Don’t Wait ‘till 7 Jan 2025

[Hello Below]

Twice in the last 5 years we have found ourselves sailing in areas where there was virtually no communication (the Broughtons and Princess Louisa), hours away from help if needed and for reasons of safety it concerned me.
In Nov 2020, Starlink became available in Canada. Since then, I have hummed and hawed over purchasing it but for a number of reasons we have been limited in our sailing grounds and really had no need for anything other than our reliable VHF, cell service and wifi. This year we plan on making our way north of Cape Caution or around Vancouver Island (TBD). So once again there will be areas of no communication other than nearby vessels if they exist and it causes me angst.
Last week I happen to come across a news article stating that Starlink Mini is now available in Canada and at a very reasonable price. So for those who have been considering a purchase now may be the time. Even folks close to the border may want to consider skipping across and taking advantage of this deal.
Starlink Mini Canada

 

[SkiingSailor]

Well, VHF coverage is pretty good most of the BC coast (except for some inlets):

Nevertheless, we too have found "gaps" in VHF (e.g., Princess Louisa, inlets on the west coast of Moresby Is, Kyuquot Inlet).

HOWEVER, there are relatively inexpensive satellite communicators:
-->Zoleo (Canadian/Australian origins, our goto communicator)
--> InReach
etc

And, of course, EPIRBs and PLBs.
(Oh, and we use our HAM radio and Winlink....)

No need to pay high prices for Starlink (or support Elon)

 

[degas]

The great thing about the Starlink Mini is that it runs on 12-48VDC, which the regular Starlink dishes don't (at least, not out of the box).

I sail the Great Lakes in the summer and needed a reliable, fast connection for remote work. I seriously considered the Starlink but ended up getting a cellular modem instead.

The Great Lakes, Lake Ontario specifically, has the advantage of sufficient cell coverage pretty much everywhere. And Canadian cell providers are (slowly) starting to recognize Starlink by offering competitive data plans.

 

[Hello Below]

@SkiingSailor
Yes of course, there are a number of alternatives to Starlink. The intent of my post was to make those that were considering a Starlink aware that it was now available in Canada at a reasonable price.
As an aside: HF/MF/LF communications made up a large part of my early career in the navy. It is economical; however, it takes a trained ear and patience to communicate effectively.
Also Santa brought me a Zoleo for Christmas 2020. I did find it very limited in what it provided (pretty much text only + SOS) for their monthly subscription fee.
For the price of half a night alongside Bell Harbor marina, IMHO a Starlink Roam plan is value for the money.

@degas
Other than the south of Vancouver Island up to Campbell River cell service is pretty sketchy at best. If it was reliably available that would certainly be my choice also.

 

[Michael Davis]

we normally spend the summers north of Caution and have never had a problem hearing/ talking to the CCG. Have been around Vancouver Island three times and had trouble once receiving weather reports ( received Oregon and N.California reports but not BC ) cell coverage can be spotty at best but very good where you least expect it.

 

[Hayden Watson]

I love my Starlink. I got it before they offered the mini so it is the standard residential unit. I use it for my motorhome in AZ all winter, my house in Oak Harbor all summer and take it to the boat when I cruse.

 

[SkiingSailor]

We have a cell amplifier and are able to get cell coverage (Telus/Koodo) as far North as Cape Caution.

North of Caution: region around Bella Bella., (likely Bella Coola), Hartley Bay, and from Oona River (south of Prince Rupert) to PR. Also most of Skidegate Inlet.

 

[Hello Below]

I love my Starlink. I got it before they offered the mini so it is the standard residential unit. I use it for my motorhome in AZ all winter, my house in Oak Harbor all summer and take it to the boat when I cruse.

I think it was a visit with you in OHYC the summer of ‘23 that peaked my interest in the Starlink service.

 

[dlochner]

The intent of my post was to make those that were considering a Starlink aware that it was now available in Canada at a reasonable price.

Last Summer I was at a Costco in Halifax with a Canadian friend. He picked up a Starling Gen 3 for $199 CDN. That was a hard deal to beat, since the going price in the US at the time was $499-599 US.

Read the data plans carefully before you jump. And understand that the data includes StarLink overhead, all the data that the dish and satellites use to communicate. And watch your devices and their auto syncs, it is very easy to blow past the data caps.

 

[Hello Below]

Thanks Dave. It has been a long time since I have frequented Slackers (aka Halifax). I now exist on 6 Gb/month cell data and survive quite well. I will find out the usefulness of Starlink this sailing season. But for $399 CDN and 70 buck bucks for 50 gB/month life should be good.

 

[dlochner]

Thanks Dave. It has been a long time since I have frequented Slackers (aka Halifax). I now exist on 6 Gb/month cell data and survive quite well. I will find out the usefulness of Starlink this sailing season. But for $399 CDN and 70 buck bucks for 50 gB/month life should be good.

Judging by all the construction in Halifax, it is probably a bit different from what you remember. If you store anything in the cloud or have your devices connected and syncing, watch out for extra data use.

 

[Hello Below]

All good intel. I am mindful of apps refresh in the background. But because the connected devices see the router as wifi versus data I will take care. At $2 Cdn for an additional giga byte I shouldn’t go broke at least quickly.

 

[Davidasailor26]

He picked up a Starling Gen 3

I prefer pigeons for my avian communications needs.

But because the connected devices see the router as wifi versus data I will take care.

Most operating systems let you put specific WiFi networks in low data or metered connection modes. That reduces some of the extraneous bandwidth use. You’ll still need to take care when you initiate a transfer like a download or streaming.

 

[colemj]

I think that is the same price starlink is being offered in the US right now too. Or at least is was in the recent past.

If you want a better deal, come to Panama where the mini is $200.

For reasons I've never figured out, you can't compare your cell usage to SL. SL uses a lot more data in comparison. Yes, putting devices in low data mode, turning off automatic updates, etc helps, but the fact is that we do none of that when using our cellular modem for the exact same purpose, yet our SL data usage is 5-10x more than when we are on our cellular modem. Somehow the data are consumed or provided differently - either by SL or by cellular.

For example, we used 407GB of data on SL last month. When we use cellular for the exact same things, we use 40-50GB/month.

We are on an unlimited SL plan, so the data usage isn't an issue while near shore. It does become an issue when offshore and on the pay per GB plan. Offshore for 2-3 days, it is typical that we use ~20GB just checking email/whatsapp/messages and getting weather a couple of times each day - no surfing the web or streaming movies, etc

Mark

 

[Hayden Watson]

...
For example, we used 407GB of data on SL last month. When we use cellular for the exact same things, we use 40-50GB/month.
...

Mark

How do you get your usage data? I have looked on the starlink app but not seen that info.

 

[colemj]

How do you get your usage data? I have looked on the starlink app but not seen that info.

In the app it is under your account > Data Usage

 

[Hayden Watson]

In the app it is under your account > Data Usage

Thanks. We used 455GB in Nov/Dec but the average since October is about 350GB.

 

[colemj]

Thanks. We used 455GB in Nov/Dec but the average since October is about 350GB.

Just curious, but does that sound about what you would expect if using cellular data instead?