Starlink Teases ‘Community’ Discount for Shared Satellite Access. Here’s How It Works
SpaceX may soon allow multiple Starlink users to share access to a single dish for a lower monthly rate, according to a post on a customer support page. (The news was first reported by PCMag, which is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)
The post, which has since been taken down, stated, “Starlink is launching a new affordable way to deliver high-speed internet: one Starlink, multiple subscribers — each with their own Starlink account and seamless experience.”
A Starlink Community page has also been set up on the website, but it doesn’t appear to be fully functional right now. It appears that the service would cost $60 per month for access to a shared dish.
Starlink customers in the US receive median speeds around 105Mbps download and 15Mbps upload, according to the latest report from the speed test site Ookla. (Ookla is also owned by CNET’s parent company, Ziff Davis.) That doesn’t leave a lot of extra room for additional users.
The Starlink Community discount appears to be designed for smaller apartment buildings in remote areas. Instead of each unit purchasing its own Starlink dish and subscription — or using the same Wi-Fi — this option would let everyone use their own router to connect to one dish.
There’s technically nothing to stop neighbors from sharing Wi-Fi on one Starlink dish now or running an Ethernet cable to Wi-Fi routers in different units. But that is a violation of Starlink’s terms of service, and you could get banned from the network if your usage exceeds a reasonable amount for one home.
Watch this: Tips for Mounting a Starlink Satellite Dish on Your Home
How much is Starlink without the Community discount?
Starlink Community looks like it will cost $60 per month, which is a significant discount from the standard monthly price of $120. That said, Starlink also offers a Residential Lite plan in places with excess bandwidth — typically more rural areas — for $80 a month. Speeds are also deprioritized on this plan during busier times of the day.
“This service plan will be deprioritized compared to Residential service during peak hours,” Starlink says. “This means speeds may be slower for Residential Lite service relative to Residential service when our network has the most users online.”
