Live from a Boat with Starlink – Talking to a Starlink User | Speedify LIVE

On the 160th episode of Speedify LIVE we’re joined by a special Speedify user who combines his multiple connections, including Starlink, while he’s working remotely on a boat, in the middle of the Caribbean!  

We chat about the pros and cons of Starlink, how Andre set up his Speedify bonding for daily work calls, and about how Speedify could make the experience even better.

Here are our 5 takeaways from our chat with Andre in the Caribbean:

1. Andre’s Internet setup has changed a bit since last year: earlier he used cellular only and had to find a way to route different traffic through different connections. Then he learned of Starlink’s RV option and Speedify’s channel bonding, so now he’s combining Starlink with two different cellular connections to make sure he can do his work calls without issues. 
2. When it comes to power management on a boat it can be a real challenge, especially now, with Starlink added! The Starlink antenna pulls about 50-70 watts of power, which added to Andre’s other devices means that he has to make sure his solar panels are charging whenever possible, and that he unplugs whatever doesn’t need to be in use. 
3. Andre uses Microsoft Teams for his work calls, while using Speedify to bond Starlink with two cellular connections. He says while Starlink is okay for 98% of the packets sent and received, but the remaining 2% having to be done by the cellular can be an issue due to the weak signal, often causing high latency. 
4. In terms of what Speedify could do better, Andre says he would like to be able to configure which connection is used for download and upload. This is a feature request we’ve received before, and are looking into the possibilities of, while in the meantime, you can set a Rate Limit to control up to what speeds each connection can go. 
5. One thing we’ve learned from our Starlink Test Streams and Andre’s experiences, is that Starlink may be best used in Redundant mode. Speedify sees Starlink’s behavior and how it goes out often, so it intelligently decides to use connections redundantly to make sure you stay online even if Starlink goes offline.