Starlink internet alternative for rural areas! Cellular router internet

[@TKCL]

Here is the links for the products Waveform antennas amzn.to/3wYV45r Cat 12 router www.outdoorrouter.com/product/cat12-cellular-modem-router-4g-sim-slots/

[@Trent28888]

I just seen ya vid but if ya use better coax u will find it will be even better due to ya loosin a cheap of ya signal in the rg-58 coax that came with it,also if ya put ya antennas up higher than ya trees it will help and also ya need a UPS so when ya power goes off ya can still use it

[@charliemagoo7943]

There are some mvnos that have 200gb for the $55 month on att or Verizon. I have att if I need more data it adds on immediately for another $55. So don't have to buy twice unless I need to

[@TKCL]

Charlie who are you using and where did you buy it from?

[@jamesstjames1289]

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 sure! Your going to get better service from that pos! 😂🤣😂🤣😂

[@ModernMountainLiving]

I was Hopefull. In North Idaho I have zero cell signal at home.

[@ShipmanPartners]

***Pro Tip*** Separate your 2 outdoor antenna's by at least 3 feet horizontally, this will improve the spatial diversity of the signal and improve throughput and reliability. Secondly, always keep at least 10 feet of vertical separation between any outdoor antenna and a metal roof. The metal roof will reflect RF signals back to the antenna that will increase the noise floor and reduce your SINR and thus lower you downlink speed. You get an A++ for the +/- 45 degree tilt on the Yagi antenna's. Most people get that wrong as they don't realize that the signal from the tower is broadcast using X-pole configuration. (I've been in the telecom industry for 25 years)

[@TKCL]

Thank you for the tips

[@jp34604]

Yeah, what he said. .... LOL ROTFLMAO

[@bumblebeeman2103]

@@TKCL if you can, I'd be interested in a video where you make these changes and test out the speed afterwards

[@SouthWestIron]

I'm about to borrow some of this genius. How would you recommend achieving the 10 feet seperation? Just a longer mast? Also Im curious if any loss is experienced with cable length?

[@TKCL]

Cable length is always a negative with a setup like this, the shorter the better.

[@muddypawzranch-mytexashome3405]

I happen to work in the US SIGINT world and am pretty good with wireless. I also live on 100 acres in a very rural environment. I have three types of LTE / wifi / Routers. I use these devices in the course of my work with drones. Please feel free to reach out with any questions you might have. TIP: I use AT&T - I purchased to of their Android tablets and got full unlimited data internet for $15 / month per plan. (one plan for each tablet). I removed the SIM cards and put them into my LTE routers at home.

[@TKCL]

Thank you very much for the tablet tip!

[@jfbeam]

Just FYI, that's a violation of the terms. And they do know you did that, if they ever bother to look. (if you're using a ton of bandwidth, they'll look.)

[@muddypawzranch-mytexashome3405]

@@jfbeam Not saying they won't / can't look at the bandwidth - (I currently work in Cyber Security for the US DoD and have deployed systems in countries for the explicit purpose of monitoring the citizens in those countries), but there is now way to easily figure out if I have artificially changed the ttl in the packet header. Just as there is no real way to discern if I have artificially crafted a fake MAC address. That is not a concern.

[@meganwinters5163]

TTL modification will be needed here; enough said without legality issues... Otherwise GREAT tip!! Thanks for the video ☺️👍

[@jfbeam]

@@muddypawzranch-mytexashome3405 You don't know nearly as much as you pretend to. TTL (time to live) and MAC have nothing to do with it; cellular devices are identified by IMEI (MEID.) You took the sim out of an approved device (tablet) and put it something else. The IMEI will be different, unless you've managed to clone that too. That's how they know you've changed the device. (there are other OOB radio messages that can confirm you aren't on a tablet.) BUT, like I said, unless you're calling attention to yourself, they won't bother to look. (For an example of this, Sprint didn't allow the Google Nexus 7 on their network. It's perfectly operational on their network, but they see the IMEI, know it's a N7 and boot it off.)

[@muddypawzranch-mytexashome3405]

Elevation above the metal roof will also help. The metal roof acts as a reflector during the different times of day, sun angle, etc. Elevate above roof line at least a couple of feet if possible.

[@STONE69_]

Wow this guys video is going to help a lot of people living in Rural area's. 60 Download and 20 upload, not to mention he was around 800 feet from his home and still getting Wifi signal.

[@doubler287]

I ran through some of the comments. But wanted to add. Not only separation of the two antennas horizontally, but I would consider getting a pole that would get you over the tree line (those look like young trees so they will be growing) and I believe you will see a nice signal increase (especially from the AT&T tower) aka more bandwidth. Good luck!

[@Zombiemeat00]

1: you should close the top of the mount tubing so it doesn't fill with water and rot you facer board out. 2: you should also put a drip loop on the cable so when water hits it it drips and doesn't run down the cable and run inside and cause more damage. Great video i want to try it for here in Aus

[@glass1258]

It’s open on the bottom

[@TKCL]

Tube is wide open and the cable has a sag in it specifically to gravity drain water.

[@hellogoodbye3129]

@@TKCL man you are getting hounded about the drip loop.

[@TKCL]

Omg I am, I'm actually impressed so many people know about it. I always sag my wires and drill my entrance hole upstream so water can never enter my home. I built this house from the ground up and don't want anything ruining it.

[@michiganengineer8621]

Speaking as someone who has wired MANY professional satellite LNB's, waterproof connection's _AREN'T_! A couple of ideas that should help, both with the cell and the Wi-Fi. 1. See if you can get an old home TV antenna tower (or a new on if the budget allows). Height is your friend when it comes to connecting with another radio system, which is what a cell tower is after all. This would also get you over those trees that were in the way of the ATT tower, trees LOVE to block GHz radio waves. Attach a lightning rod to the top of the tower and make sure it is VERY well grounded! 2. Try running some extension cables for the Wi-Fi antenna and move them towards the corners of the house, should give you both wider and more even coverage. 3. For ANY antenna wires, get the best available! Cheap wiring will eat the signal between the antenna and the router. 4. Muddy Pawz is dead on regarding antenna spacing, those are what are called "diversity antenna" and they work best with at least one wavelength of separation between them. 12 years, USN Radar tech and then 20+ years working in broadcast TV.

