Connectivity on the boat has always been a bit of a challenge. On the one hand you want to live in the moment and enjoy the absolute beauty around you. On the other hand you want to be able to download weather, stay in touch with family and friends, and do basic things like banking.
For the last 14 years we have been hustling to stay connected while on the boat. It was always a challenge and it was invariably expensive. So, how did we stay connected before Starlink? We had several options which we ran consecutively as inevitably one did not work for various reasons.
Local Data Plans
When we are near land, we would visit the local communications shop, pick up a SIM card and purchase a pre-paid monthly data plan. This would allow us to get basic WhatsApp (which is an amazing, free, app), low data apps, cruising apps (navionics, weather), basic email, and would give us a local phone number. On average, this ran between $50-$150USD per month. As you can see, we end up with a lot of different SIM cards. What we have found is that Vini, Digicel and Vodafone do not work in different countries. So, we end up with Digicel SIM cards from multiple countries.
Iridium Go
We have Iridium Go which is a satellite based communications technology and was our go to means of communications while we were underway (on passage or on route). Iridium Go gave us a limited number of minutes of voice calling, text messages (with limited characters), limited email (no photos, attachments, logos), SOS, and the ability to download weather. You could not access the internet. The bonus with the Iridium Go is that you can take it with you in case of an emergency and you had to evacuate the boat.
We had the external antennae, spare batteries, and multiple sim cards. The equipment costs around $1500-$2000. Prior to Starlink, we were paying $160 per month which gave us unlimited data and 150 minutes of talk. Once we got Starlink, we dropped this plan to the lowest possible plan which is $70 per month which gives us 5 minutes of talk and 1500 text messages – virtually nothing but it keeps the account active. We mainly keep this for a back up plan in case something goes wrong with Starlink and we need a communication tool. Expensive back up.
GoogleFi
I no longer have a cellular company in the USA so when I return for visits I have to use our GoogleFi account (on an android phone $500. Originally I would tether GoogleFi phone to my iPhone to give me connectivity when I am not in a wifi zone. Then I just started transferring the GoogleFi SIM card to my iPhone which is much easier than carrying two phones.
The GoogleFi monthly service is $30/month. We hope to cancel this service this year when I return to the states. I plan to sign up for a travel sim with www.mintmobile.com with my iPhone for connectivity. If this works, I will have to port my main cell phone number (which I still use for WhatsApp) to Google Voice which is free.
Other Communication Costs
We have other communication costs including our website hosting fee of $50/mo, Predict Wind $299/yr, and a few smaller expenses.
Starlink
Starlink claims to give you access to the internet virtually anywhere. If you carry around their dish which is not really likely. However, it is a complete game changer for cruisers and people who travel both on land and at sea! It now gives us internet access 24/7 whether we are near shore or thousands of miles offshore.
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to over 70 countries. Starlink has launched 5,828 satellites into space and 5,438 are currently in use. That’s a lot of satellites!
Here is a photo of our Starlink dish which we mounted to our dinghy davit.
What does it Cost
Well, it aint cheap that’s for sure. We were lucky in that Starlink was offering a special to New Zealand rural customers. We were staying in Whangarei at the time and that is considered a rural area so our equipment cost $300 NZD ($180 USD) as opposed to $599.
Monthly Plan
They have many plans but since we are moving a lot, we are on the “mobile plan” and the monthly cost while we are near shore is $199/mo NZD ($128/mo USD). If we go offshore or are more than 12nm from land, we upgrade to the Mobile Priority Plan and pay an additional $2-$3 per gigabyte of data. It doesn’t sound like much but it adds up quickly.
Connecting Starlink
The website brags of an easy set up with a simple plug and play. However, for cruisers, we had to do some modifications. The first thing you should know is that Starlink is a power hog! It draws on average 3amps (with the motor disabled and ice melt turned off) on 12v. Even so, at start up it can be as high as 7amps and if you are doing a lot of downloads it can run 4-6amps.
Disabling the Motor
So, why did we modify the unit? We disconnected the motor that made the dish rotate as it searched for satellites. We simply locked the dish into a flat horizontal position so it has easy access to the sky. This was a little scary as you have to drill a hole into the unit so be sure you know what you are doing before you attempt this project.
Converting to 12 volt
We converted AC to DC power to save more power, to save the ‘inefficiencies’ involved in converting 12v to 120v and then to 48v which is what the Starlink dish needs. This conversion savings is small, but also eliminates the super basic Starlink router that runs hot and doesn’t have much functionality.
Converting to 12 volt also allowed us to control and monitor the usage on our CZone setup, and we created a ‘schedule’ that turns Starlink off at night and on in the morning (our time zone). And a button we can press when we leave the boat to turn off the dish when we leave to go exploring.
We are using a 384watt 12v to 48v DC to DC converter, and Tycoon POE injector to get the power to dish. Since Starlink used their own wiring plan, we also had to create custom CAT6 network cables to make it all work. We chose to cut/hack the ‘ethernet adapter’ cable as part of the hack and leave the ‘long custom cable’ supplied by Starlink intact. This gives us the opportunity if any of the ‘custom hacked cables or pieces’ fail we can plug in the original router and cable and be back in business. Tho we do have backups of each of the customized hackery to convert it to 12 volt.
In the process of doing our conversion we also joined and helped others get this working and its amazing how ‘fragile’ all the pieces can be. The converter wasn’t stable or the POE injector wasn’t putting out enough juice, or the custom CAT5 cables were not crimped cleanly. Lots of debugging when into why the ‘speeds were off’ or simply intermittently working or just not at all.
Routers
We use a Mikrotik router so that we simplify our network. Every device wants to create its own ‘hot-spot’ / access point. That requires you to change your Wi-Fi connection depending on what you were wanting to do onboard. Iridium Go! was the most annoying since it did not provide a way to change the network settings, so we were always switching networks to be connected to iridium satellite vs boat instruments vs media server vs anchor alarm vs CZone network. Using a decent router we were able to disable all the ‘access spots’ so that connecting to our one network everything is available. We can see boat navigation instruments and the internet at the same time without having to switch which device we are connected too.
Conclusion
As you can see there is a lot that goes into “staying connected.” Hopefully, we will be able to ditch GoogleFi by early summer (saving us $360/yr). We also plan to start disconnected Iridium Go during non passage times. This would save us $70/mo every month we are not using Iridium Go. However, when we wanted to initiate Iridium Go for a passage we would have to buy a $15 SIM card, pay $50 start up fee and pay the $70 or the month. Sill a LOT cheaper than spending $840/yr for access we only use 12-20 days a year.
We will still need to purchase local SIM cards for access while we are away from the boat and of course we will have to continue paying for our web hosting and Predict Wind fees. But in my mind, every little bit helps when you eliminate costs.
Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions on Starlink, the set up, power saving techniques, and or other communications.
Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events. We visit the beautiful anchorages of Whangaroa in our last blog post.