Deciding which tier of SpaceX's satellite internet is right for you isn't just as simple as how to order a dish anymore, it's also about the investment you will make in infrastructure at a multi-thousand-dollar level.
At this point (mid 2023), it seems that the product has become fragmented based on very specific use cases that have varying monthly costs, and installation and operational costs.
As an example, there are many remote companies using the enterprise tier when they should only be using a business tier, and many digital nomads or remote workers using basic 'home' installations when they should have more robust equipment.
To truly evaluate what each of the various tiers of service can provide, potential customers need to look beyond the attractive marketing and read between the lines.
The bottom line – Which tier fits your needs?
Deciding the correct tier of service for you comes down to taking the time to determine exactly what your operational requirements are and matching them up against SpaceX's current service & network guidelines for each tier of service as they stand today.
Here's a breakdown of what is currently offered by each tier of service:
Residential tier
The residential tier is best suited for home-based offices, family farms, and standard rural homes.
Pricing for this service ranges between $50-$120/month.
When you access this service, you have unlimited data access, however, your data usage will be deprioritized during the peak hours (i.e., Heavy Users & Commercial Users have priority).
Roaming tier
The roaming tier is designed for individuals who frequently live out of their van or RV, or for temporary construction sites.
Pricing for this service ranges from $50 for 100 GB to $165/month for unlimited data, and the dish can be moved anywhere in the continental U.S., however you will always have your priority at the bottom of the network priority list regardless of where you are located.
Business tier
The business tier is designed for businesses with multiple retail outlets (chains), businesses with heavy internet demand (i.e., maritime), and critical remote locations where consistent and uninterrupted access is absolutely essential.
The business tier will provide customers with guaranteed priority access to data, as well as a multi-site billing dashboard for managing all of their locations, as well as providing hardware that is protected against extreme weather.
However, it also requires a major capital investment on the part of the customer at the outset.
Starlink business service vs. Starlink residential/roaming services
The residential and commercial approaches to how the service operates suggest several key differences that should be evaluated based on how data will ultimately flow through the service's network if a local cell becomes full.
Priority data/network congestion
Most competing providers use similar language in describing their plans. Most will state that the plans are "priority data" services. What that means in practice is that priority data services will exist during peak operating hours.
A notable time frame that most residential network congestion occurs is from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM.
Comparing the service provider's benchmark results against average industry performance during this time period reveals significant differences. On average, a single-family home connection will drop from 180 Mbps down to 45 Mbps. In comparison, a business account that is using the same cell will remain on average at an artificially constricted speed of 160 Mbps.
This is a significant concern because if a rural restaurant is using cloud-based POS systems to process their customers' credit cards, you'll be faced with a scenario where a single-family home user is on a 45 Mbps throttled connection (which may even see some packet loss) and therefore will have difficulty processing credit card transactions on Friday evenings.
Hardware reliability/best performing dishes
Standard consumer retail dishes are Gen3 standard and will cost approximately $599. These types of dishes are ideal for use on roofs where there are no obstacles or obstructions blocking the line of sight to the satellites.
On the other hand, commercial deployments require the $2,500 Flat High-Performance Dish.
With a much wider field of view than the standard consumer dish, Flat High-Performance Dishes require less unobstructed sky to maintain a lock on the passing low-earth-orbit satellites.
Additionally, Flat High-Performance Dishes work exceptionally well under extreme heat conditions and under heavy snow loads that could obstruct the line of sight to the satellite for a standard consumer dish.
Static IPs/multi-site management
Both residential and roaming users are on a Carrier Grade NAT (CGNAT) system sharing an external IP address.
However, commercial accounts can obtain static Public IP routing. A requirement for Remote Access should include Local Server Hosting and Site-to-Site VPNs (which are both generally secure), as well as Some Remote Access Protocols.
Additionally, network administrators with at least 10 Store Locations can view Network Telemetry and Analytics through a Unified Billing/Telemetry Dashboard, with Network Health Data for all locations available without logging into each Router.
The Cost of Ownership for a network/infrastructure (TCO) is not to be under-reported
One of the biggest errors made by a network planner is assuming that the ONLY item to be budgeted for is the monthly subscription.
Cost estimates for initial setup
Sticker Shock is Real to Most Local Small Businesses that are Looking at Deploying an Enterprise Satellite.
Let’s look at the actual Numbers for a Standard Retail Location Currently Using a Mid-Tier Commercial Package.
The Hardware Costs $2,500 upfront; 1 TB Priority Data Plan is $250/month or $3,000/year; plus mount and Professional Installation; this means that the First Year of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is between $5,500 or more.
On the contrary, the Estimated Maximum Cost for a Residential Setup in its First Year Will Be Approximately $2,000.
Pricing structure changes by 2026
Due to an aggressive push into a more diverse range of Markets across Multiple Regions, Pricing Structures Have Been Changing Rapidly.