[@TKCL]

Thank you for the information

[@joec2157]

Great 👍 info sir !

[@KS1776]

Dead on especially with the possible tree issue some higher ghz stuff just gets decimated by tree especially evergreens.

[@michiganengineer8621]

@@joec2157 Thanks, I try to add some helpful tips when I can. And, I'm more than willing to accept correction when wrong!

[@jfbeam]

Also, the higher they get the more likely they are to become lightning rods. (it's an unavoidable trade off.) Being cellular, speed's going to be all over the place anyway.

[@SouthWestIron]

Honest thank you from our family. Just moved to an area where we are struggling with a cell hotspot. We will be trying to configure something similiar. Been on the wait list for Starlink for almost 2 years. Reminds me I need to get my 99 deposit back.

[@TKCL]

Your welcome, as long as you have some signal, this can boost it.

[@W42PZ]

@@TKCL *you’re 😄

[@encodedlife]

You may want to make sure you have a drip loop on your cables before they go in your house. This way when it rains the water will drip off instead of following the cables into your house.

[@fetchstixRHD]

In another comment he mentioned that he did have one, but forgot to include it in the video...

[@ACO-Amy]

Drastic improvement for ya'll. Luckily, I'm blessed with fiber, but my sister who is not far from me, is not. I'll pass this on to her. Thanks Andrew, looking forward to update number 2.

[@TKCL]

Thank you for watching

[@Bryan-Hensley]

If you have line of sight to your sister you can use a point to point system to send internet to her house. Litebeam Gen 2.

[@werkspartsllc7856]

Form a loop about 8" diameter with the two coax before they enter your building. Ideally the short length from the loop to the building will be ever so slightly uphill. This will eliminate water intrusion into the building ( yes, you can seal the coax but over the years....there is always a chance that leaks!). At these frequencies the distance from the roof is just fine. As is the separation of the antennas. The antenna company knows this ( and I am an Extra Class Amateur license holder...). You actually don't even need two antennas for both incoming and outgoing signals to be worked simultaneously...but it does simplify installation for those not educated in that installation. For those that will argue...yes, you can fiddle with the antennas for days. Can you improve it? Sometimes you can, but the real world difference may not be worth the trouble. KISS...meaning the shorter cable run, the stronger/closer mounting position will yield a better more reliable signal. Tall masts and complicated mounting can lead to issues in windstorms....

[@MrBp8888]

Awesome review and product! My friend said the other day that Starlink was showing his date to receive it in 2023.. then 2 weeks later it just showed up lol

[@TKCL]

Too late now, I canceled. Tired of the games with them.

[@digitaldan8223]

Awesome! Welcome to the 21st century, my friend. 😊 I have about the same Starlink story, and I've been so happy using T-Mobile Home Internet (for $50 month) that I'm not even considering Starlink now.

[@TKCL]

I wish I could get the T mobile plan.

[@mikeestes1076]

I’m getting an average of 200-275 DL and 30-75 UL. .25 ping STARLINK is the bomb.

[@TKCL]

Not what I'm seeing here I have several friends with it. The best we've seen is 150 down, it's been a lot worse lately now that more people are on the network and it's at max capacity here. I know it should get better as they launch more satellites. Luckily we have fiber heading our way in the next 2-3 years on a project that just launched with our power company. Guaranteeing 2G speeds up and down, that will be amazing! 😍😍😍

[@Vulcankrypto21]

I wish t mobile coverage was better in my area first day t mobile was great then speeds tanked

[@TKCL]

Make sure you reset or reboot your router often. Some need that daily, you might see your speed jump back up.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

I know the feeling when it comes to the Starlink wait. I had been on the list over 14 months and then Frontier brought 2.5gbt fiber to my house. It was pretty satisfying cancelling my Starlink waitlist and getting that $100 deposit back.

[@TKCL]

Oh yeah, I don't blame you.

[@walterchapman2884]

Andrew I have internet through my phone company and I get 28.7 download speed for $88 a month I do have some buffering once in a while. Your setup sounds great! The setup you've got may not be for everyone because of the location of your tower not being that far away. But for you hey it works very well!

[@TKCL]

Everyone results will definitely vary

[@ronb6182]

You can get other antennas that may work better I took the name and searched the internet and found a parabolic antenna, with the router you would need two. At $249.00 each 500 is a lot of money but if you need a more directional antenna you cannot go wrong. Oh the 249 includes the cables if you already have the cables the antenna only cost $199.00 each. Waveform is the website for this antenna. 73

[@brandonl9440]

I’m setup with Starlink & a Ruckus Access point… does phenomenal around my acre of land. Never lose wifi and house is totally automated

[@bharris1653]

I fully understand your glee at such a signal and distance. Congratulations! However be aware that AT&T is great jumping in bed with them but getting out might be hard! I ordered internet with them a couple of years ago and had to cancel the install because they couldn’t get any part of the install order correct! After canceling the order (it was never installed and not a single bit of data was delivered) they started billing me! It took me 4-5 months to get the bills stopped but then a year later they turned me over to a credit collection agency! All beware of AT&T!!

[@TKCL]

I have prepaid with them, so I can cancel anytime.

[@calvincosio6940]

Thanks for this. I’m in the same boat with waiting for Starlink for our river house. Last night out of desperation I placed an order with Hughesnet satellite, even after having heard all the horror stories. Then today this video popped up. I just canceled the Hughesnet order and am going to try this out.

[@TKCL]

Don't do Hughes net, I've never heard of one single happy customer.

[@jacque403]

I have been learning about an option for a system that works very well in areas with tree cover, Internet congestion, limited cell towers. It is called Insty Connect. Might be worth reading about.

[@kathycarr9562]

I am less than a mile from TMobile service and have to pay $150 per month to use them, using their router. Thank you for this information.

[@TKCL]

I recently had a viewer swap from their service to aftermarket T mobile (which I run now) and he's getting better speeds at a better price.

[@TKCL]

Please watch this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpbPoKRjadqnp80 That's what I am running now with a new antenna and the speeds/price is amazing.

