Speedify Pulls Each Starlink Dish’s Obstruction Map Into One View
The Starlink Obstruction Map in Speedify’s Starlink Control Center renders the sky as your dish sees it, a polar fish-eye view of everything above the antenna. Green is clear sky with a direct line to satellites, red is where the dish has been blocked, and gray is sky Starlink doesn’t have data for yet. When you run more than one dish, Speedify shows their maps side by side.
This article explains how to read the map, what the colors mean, and how to use the map to clear an obstruction or position a second dish.
Quick answer
Should you get a backup connection for Starlink?
Yes. Starlink goes down every day — an always-on dish averages about 34 minutes of downtime daily from routine satellite handoffs. A second connection keeps you online when Starlink drops.
What’s the best backup connection for Starlink?
A 4G/5G cellular hotspot or SIM is the most practical backup for most Starlink users — it works anywhere Starlink works, requires no installation, and uses a different network so outages rarely overlap. Cable or DSL broadband is a strong option if you have it at a fixed location. A second Starlink dish is also possible if you need maximum throughput.
How do you use two internet connections at once with Starlink?
Speedify combines Starlink with any other connection — cellular, cable, Wi-Fi, or a second dish — into one bonded connection. Speedify runs on your phone, laptop, or router. When Starlink drops, Speedify moves your traffic to the backup instantly, so calls don’t cut out and downloads don’t stall. Speedify is free to try.
71% of Speedify’s Starlink users already run a second connection. The data below shows why.
Try Speedify free →Speedify Starlink Index — real-world performance from 6,209 Starlink users: 2.4% downtime, about 34 minutes a day for always-on connections
Starlink goes down every day.
Here’s what that actually looks like.
Speedify passively monitors every connection it bonds. These figures come from 6,209 Starlink users over 14 days — compared in real time against the other connections on the same devices. No speed tests, no lab conditions.
Daily downtime
~34 min
2.4% of connected time unreachable
Median latency
60 ms
p90 spikes to 257 ms
Avg packet loss
0.17%
vs 0.08% on T-Mobile
71% ran at least one other connection simultaneously — 4,381 of 6,209 users. Cellular is the most common backup.
Use Speedify to stay online during satellite handoffs every 15 seconds
Research confirms Starlink switches between satellites every 15 seconds on a fixed schedule. Each satellite handoff is a potential dropout, and on a congested network or with any obstruction, those Starlink dropouts become real interruptions.
Speedify fixes Starlink connection drops by combining your Starlink internet connection with another satellite dish, Wi-Fi, 4G/5G cellular, or wired Ethernet at the same time. When Starlink drops, Speedify keeps your traffic moving on the backup internet connection instantly.
Speedify alerts you about your Starlink dish status
Speedify software alerts you about your Starlink dish status as soon as your dish experiences an issue - e.g. when your actuator motor is stuck, the mast is not vertical or there's a thermal throttle.
Speedify's Starlink Control Center helps you monitor all your Starlink dishes, read obstruction maps, and align multiple dishes all in the Speedify app. Get a real-time view of each dish's health and optimize the position of each Starlink dish, so you get the best possible performance out of your Starlink connections.
Speedify
Speedify gives you faster, steadier internet by combining Wi-Fi, cellular, and Starlink
Speedify bonds Wi-Fi, 4G/5G cellular, Ethernet, and Starlink into one connection at the same time, giving you more speed, automatic failover when one drops, and AES-256 encryption on every link.
Download Speedify ›More speed
Upload and download speeds combine across every active connection on your device.
Automatic failover
If a connection drops, Speedify moves your traffic to another in milliseconds. Calls stay connected.
Always encrypted
Every link runs through an encrypted tunnel, including public Wi-Fi, cellular, and Starlink.
Speedify Feature · Pair & Share
Speedify Pair & Share: share cellular between your devices, both ways
Most hotspots give. Speedify's Pair & Share gives and takes. Two devices running Speedify pair up and each uses the other's cellular connection simultaneously, so you both get faster uploads, faster downloads, and a steadier connection. No extra hardware, no new data plans, no setup beyond a tap.
Learn how Speedify's Pair & Share works ›More speed
Every device you pair with adds its cellular to yours, and yours to theirs.
Stays connected
If a paired device drops out, Speedify keeps you online on the remaining links.
Always private
Every shared connection runs through AES-256 encryption. Your traffic is yours.
No new gear
Runs on devices already running Speedify, over your local network. Pair once, reconnects automatically.
What the Colors and the Dot Mean in the Starlink Obstruction Map
- Green. Clear sky with an unobstructed line of sight to passing satellites.
- Red. Sky where the dish’s signal has been blocked by a tree, a mast, a roofline, or another structure.
- Gray. Sky the dish hasn’t mapped yet. Give a freshly installed dish several hours to fill this in.
- The dot. Where the dish is currently pointed, so you can see your aim against the obstructions around it.
Starlink covers the same concept from the hardware side in its Obstructions Explained and how to check for obstructions articles.
Turning a Starlink Red Zone Into a Fix
A clustered red patch in one direction is the signature of a fixed obstruction, usually a tree or building. When the obstruction has a clear directional pattern, Speedify suggests a specific rotation to reduce it, for example, “most of the obstruction is to the south, try rotating the dish 30° north.”
Following that suggestion is faster than guessing. If rotation alone can’t clear it, Starlink’s own fix is to raise or relocate the dish, covered in how to fix obstructions.
Reading Two Starlink Obstruction Maps Side by Side
With two dishes, the side-by-side maps answer one question quickly: are the dishes covering the same sky or different sky? Two maps with red in the same spot mean both dishes are blocked by the same obstacle and you’re carrying redundant coverage. Re-aiming one of them, using Speedify’s Dish Orientation card, spreads the coverage and gives the bonded connection more usable capacity.
Who Benefits from Speedify’s Starlink Obstruction Map
- Anyone troubleshooting dropouts. The map shows the cause of a recurring stutter that throughput numbers alone won’t explain.
- Installers choosing a mounting spot. The map confirms whether a planned location actually has a clear view before the mount goes up.
- Multi-dish operators. Comparing maps reveals overlapping coverage at a glance.
Speedify and Starlink: a Clear View, then a Bonded Connection
The Starlink Obstruction Map in Speedify’s Control Center shows you what’s blocking each Starlink dish and where to point it. Once the dishes see different sky, Speedify’s channel bonding technology combines them into one connection and fails over instantly if one gets blocked again. For dish placement specifics, see Starlink antenna placement with Speedify, or learn more about Speedify’s channel bonding technology.
Get started with Speedify today!
With Speedify you can combine Wi-Fi, 4G / 5G cellular, Ethernet, Starlink and other satellites into one bonded super-connection to improve livestreaming, video calling, gaming, web browsing, and everything else you do online.
Speed
Stability
Security
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