• ArtificialLink@yall.theatl.social
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    3 years ago

    I know a lot of people have issues with Elon musk. But starlink really has been an incredible game changer for people in rural areas or places where it’s not practical to get cell or internet service. My parents live on the side of a mountain in Colorado where there’s no cell service and it would have been thousands of dollars to run an internet line. Starlink has completely changed the game for their connection to the outside world and with us. I’m sure this will be even better for them.

  • anon_8675309@lemmy.world
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    3 years ago

    This is what Apple should be working on instead of basically just sitting on cash.

    More players, cheaper for consumers.

  • LostXOR@kbin.social
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    3 years ago

    From their timeline it seems it’ll be a year or two before it becomes available, but that’s pretty cool nonetheless. I wonder how strong (and sensitive) of an antenna the satellites need to communicate with phones designed for much shorter range communication, and if it’ll work with cloud cover.

    • shortwavesurfer@monero.town
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      3 years ago

      Actually, because its line of sight the transmitters not need be super powerful. I am an amateur radio operator and the sats i can talk to in LEO use like 100mW (0.1W) transmitters and we can pick them up. The biggest proble.m really is that the satellite needs a large antenna to pick up the phone. The higher the frequency they use the smaller the antennas on the sats can be.

        • cyberpunk007@lemmy.world
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          3 years ago

          Ah nice. Well a single 1080p steam on Netflix consumes about 4Mbps. VoIP calls about 1.7Mbps.

          It’ll do but yeah it’s not great. It’s definitely enough for surfing the net.

          I wonder how big these “cell zones” are.

          Produce could make a difference here too. I frequently travel so having one plan that works everywhere would be awesome. Hopefully the price is right. Starlink internet itself is pricey.

    • FaceDeer@kbin.social
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      3 years ago

      Howso? Do you think cell phones with this feature will only be able to communicate with Starlink satellites?