[@waituntilthebeep]

T Mobile's "unlimited" is metered really low, then defaults to 2G or 3G depending on network traffic. So unlimited connectivity, yes. Slow as a snail after a really small data usage, absolutely. ALSO, electrical tape will only hold IN water, not hold out. To properly waterproof those connections, use "bi-seal" tape. It is rubbery and self bonding. Wrap it up real nice and it will self vulcanize and seal like a dream. Available on Amazon or at your local home store in the electrical department

[@TKCL]

I think Verizons the same way for home internet.

[@jbodden6977]

tmobiles 'high speed' is everyone elses base speed. 2.4 mb/s is the best I have ever done, at $180 per month. for two and a half years. For a long time I believed what I was told (what do I know about the innards of networking??? not much) but now I am becoming more and more edified and more and more angry.

[@hkguitar1984]

100% agree, that electrical tape sets up a worse situation than no tape at all.

[@JonDisnard]

I'd suggest enclosing the wires in conduit, with junction boxes.

[@waituntilthebeep]

@@NicholasMaietta That's a good idea. Hadn't thought about doing that for some reason.

[@halrichard1969]

I dont require those kind of services but I was intrigued to see what you rural Americans have come up with. GREAT JOB! If I ever retire out to the boonies,, I wont forget your video. Tnanks for that.

[@muddypawzranch-mytexashome3405]

You want as much separation vertically between each antenna. The radio signal is shaped like a football and has many layers embedded with the signal. Will still work - but separation is better.

[@DevanB1]

(1) How much space you reckon between the 2? I have mine right at 32” from center bracket to center bracket. (2) Also, I have the top antenna sitting vertical, and the bottom antenna sitting horizontal. (3) Is there a correct way or should I say much better way to position the antennas to receive the best quality signal? (4) What would be the best cable to use for both antennas? The run is right at 50’. (I have this exact same set up as what’s used in the video above.) Thank you in advance.

[@DevanB1]

@Muddy Pawz Ranch

[@TKCL]

I'm getting ready to do some more testing since the antenna manufacturer reached out to me with suggestions. They actually recommended no separation.

[@BrysonDesjardins]

Thank you, starlink wouldn’t come so we got this, works great! Will recommend! Also I looked at plans with no data cap, and unlimited, anyone else using this internet should research that as well

[@TKCL]

I've released a lot more videos on other routers and unlimited plans. There are quite a few options out there.

[@josegracia894]

@@TKCLwe got ours with verizon but what do we have to do to strictly run on cell unlimited data and not hotspot? They keep throttling our service after 150gb. So annoying. Am i doing something wrong?

[@roberth3094]

Move your antenna higher to clear the trees. Also to get away from the metal roof.

[@jed2055]

That's a good way of zeroing on your tower Mr Kelly. Another way for those with a hiking/trekking GPS; not the car type navigator is to: 1) find the tower on google maps and drop a pin on your tower and note the co-ordinates. 2) put those co-ordinates into your GPS as a waypoint and name it 3) set the GPS to display a compass pointing to that waypoint (even cheap Garmins have that feature) 4) up on the roof, rotate the GPS compass - it will point to your tower. I used that to fine tune our FTA tv antenna.

[@Mulberrysmile]

Be sure to ask providers what exactly “unlimited” data means. As I was researching, I found the term did not ever mean unlimited at the speed you’re paying for. Ask at what point they throttle your service before committing, and ask what happens if you go outside their limit, and also ask if it resets automatically each month.

[@TKCL]

I agree, almost any plan has a "potential" cap point to where you could be throttled. That does not mean you will, that's a priority limit in times of congestion. I personally don't see that on my cell phones that use around 200 gigs a month.

[@mattricard26]

They all cap you, there is absolutely no good alternatives to starlink other than fiber

[@TKCL]

I have been using over 200 gigs a month on a Hotspot device for two years, not once have I been capped. It depends on your area and how congested a tower is. They all have the "option" to throttle you based on congestion. Now the new RV starlink everyone is running to also has the same option to prioritize service. Fiber is the best option by far if you can actually get it.

[@williameldridge9382]

@@DieselRamcharger I'd use that in a day. These cellular routers are a scam.

[@TKCL]

A terabyte in a day? What on earth could you possibly be doing? I don't use that much in several months. A TV running 4k 24/7, gaming and more couldn't use that in a day. You are definitely the exception, the average household isn't using anywhere near that much. Im surprised your internet provider hasn't threatened to cut you off.

[@JohnnyG1956]

The Starlink order trick works. I live in south Fl and use an address in Nebraska as my address and used my FL address as the shipping address. I received my equipment 13 days later. When it became available, I selected the roaming plan. As a full-time RVer, I have used Starlink in places that the map shows as future expansion. That said, Starlink is great for streaming video, not so much for video calls (which I do for work.). Your setup looks super interesting.

[@TKCL]

I know a guy with your exact name but have not seem him years. Did you use to have a business in Live Oak Florida?

[@JohnnyG1956]

@@TKCL That is too funny. No, we moved to SWFL 6 years ago when we went full-time in the RV. Before then, we were in PA.

[@peterschmidt9942]

I never even thought of using 3G/4G as internet, as the signal here is basically non-existent. But it did give me an idea and looked into cell phone boosters. I'm currently using our NBN satellite in Oz and while it works, it's slow these days (compared to fibre and mobile Wifi). NBN plans are basically - bend over without lube or bend over with sand in the lube LOL. It would be much cheap if there was cell reception here. I'll see how a booster goes.

[@bravefart1203]

You say you’re not tech savvy? Dude you could put IT tech on resume now. Thank you for the vid. Very informative. Letting us know other options.

[@TKCL]

Thank you for watching

[@muddypawzranch-mytexashome3405]

if you have the ability to lock bands - it will help. Some will have the ability to aggregate 2 bands. Your speeds will vary depending on time of day. Traditionally my speeds are lower late afternoon due to load. Also, when you scan, you should be able to identify how much bandwidth is available on different towers around you. Some towers have much more bandwidth available on different channels than other towers.

