Starlink Mini vs Standard | Which one for Van Life?

[@RamSlow]

Speedtest comparison would have been great. Curious to see how these both perform what's a flat mount

[@torqdog]

I just joined the Mini club September 10 and have used it both with clear, no obstruction skies to half covered with Pine trees. It works great and I was getting download speeds of over 160mbps under unobstructed skies which is plenty for our typical use. The thing that really amazed us was how well it did with obstructions. A friend wanted me to set it up at his campsite. There was a large Pine Tree blocking quite a bit of the sky directly to the north. Powered it up and whereas it did take about 8 to 10 minutes for it to finally connect, once connected the speeds were good enough for him to do a Zoom meeting. For my purposes, I'm leaving it unmounted and use an old Laptop bag for the dish and cable. I did find the 50' supplied OEM cable is too thin a gauge (20awg) to run it directly off a 12v power supply. I purchased a 12v to 24v 5amp upconverter and that solved the problem. There are more than a few "how to" vids here on youtube.

[@gonemobilevans]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing your experience !

[@lwchery]

Thanks!!!!! I retuned mine, was not working in my van and had no idea why……..

[@ZillaYT]

You should've added upload/download speeds as part of your evaluation. Great video though, and I'm now leaning toward the mini because of the power draw vs. the standard.

[@SeanLewisMedia]

Im really enjoying your content and builds! My goal is to purchase and build a van in the next year or two and would love to come check out some of your options. Keep up the great work!

[@gonemobilevans]

We'd be happy to have you come by the shop to check things out!

[@kamikazekunze]

I ran a Star-Mount flat mounted on our Sprinter. The clamshell acts as gutter turning the dish into a pool when raining. Shim up on side to help drain the water. 😊 Additionally, I worry that the router being outside the van in the mini will result in poor performance since it has to penetrate the tin can of the van. thanks for the video.

[@JeffSunapee]

Great video (this one and all your content). Doesn’t the Mini also win since the router is built in to the unit vs. a separate router for the Gen 3? Thank you.

[@gonemobilevans]

Yes it does! It's great that it is all in one and ready to go right out of the box.

[@George.W]

Thanks, Brendan, very informative as always.

[@psyamok3735]

I thought starlink needs to rotate to find the best reception position? Does mounting it flat affect its receiving strength?

[@gonemobilevans]

Original Starlink dishes needed to rotate and tilt. There are an increasing number of satellites up there now that tracking is no longer needed.

[@liisiie-3879]

Hello, I would like to recommend a starlink mini car stand and ask you to shoot a video of it.

[@deerock7]

i was so glad to trade up to the Mini. Speed is great an internal modem makes things much easier. plus the 50 for 50 plan is a no brainer :)

[@AmandaWoolsey]

I don’t see any trade programs, how did you trade up?

[@brotherkith]

Glad we don't have US costs! Here in Europe it is way cheaper for both hardware and plans.

[@cynthiataylor2092]

Thank you. Cindy 👋

[@fyrmedic]

Would the mini work on top of a motorhome with that router being outside, would I receive a Wi-Fi signal inside the motorhome?

[@gonemobilevans]

Pretty sure it would be fine. WiFi works through walls. It works through the ceiling of our van builds.

[@whskywolf]

Would you leave the star link attached to the roof rack or have take down and setup every time?

[@gonemobilevans]

I leave mine attached all the time.

[@parislawrence3278]

@@gonemobilevans Is there any way to permanently attach the mini if you don't have roof racks? I want to live in my van full time and don't want to have to set up and pack down every day....

[@mister_ray]

The Mini has the advantage of being able to move it to a clear shot to the sky. Does the Gen 3 have a built in WiFi router like the Mini?

[@gonemobilevans]

The Gen 3 does not have a WiFi router built in like the Mini right out of the box. 3rd party companies add that feature at a cost. Another win for the Mini in my mind.

[@David-sj6jw]

Check PCI Race Radios mini mount, with battery.

[@gonemobilevans]

I just checked it out. Pretty cool setup!

[@Liimpy]

Mini all the way.. its just more convenient, using a star mount magnetic mount i can slap it on the vans roof, drive to camp, unload the atv, slap it on the rack, plug it into a goal zero AC 100 and off i go.. amazing 👏

[@SonofDarnell]

Thank you brother for everything that you do❤

[@BTNomad]

Great video! Thank you!

[@bassmonk2920]

Your on it.....

[@johnleach740]

No longer 150.00. Went up.

[@gonemobilevans]

I just saw that a few days ago. $160 now, I think.

[@michaelhand9769]

that is for the roam. the reg one is still 150 a mo. I think the prices need to come down 25- or so and roam should be same price as standard... the satellites are doing nothing different

[@HighSpeedMounts]

Let me save you a ton of weight and bulk with our mounts. Higher quality made is USA. They fit on roof racks, magnets & suction options too