As of this Date, in The United States, the Commercial Tiers Are Now Based on Strict Data Allowances: i.e., 1 TB for $250; 2 TB for $500; and Up To 6 TB for $1,500.
In The UK, aggressive pricing is what drove the base residential Tier from £50/month to being competitively priced at £39/month as Early As: 2026.
When Pricing A Network/Infrastructure, Network Planners must base Their Pricing on Precise Geographic Coordinates. Regional Hardware Discounts are Commonly Used to Adjust Prices to Move Overstock Inventory in Specific Cellular Areas.
Reasons to avoid Starlink for business
Marketing material for Starlink is designed to convince business owners with an LLC that they need an account for their business. This is not true based on the evidence available.
How to maximize your use of the priority data add-on
A home office professional working remotely who needs reliable Zoom Calls is often overspending at $250 a month.
With the introduction of the Priority Data Add-On for residential plans, SpaceX now provides a middle ground between the extremes. This service is charged at approximately $0.25 per GB of Priority Data.
For a remote worker that only requires Guaranteed Bandwidth during certain critical Zoom Calls each week, the $120/month Home Plan + 50GB of Priority Data purchased as needed, is a far superior alternative to the $5,500 annual total cost of ownership (TCO).
The roam option for short term job sites
Many construction companies over-purchase while setting up remote job sites that will be active for six months or more.
For job sites that do not require frequent upload of large amounts of data (e.g., syncing large CAD files to a central server every hour), commercial solutions are not required.
With the Roam Plan, the Foreman can simply throw a dish into the truck, set it up on the job site, and have sufficient speeds to check email and perform basic logistical tasks without paying the $2,500 for a flat panel.
Failures and uptime statistics for real users
The only official case studies on Starlink feature large corporations, such as Carnival Cruise Lines, and do not give any details regarding the pain points experienced by the typical operator of a Starlink account.
An analysis based on both actual user forums on the web and a few Reddit threads reveals that the same challenges to day-to-day operations are borne out of frequently identified and documented operational hazards.
Significant precipitation produced by heavy and dense rain cell patterns will obstruct a user's ability to receive an unaltered (non-obstructed) signal. This occurs regardless of whether they pay $50 or $500 a month for service.
Users continue to report a full signal disruption that can take anywhere from 5 to as long as 15 minutes during localized storms, which are consistently received in their local area.
More importantly, the current support models are still based heavily on ticketed-based systems.
Individuals who utilize the service have documented experiences where they waited no less than 45 minutes for an actual human response in support chat when experiencing alignment failures upon initial activation of their device.
Companies providing their systems as the primary method of connectivity to the internet must purchase and maintain a back-up cellular gateway that is significantly less expensive to use while the satellite platform inevitably trips up.
Conclusion on enterprise tier upgrade
Purchasing the enterprise satellite tier is essentially buying digital insurance.
While you do not acquire a completely distinct underlying network from what you purchased at the consumer tier, you are paying a higher price to jump ahead of peak congestion on a direct network and for hardware that has a higher tolerance to extreme environmental conditions than that for commercial-grade services.
However, if your day-to-day operations are interrupted due to the inability to connect to the internet and processes suspended until such time as your ISP reaches 100 megabits per second at 7 PM local time, you will be justifying the increased cost of acquiring an enterprise tier contract.
Conversely, if your staff can work through occasional service interruptions for basic use of their computers with internet access via low bandwidth/low latency devices and have access to web applications for basic business needs, then there would be little downside to remaining on a consumer or roaming service level.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Will the Starlink business plan support my restaurant point-of-sale system if it's 8 PM?
Definitely. Consumer accounts are typically subjected to extreme loading de-prioritisation during the time when local streaming services are prevalent (typically 8 PM to 12 AM).
By utilizing enterprise accounts, the packets associated with your restaurant's point-of-sale systems will automatically bypass the localized congestion related to streaming services.
Does the business package allow me to have multiple locations under a single management portal?
Absolutely.
One of the more notable (yet super-poorly advertised) benefits associated with the commercial tier is that you will be able to have a single unified management portal that you can utilize by your IT teams to monitor latency drop across multiple sites, perform remote hardware reboots when necessary, and keep your billing process for these multiple sites consolidated.
Can you use a standard generational 3 satellite dish with an enterprise account?
No. In order to activate a true commercial priority satellite plan your company will need to use only a Flat High-Performance Satellite Dish.
You will not be able to attach a $250 monthly enterprise data tier to the standard-consumer retail price of a $599 product (dish).
What kind of upload speeds can I expect from using the enterprise plan?
For the most part, the official citation of an upload speed range of 8-25 Megabits is fairly accurate.
Independent access to satellite-server data based on independent speed tests, such as the reports from Ookla, affirm the general accuracy of this statement.
However, heavy cloud-syncing actions will take longer to complete than would normally be expected in a non-satellite data environment because of the highly asymmetrical bandwidth allocation/management typical of satellite-based internet connectivity.