[@TKCL]

Huge difference in speed from afternoon to early morning. 6 AM for example this morning and my speed was 3 times as fast as last night. Probably because very few people are using the tower.

[@casspiper]

Thank you for this review. I purchased the waveform MeMo antenna based on your video and a few others, but primarily yours. My wife and I full time RV and we were desperately seeking an alternative for good wifi signal since we're both in school online. This antenna combined with the Nighthawk M1 Hotspot was the trick. We went from 12-15mbs download speeds to 50-60mbs. That's with AT&T. Upload speeds improved a little from 6-9mbs to 9-12mbs. Anyone who is living in an RV needs to get this antenna. Thanks again for your video

[@TKCL]

Glad you found it useful

[@donkeymedic]

At&t are trying to restrict some of there sims to a IMEI. But you can normally complain and they will lift it. This means you can get an unlimited plan, even a tablet line, and move the sim to your router. I have done it and it works. They only catch is if you go over 20gb they "MAY" slow your speed down. This is typically only during congestive times. Basically you get a lower priority. However when I have done it were I live it almost never slowed down. I live 30 mi north of Harrisburg PA. Also the major carriers are starting to roll out fixed data plans. This is basically locks you to a tower but gives you unlimited 5G. It call fixed 5G. This is not available in most places yet, but it coming.

[@jed2055]

Love your amazement and the gear you have now is next level stuff. My model Asus router known to have good WiFi, enabled my son to pick up our WiFi in a school bus 120M away before it (quickly) dropped off so of course anywhere in the house was not a problem. That's nearly 400 feet! You get what you pay for and I know you paid well for your router but wow, it's worth it. You could probably stream music while you are driving your tractor. Great vid, thanks. Oops, I thought it then you said it lol. That's Starlink grade upload speeds from what I've seen on KZbin. Not bragging, heck I don't even use it anymore but I was on a 300Gb plan with a telco we don't use anymore. for AU$50 per month.

[@missinglink7709]

keep in mind, that cellular has no vpn capability and does have connection limits. Yagi's are good, if your signal is too hot at the service provider you can be in for some grief. I should clarify that it has no real qos, you can in fact build your own vpn, but all traffic is best effort. In working with some wireless engineers they build scripts to keep nailed up connections up 24x7 from happening. As those would build up and take away from number of users that can register to a site and decrease total bandwidth. Only firstnet is designed more like the telco ip network. With qos etc.

[@charliemagoo7943]

Calyx has vpn don't they

[@timroderick5190]

Great job of a regular guy explaining to regular guys!!

[@jrmbtr]

Might want to do a drip loop on those antenna wires going into the structure.

[@TKCL]

I did and even talked about it, but forgot to include that in the video. Now I am mad at myself for not including it. I always sag wires to drip off and down.

[@RickC77]

What is a drop loop?

[@TKCL]

@@RickC77 you put a Loop or sag in your wire to allow water to drip off before it can run down the wire and enter the hole that you drilled. You're essentially making a low point in the wire that's lower than the point of entrance, so gravity will pull the water off of the wire.

[@beedubsky9878]

@@TKCL also leaves a little extra wire for the next 12 guys that have to reterminate it in its lifetime.

[@ascensionranch3213]

I got my Starlink 2 weeks after I ordered it. Celluar internet wont work where I live. Glad you found something that works.

[@TKCL]

Glad you were able to get Starlink, I got over a year of excuses and delays.

[@ascensionranch3213]

@@TKCL did you got the more expensive model or is it just your area?

[@TKCL]

Area says max capacity. I got 4 different updates and time frames from Starlink while I had my deposit paid over a year. None of the dates were met, last update said 2023 or later.

[@ascensionranch3213]

@@TKCL that's very unfortunate. I am not sure how long its going to be around anyway.

[@muddypawzranch-mytexashome3405]

CAT12 means that it has the ability to receive multiple LTE signals and aggregate the bandwidth.

[@neatoelectro3687]

You might already be aware of this, but 2.4 GHz is going to be what you should use, almost exclusively, the speed of 5G will not benefit you in any case that you're likely to encounter, as 2.4 is more than capable of handling the speeds provided by the cell provider, and given that you're in a rural area, the main drawback of 2.4, which is its congestion, is irrelevant to you. Great channel, found you tonight and I'm really enjoying it.

[@TKCL]

Actually 5ghz is consistently faster indoors, I use 2.4 exclusively outside.

[@TzaraDuchamp]

That’s a massive improvement with those antennas, great job! If you want better upload and download speeds, I think you can try hooking up two of those routers to another router that supports dual WAN with session-based load balancing. Or one router with 2 sim slots with that capability.

[@owenjohnson5030]

I had Starlink in the middle of the forest in Oregon. It was awesome for what it was. Generally had 150 down but only about 20 up. Moved to Indiana about a month ago. Have gig fiber now and am getting close to 600 down and up on Wi-Fi. 900 down and up on wired. Yeah, I’m living near a bigger city now but I still have an acre plus I no longer have a mortgage.

[@TKCL]

Our electric company just signed a 3 year agreement to provide all homes with 2g fiber! I can't wait!

[@mikeclarke3005]

That is darn good speeds period,most do not need that much, have 10mb on farm (ATT DLS) , VPN for work, mom watching Netflix, albeit no 4K but why anyway? Alarm monitoring and occasionally remote viewing cameras from phone and never sen a problem so far with any slowness that is that noticeable.

[@TKCL]

That's how I feel Mike, I'm averaging 40-50 Mbps down right now and it's handling everything I've thrown at it. I don't watch in 4k or game, so maybe it wouldn't work in that respect.

[@joshuaharris4484]

I would look into some lightning protectors in line with the coax, just to protect your router and to keep it from coming into the house. I have an HD antenna on my chimney and ran it just to be safe. Cheap insurance...

[@TKCL]

I cut this video short because it was running long. One of the things I talked about was proper grounding since this company offers adapters. I should have left it in the video.

[@Lady_of_Ishpeming]

THANKS FOR SHARING!!!!! My husband and I are going to be moving out of the city and buying a homestead. Our current provider will have to be canceled when we move. Internet connection has been a concern. We thought that we would be stuck with something like Hughes net. So glad I stumbled on your channel!

