absurd at first glance, but it is inexpensive compared to competing satellite internet services for use on boats.

Travelling on air with Starlink Aviation

This is similar to a Starlink Maritime connection but intended for aircraft when they are on air.

This has a much more commercial purpose, as airlines can utilize this service for providing internet for their passengers on board.

This is not restricted to businesses and enterprise solutions, so you can definitely implement the same for your personal aircraft.

Here is a brief rundown on the features and aspects that Starlink Aviation provides:

Hardware cost (one-time)	$150,000
Service fee (monthly)	$12,500-$25,000
Preorder fee (only credit card accepted)	$5,000
In motion use	Yes
Rated download speeds	100-350 Mbps
Rated upload speeds	10-40 Mbps
Rated Latency	20 ms

Challenges to using Starlink while Travelling

Starlink will always work best when it is used from a particular service address cell.

Travelling with your Starlink is still affected by a lot of factors that can deteriorate your experience with Starlink in general:

Weather and clear skies

Weather is one factor that can impact any Starlink connection since the Starlink dish needs to establish a clear communication channel with a Starlink constellation above.

If the skies are cloudy or if the area around the dish is covered by tall trees, the chances of establishing this said connection will further diminish.

Starlink dishes are built to withstand a lot of weather-related instances, but you will definitely feel a dip or a complete drop of connection in such conditions.

Travel restrictions

Do make sure to check with Starlink support or its terms and conditions of the possible locations you can travel to with your Starlink connection.

Typically in the US, you are allowed to travel anywhere as long as it is within the continent of your shipping address.

External Power

The external power supply is one area that a lot of users falter on when it comes to powering their Starlink dish.

Make sure that your external power supply can power your Starlink dish as per your charging routine.

Deprioritization and Travelling between cells

A factor that many forget is that when you leave your service address location, you will be accessing data in a deprioritized fashion.

This means that when you move from one service cell to another, you will face speed changes depending on the Starlink traffic of said location.

Final Thoughts

If you have further queries regarding Starlink and its travel capabilities, you can seek the help of Starlink support or their FAQ page.

I hope my article on whether you can travel with Starlink, and all the challenges you might come across has been a worthwhile read.

Have a good day!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Can Starlink be used for international travel?

Starlink can only be used within the continent of your shipping address, and cannot be used for international travel.

Can I purchase more than one Starlink connection?

Starlink allows multiple Starlink dishes to be connected to a Starlink account, with the secondary options available being Starlink Residential or Starlink RV.

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