[@TKCL]

Just use the cellmapper website to verify your towers servicing the area. Glad it helped.

[@EchoKilo]

That's a bummer about the StarLink. I paid the deposit in April 2022 and just got my system last week. No cell phone coverage where we live, no cable or fiber either. StarLink is a miracle for us and faster than the services in town where they have cable and fiber.

[@TKCL]

I'm happy it worked out for you, it just isn't available much here in the south.

[@EchoKilo]

@@TKCL I was shocked to see it so soon. All I heard was 2023.

[@Hemidakota]

Excellent analysis. This will be helpful as we retire on a large property in the rural area.

[@TKCL]

Make sure you watch my current videos, better routers and unlimited plans.

[@timfoster5043]

Don't use electrical tape on those outdoor connections! Use 3M rubber mastic tape. It's about $9/roll, but it's made for that purpose. It congeals upon itself. After you've covered it up completely with 50% overlap, then you can put electrical tape around it to protect it from UV.

[@johnfors4738]

Right or wrong, I always wrapped electrical tape over the fitting, sticky side out, as tight as I could get it and then put the mastic over that. Much less of a mess when I went to take them apart.

[@jonathanholbrook4723]

You CAN use StarLink in most rural areas. Trick is you get it registered in NYC or another area and use Roaming. You'll still get 50 to 100 mbps Down/Up Speeds

[@TKCL]

I've looked into that, but even within a couple of hours from me all areas show at max capacity. I'm not shipping it states away to have to activate and pick up. So much of that has happened, I feel that's why I got skipped after waiting for so long. I was over 60 mbps down this morning on my system and just bought a unlimited plan for $80 a month.

[@dandearman2871]

You should consider keeping the coax length between the antennas and your router short if you can. A longer length of coax will eat up more signal than a shorter length and for the frequencies the cell towers transmit and receive at the losses in a length of coax can get very high, also, every connector in your coax run will also causes some signal loss.

[@TKCL]

I really want it longer, but I'm sticking with the 30ft cable that came with the antennas. They appear to be excellent quality.

[@brianwild4640]

Or buy better quality coax

[@NematHeydary]

@@TKCL I'm seeing two different types of cable advertised on the Waveform website. The first is the RS240 coax and the second is the RS400. Supposedly equivalent to LMR240, the RS240 is advertised as being included in the package and then the very next picture in the description says that 30ft of RS400 is included. As has been mentioned, this is a small thing you can change to eliminate 1dB of loss over that 30ft. For a 30ft RS240 line bringing in AT&T band 14 at 700Mhz with 50 Watts, you would lose ~2 dB which is ~34%. Alternatively, with the better RS400, the loss would be ~1dB which is ~17%. The shorter you can keep that line going from your antennae to your router, the better. I have my router connected via 3ft LMR200 cables but I also use an outdoor enclosure with POE. With POE, you can have the router on the pole spraying its WIFI unabated onto your property while you have an ethernet cable that comes inside to another router to spread the signal inside your home. The pole I use is a telescopic flag pole I got for $45 which goes 45ft up. Lag bolt that thing onto your building and now you're above the ground too. And the good thing about POE is that the only cable you need to both power and transmit data from the router, is an ethernet cable. I'd/We'd love to see you test and show the different speed results from your progression towards optimally setting up your home via the improvements that many have contributed already. Awesome stuff!

[@driggars]

This is a nice option while waiting for no caps at all on starlink, I had Verizon before starlink, I paid 100 a month the same as starlink, only difference is that Verizon would slow me down so slow that I couldn’t load a web page, also the video speed was slowed to 1080p max. With starlink I get 150mbps speeds and never any throttling at all and full 8k hd video. I’ll never go back to data caps.

[@TKCL]

I just found a AT&T unlimited plan with zero caps for $80 a month, I'll be ordering that plan asap.

[@sellsn01]

If you stream movies at all, you mess with 4k. I have Radio Dish internet with a max of 15mbs down, we push it, but there's at least 4 devices streaming at any given time. Not always the best but it's unlimited, and with kids I need that. Still trying to sort out if I can even have Starlink due to all my obstructions" old growth trees". Glad you got yours sorted!

[@davewallace.8303]

One thing to remember, be SURE you change your router’s standard password to a complex password (8 letters 2 numbers 2 special characters). That way it will be VERY hard for someone to hack and piggyback on your internet.

[@TKCL]

That's the first thing I did

[@davewallace.8303]

@@TKCL Awesome! I work in Cybersecurity and you would NOT BELIEVE the amount of people (85-90%) who forget or fail to change the “Factory Setting” password for their routers or switches. Makes it SOOO easy for a crook to not only hijack your internet device, but then worm their way into your computers, put key logger software on it and then steal your passwords to EVERYTHING you hold dear.

[@zed4229]

lol it does not matter if you use caps numbers ect if the password can use them. 99% of the time if some one gets your password they know you and guessed it. you put it in a Phishing site. They used a keylogger that you most likely downloaded your self. just 8 digit of letters only would be a 1 in over 2 billion chance odds of guessing. edit to add you wrote it on a post it man the people I have seen do this with passwords at work.

[@cheif10thumbs]

Unrealistic expectations doesn't equal an empty promise amigo. Starlink is very honest about it's limitations. If you had bothered to read the User Information you'd know that.

[@TKCL]

Well partner! When they keep updating my account with expected date after expected date that's on them. If they truly don't know when they expect it to be in my area, they shouldn't post anything and accept my money. Four different dates and four different delays is wasting my time. Had I been told initially over a year and a half ago that they just really don't know when it's going to be in my area, I would have bought a completely different system.

[@jeremiahs45]

Glad you have found better internet at your house

[@TKCL]

Me too, it's been working very well!

[@BibleBikerChurch]

Hello friends, Pastor Fred here in Rockwood TN. This is great information. I have finally got the ball rolling on getting up to my 20acres of Forrest, and I know there cell towers (multiple) within a mile, so this may be the way to go!!!

[@TKCL]

Congratulations on the property

[@Leonardokite]

I know exactly where the tower is. Your suggestion to use Google maps or Google Earth to draw a line between the tower and your location, then using that to identify a point in your yard to use for aiming is spot on excellent!

[@TKCL]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@telocity]

Well few things to consider. 1. Starlink does have option for RVs, my friend got his a month ago and is currently traveling from California to NY/Canada down to Florida and back. Has had a good experience so far, decent bandwidth for streaming movies and video chat. Only works when stopped, which is good as he is driving. So he can use at home and on road. 2. For those places in the world where government can shut down your cellular, a satellite link is bueno!

[@TKCL]

I've had a lot of viewers reach out that own that system and tell me they are experiencing throttling and slow speeds. Apparently the portable plans are subjects to throttling. Not to mention $135 a month is steep. I am currently testing a unlimited plan for $70 a month.

[@jperin001]

Wow! Happy for you! What you were working with is comparable to dialup 20 years ago. Enjoy!

[@TKCL]

No kidding

[@allynscott1983]

Nice! If it makes you feel any better, I only have 5 Mbps upload speed with my Comcast cable, but I hear what you're saying for wanting to get faster upload speeds so that you can upload more of this kind of content.

[@twallt]

If we had a cellular signal, we wouldn't need Starlink in the first place. But we don't have any cellular signal to boost or work with at all. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. And since we don't, we need satellite internet. We used Hughsenet for years and years and it sucked. Period. Now we have Starlink. The difference between Hughesnet and Starlink is the difference between an old vw bus and a Masarati! No slow-downs, no choking. It is amazing!!!

[@TKCL]

I totally understand that, glad you could get it. I got nothing but empty promises. Your also in the minority as over 90 percent of the US population has cellular coverage. So with that said, this is still a viable option for a lot of people that can't get fiber, dsl or Starlink.

[@SmokyMountainBlessed]

thanks for testing and sharing this, we live in the smoky mountains at a Verizon dead spot so we had to get an AT&T mobile wifi set up but it buffers at times more in the evenings, and when we get land and move this might be more useful, because these mountains have lots of trees which mess with the Starlink signal

[@slyknowledged]

I'm in the woods with a tmobile "trashcan" I'm currently streaming this in HD, I game on ps4 with minimal lag(latency over 90 during peak times) can run 4k, but it runs 1080 on multiple screens no issue. my router is in the basement, on a fridge. only 2 bars of signal, but it's what I got to work!

[@garymallard4699]

Sorry to hear about being on the waitlist for Starlink...i heard it was less wait and we ordered ours last Thursday..it came on Monday..we live in Manitoba , Canada and live in a rural area...used our cellphone data as Internet.. no fibre or cable yet here and a wireless option was our only other choice...luckily we got ours quicker than expected... we are very pleased with the Uploads and Download speeds and finally have Internet we can use...we were ok but my Wife works from home some days and our oldest son is starting University this year so needed to get a better Internet service..Fibre is coming but no idea when it will here ( we are in a area that has little housing so it might be awhile before they trench it in ? )... Finally we have Big City Internet at a reasonable cost... we get varying speeds and all are fast enough ..some are amazing speeds.... I'm glad we lucked out as we have it working and even our TV is improved too....Good Luck in your Future upgrades and that router is what i need here ..to get it into my shop...🤔

[@TKCL]

I'm way south in Florida, south is way behind the northern rollout of Starlink.

[@moremartin320]

Great video and review! Thank you for sharing. I'm an X Starlink customer. I got my dish in November 2021. It worked very well at my location in Germany. However when I moved to an other location it didn't work. It felt like a rip off, when I found out that it was Geo locked. Anyway I was a bit disappointed. A few months later the RV option came out with low priority for more money. Sorry, but it's a strange combination to sell a product like this in Europe. You pay 135$ for a product where some people measure 5 Mbps per second. Well my Starlink got retired after only 6 months in use. Now I got a 5G SIM connection for $25 a month. And I can move it to an other location. I still think Starlink is a great product. But I think they got it a bit wrong from the beginning geo locking the product. And the price has to come down eventually.

[@TKCL]

I've been hearing a lot of stories just like yours. I think it will be a great product years down the road after they work all the kinks out.

[@austinjacobhunter]

Thank you. I just bought a rural farm. Hope it gets me going.

[@TKCL]

As long as you have one bar or cellular service, this can boost it.

[@roberthermsen724]

Just to give you an update and how smart you were on getting your appliances ahead of time. Another channel I watch had been waiting over 7 months for there wall oven and they were just told it would not be in for another 5-8 more months. Absolutely crazy the times we are in.

[@TKCL]

Oh wow! That's sad

[@radmilamiljanic5977]

I'm glad you finally found something decent!

[@TKCL]

Me too

[@scottfranson4215]

Florida here , I pay $25.00 for the cube from Verizon .( their sales will lie record with video your conversation) the cube has to be very close to window. It only work at home it ‘s connected to , competitors but Verizon routers is what’s in the router closest . So Ido have a back (if ). cube can run though my router if it not connected to competitors

[@pokieydamnit]

Man am I glad I found this video.

[@TKCL]

Just found a AT&T unlimited plan for $80, trying to order and test. I'll have a update soon.

[@reesbear]

As a point of reference for others, we canceled satellite tv two years ago. and now stream over WiFi. We watch essentially the same amount of tv, use only WiFi for phones and computers and we average around 500Gb per month. We are retired and may watch more tv than most.

[@TKCL]

Correct, it's varies by household. A big month for me is 200 gigs, we don't watch a lot of TV. Regardless it won't be a problem with the new unlimited plans I am testing, video out this week.

[@Nevir202]

Nice you got something good for you. Even though I lived in Phoenix, one of the biggest metro areas in the US, my internet was always a disappointment. Finally got on fiber, though I had to move to a different country to do it. lol Just ran a speed test, 345 down 173 up with only a 5ms ping! It's so nice!

[@TKCL]

That's amazing! I can't wait for fiber!

[@1sinister80]

I'm going all in on starlink I can't wait.

[@TKCL]

I was ready myself, could never get it. A blessing in desguise, I now have great internet for $39.99 a month after all the digging around I did.

[@Recovering_Californian]

Love my Starlink. It's a game changer for me. I've had mine for over a year now. Sucks you haven't been able to get one.

[@TKCL]

It's been highly disappointing all the promises that never deliver. I had to find internet some way.

[@markerichannelly]

Great solution really. Not as fast as Starlink but you can easily get it, and the monthly cost is massively cheaper. 45mbit isn’t blazing but it’s 2 4K Netflix streams which is plenty for a lot of people 🤷‍♂️

[@TKCL]

I've been averaging 40-50 down consistently and I've yet to see anything buffer. I think that is plenty fast enough for most households unless always gaming and watching everything in 4k. We don't do either of those. I'm also still adjusting the antennas for better strength.

[@danroberts2055]

Got my starlink yesterday but ... had to purchase the RV version which caused two things to happen. 1. I'm subject to bandwidth throttling and 2. I had to pay 135.00 month for the ability to roam even though it will be perm put on my roof. I'll try this out and see if it works. I can always use it for a fail over or combined using pfsense.

[@TKCL]

I was afraid of the throttling, your the first person to answer that for me. I hope it works out for you.

[@InTexasMatt]

I did the same thing at our ranch. I used a MOFI4500 and 2 paddle antenna. We got 40-50mb down.

[@TKCL]

I was seriously considering the Mofi

[@muddypawzranch-mytexashome3405]

I have two of these in North Texas. Also have a CradlePoint.

[@gregorycollins3096]

Just got my Starlink.

[@TKCL]

Congratulations

[@oluseunadewusi4744]

Thoroughly enjoyed watching this especially the reaction to the router performance . Great job

[@TKCL]

Thank you for watching

[@LiveStormChasers]

Man, I would have just done the RV kit from Starlink - you have the open skies for it!

[@TKCL]

Wasn't available when I bought this. Plus if you search my area for the RV kit it still shows not available. The RV kit is also subject to throttling based on needs by standard customers and its expensive monthly. I am currently testing a AT&T unlimited plan for $70 a month. I'll keep this option until we get fiber. Now starlink is sending out notices that up to 75 percent of customers could be affected by the new dish network 5g rollout. They have too many bugs to work out in my opinion.

[@secondamendmentconservativ3556]

Starlink works excellent

[@TKCL]

When you can get it

[@user_luca1855]

Hey, actually it harms waterproof connectors to "waterproof them a little more", because your electrical tape is not 100% waterproof. So water can get between the connector and the tape, and these connectors actually rely on drying after they've gotten wet, but because of the electrical tape, the water is kept inside. What you are actually doing is making it less waterproof, because then the water can slowly get inside the connector. (In Germany we take this problem actually quite seriously) (Sorry for my bad English).

[@TKCL]

Thank you for the information

[@W42PZ]

Very ‘German’. 😁

[@3basketliving]

That is very intuitive and good advice!

[@kingwood4357]

Great video and can't wait to see part 2. Thanks to the guy that recommended it to you and helped get up and running. 👍Sure is a big improvement for you.

[@TKCL]

Thank you for watching

[@rongray4847]

Hi Andrew glad it's helping out and making life a bit easier. Looking forward to the next episode. 🌞🇨🇦

[@TKCL]

Thank you

[@erikowren7894]

Competition is the best thing.

[@ruirosado6289]

Congratulations! Those results are awesome.

[@TKCL]

Thank you, it's nice to finally have internet.

[@kerrysv1]

I was in the same boat AT&T is my only provider with cell service in my area and they required that I buy an AT&T certified router. Didn't have to buy from them but it had to be a cat 16 certified and AT&T certified. My current antenna setup is a single external and based on your video will be looking into a dual antenna option as Starlink is waitlisted till late 2022 for me and I signed up in March 2021.

[@johnkeii]

I strongly suggest T Mobile 5G Home Internet. Nobody seems to talk about it. It works out in the country fairly well. I get 400mbps in the city, about 40mbps in the middle of nowhere. Works great

[@TKCL]

I agree and I promote it. Problem is there is zero T mobile towers in my area. Most people seem very satisfied with it when they can actually get it.

[@johnkeii]

@@TKCL Sad to hear that. Glad you're bringing light to this issue. I'll give you a sub. Keep up the good work.

[@larrywerring9674]

I live in the countryside but very close to a medium sized town. Cellular Internet is only good if you have decent cell phone coverage. I live about 4 miles from one of three cell towers in town yet even with a booster only get 1 bar if I stand in my driveway. I've been complaining to our 5 local service providers for over 15 years and nothing has changed. Forget that! I waited the 13 months to get my Starlink but it did finally arrive. It is up and running and giving me on average about 140 Mbps down and 60 Mbps up. Unless you have a good cell phone signal, I would still recommend being patient and going with Starlink.

[@TKCL]

Something isn't right, you should be able to boost signal from 10-20 miles away from a good tower with quality antennas. Glad you could get it I've been waiting longer than that and have been given 4 delays. I work from home and had to do something.

[@mr_unsane]

Was signed up for over three years......finally said screw it.....I dont even know of anyone in my area who even has starlink, so hard to understand how its full

[@iguanac6466]

I live 35mi north of downtown Houston (which is "rural", but not crazy far out). My DSL has been out for roughly six months due to a break under the road (Centurylink is trying to spend as little as possible on their copper infrastructure, but might be doing fiber eventually...we know how those promises go). Neither T-Mo, Verizon, or AT&T officially offer Fixed Wireless Internet in my area. Since I'm a T-Mo customer, they actually hooked me up with a T-Mo 5G cylinder router. First night I hooked it up, I got ~150Mbps speed test consistently. This shows that I have a more than adequate connection to the tower. Well, that was apparently the "pillow talk" phase. It dropped at midnight to 40Mbps which would be perfectly fine, but... At some point you are going to get deprioritized. For normal plans this is at about 50Gb of data used...then EVERYONE's traffic has priority over you. This is normal for Verizon and AT&T, too. They actually have lower deprioritization limits than T-Mo, so you get throttled faster. I have five adults living at my place that are watching movies, videos, downloading video games, patching windows, etc, etc...so I hit that deprioritization limit pretty quick. Once I am deprioritized, my speeds drop to ~1-2Mbps between 6pm and Midnight...when it works. There are a LOT of timeouts/dropouts during this period where service disappears and you just stare at your screen waiting for it to start working again. In some ways, I prefer my slow 3Mbps DSL to this because at least it would consistently work for more basic stuff. I am patiently awaiting my Starlink service. Primetime hours are when I get off work and want to relax on the net. If Centurylink ever rolls fiber out here (like they say they plan to), I'll dump Starlink in a second. Assuming Starlink doesn't suffer from massive slowdowns, it's going to be a rural game changer. FWIW, I had the same problem when I tried out one of those fly-by-nite cell companies a few years ago that advertise Rural Internet over LTE. Massive slowdowns from 6pm-Midnight.

[@TKCL]

I see a slowdown during prime travel hours due to tower congestion, but it's still plenty fast enough to stream and do normal usage. I'm averaging between 40-50 down consistently. FYI my third carrier Verizon plan that I've had for years has not experienced a major throttle as you described, and I often go over 200 gigs a month. I think it's all in the area you live and how congested it is. I'm in the middle of nowhere with only a few houses around me. We have a major 4 lane road nearby and that's the main reason towers are even here.

[@PineyGroveHomestead]

Good information. We get 200+mbps in the "city" with cable but we know that will be a thing of the past when we move to the country. Will definitely be looking at a setup like yours as our farm is about the same distance from ATT towers.

[@TKCL]

We will eventually get fiber, but it's a couple of years out.

[@pooljunki1]

was in the first group in on starlink and love it

[@TKCL]

I wish I could have got it, one delay and excuse after another had me looking at other options.

[@tubeRaleigh]

👍 great information!

[@muddypawzranch-mytexashome3405]

I added two Wilson amplifiers to my setup as well. I bought them on the Wilson page as re-manufactured units at a sizeable discount.

[@stevesohn5436]

Where is the amplifiers in your setup? I have a 60ft tower with dual antennas 4ft apart. I run that down to my house with 50ohm lossless antenna cables. I am using M1 Nighthawk cellular router. I avg 25-30mbps down and 20-30upload on Band66 (B66). Do you think I could increase my speeds with 2 amplifiers running to my router?

[@TKCL]

I'd be curious to hear that myself.

[@muddypawzranch-mytexashome3405]

@@TKCL I have the two Wilson amplifiers mounted to my “Communications Wall.” The two coax runs come down into a shipping container and is secured to the wallboard. There I have the two Wilson Amplifiers mounted to the wallboard as well as my two LTE routers. (A secondary for backup). Then I used two connectors to terminate the coax to the antenna leads on the LTE router.

[@muddypawzranch-mytexashome3405]

@@stevesohn5436 I have the two Wilson amplifiers mounted to my “Communications Wall.” The two coax runs come down into a shipping container and is secured to the wallboard. There I have the two Wilson Amplifiers mounted to the wallboard as well as my two LTE routers. (A secondary for backup). Then I used two connectors to terminate the coax to the antenna leads on the LTE router. The amplifiers will only increase the strength of signal between you and the tower. Sometimes this allows you to get to a tower that has more bandwidth available per user or simply gets you to the tower that you could not previously connect to. Strength of signal does equate to bandwidth or speed. Stronger is better. Example: with your home wifi the standards tell you how much bandwidth you will get based on signal strength or distance from the base unit. The closer you are or the stronger the signal, the faster your speeds will be. The same example applies in this case with the amplifiers.

[@stevesohn5436]

@@muddypawzranch-mytexashome3405 I agree with you to a point about signal. For instance. B13 (700mhz) is my strongest band (5bars and lowest TX) with the best signal. However, the bandwidth is limited to about 5mbps down at it's best and .5mbps up. Wheras, B4 or B66 gives me the best bandwidth. However, my signal strength on this bands is about 3bars and sometimes goes down to 2 bars. When this happens my bandwidth drops. This is why I was asking about signal gains and bandwidth gains.

[@psdaengr911]

The trees in your line of site to the tower are absorbing signal. If you can extend the antenna mast(s) higher you'll boost your signal, increase s/n and possibly your download speed, but your max upload speed is probably throttled by the providers at ~10% of max available download speed. .

[@travwill]

We've been using a mofi 5g router with waveform antenna for last year almost, works ok, but not that fast. just got starlink today so installing tomorrow on roof - going to hopefully get some good speeds from it. finally seems to be opening up for most of us now out of beta as also had been waiting a year.

[@TKCL]

Best if luck! Still not much availability here in the south, that's including the RV setup too.

[@blythdunlap8408]

That is some crazy range on that setup! That is very impressive.

[@TKCL]

I was blown away, I've never seen Wi-Fi work so far away.

[@spaztech]

Great video. I’m always looking for ways to better carry my internet with me. I spent roughly two months living off my motorcycle this year and ran across a couple of decent solutions, however, if there’s no cell signal you’re pretty much effed unless you have a satellite solution. Ugh.

[@TKCL]

Make sure you watch my current videos, better routers and unlimited plans.

[@spaztech]

@@TKCL already subbed so I definitely will. Thanks for sharing!

[@TKCL]

Thank you, they are posted.

[@minigpracing3068]

I gave up waiting for Starlink, got my deposit refunded. Went with T-Mobile with their connection hardware, but I might upgrade to a router like you bought. So far I've been getting 150mbps down and over 50 up, but they are still working on the towers around here so that may change. Service quality has been way better and way faster than Spectrum, and cheaper at the $50 per month. If T-Mobile builds around you, you might want to consider switching, so far it is really unlimited as we normally go well over 50GB of data per month.

[@TKCL]

I wish it was available here, they have one of the best deals going. Your speeds are awesome, don't think you could ask for better.

[@ranjanty]

Mini GP are you using a hot spot device or your cell phone to get internet? I've been thinking about switching to T-Mobile from straight talk. Been using my phone to connect to the internet. Paying 65.00 a month + taxes

[@minigpracing3068]

@@ranjanty I went with the tmobile home internet gateway, there are a few oddities with places that use your IP address for location, but otherwise OK.