Subscribe
Sign in
Starry — A touchscreen Wi-Fi router and radical Internet service
34
Replies
@joshuapinter Don't forget to reserve now at starry.com. Once you get your Starry Station, we'd love to hear what you think.
@thejermboy I see it's available for purchase on Feb 5th but when is the expected shipping date??
@joe_blau I asked support yesterday and was told, yes there would be one, but was not provided with how much it would be.
@hiimfloyd @joe_blau We want Starry Internet to be affordable, but we're still a little too far out to talk exact numbers. We'll have less vague responses as we get closer to rolling out our Beta in Boston this summer :)
Given how much people hate their internet provider an alternative is always welcome. let s hope the founder of Aereo this time pulls it off
Was hoping for some more clarity about what and how they're doing this. Currently, it just seems to me that it's a lot like Clear (the now defunct 4G LTE home internet provider) with a nice router instead of a typical hotspot unit.
Minimally, it would have been useful to know exactly what sort of transfer speeds this thing gets, but my hunch is that it will vary wildly.
@wuss Happy to provide some clarity! The main difference is the type of spectrum that we're using. At cellular frequencies (3G/4G), spectrum is scarce which causes limits to the max data throughput. Starry Internet harnesses 38GHz band (more spectrum available) leading to higher throughput data transmission. Just so it's clear–Starry Station will work with your current ISP. Starry Internet will start as a Beta service in Boston this summer.
I'm just waiting for the WiFi solution that lets me get super fast connection wherever I am.
In 2016 I don't want the daily struggle of dealing with connectivity issues.
@bentossell We all feel your pain. That's what brings us to work everyday at Starry.
I was bummed when Aereo had to close shop. Starry seems like just as bold of an initiative.
You reference internet being unavailable to 20% of Americans and to bringing high speed internet to "everyone." Is Starry's ISP able to service rural communities (even ones only an hour from Boston) that don't currently have high speed internet? What is the maximum distance between a Beam beta and a Node beta?
TLDR: When you say "everyone" do you really mean EVERYONE?
@elilaipson We do want to bring Starry Internet to everyone, but we won't be able to reach everyone at once. You'll need to be in the market area that we launch in our Boston Beta, for example. We don't have specific distances to share at the moment, but we'll have a lot more details as we approach the summer. [Insert shameless request to join our email list at starry.com/internet] :)
@thejermboy thanks jeremy understood! But please don't forget about the rural communities! Already signed up and will be eager to check it out when it hits Boston!
THIS IS AWESOME! That's the products we really need. Please come to Brazil soon. ;)
I think Starry may not be faster than Google Fiber but if it's faster than 100 mbps that's going to be an awesome upgrade for AT&T slow speed internet users.
I got my start as a network engineer in the WISP (Wireless ISP) industry building and managing one of the largest contiguous wireless point to multipoint networks in North America. I've worked with numerous wireless vendors over the years, including several with millimeter-wave technology. It's nothing new, nor is Active Phase Array.
While I hate the state of the ISP industry as much as anyone here, I don't see Mr. Kanojia's plan as very well thought out nor tangible. Millimeter-wave solves the capacity issue mentioned, but that's about it; such pitfalls such as a ~2 mile range, high susceptibility to rain/snow fade, and absolutely no tolerance for non-line of sight applications are given traits for a frequency as high as 38Ghz.
For this to work you have to have equipment on towers or building-tops just like a traditional WISP or cellular carrier. Given the above characteristics, you need more towers to compensate for the distance limitation - more equipment costs and more rent. You won't be able to achieve the precise line of sight required with a window-mounted device as what is shown in the video in most homes due to trees and other buildings (also, who would want to mount something in their window like that?). The talk about bouncing the signal off of things is ridiculous because that would introduce incredible instability and weaken the quality of the whole network. He says their cost per residence is $25, this clearly does not factor in tower costs, nor recurring maintenance, and engineering costs. You can't just eliminate your infrastructure overhead by having your customers do the install for you (which is a bad idea anyways).
I wonder how Starry's CEO plans to overcome these obstacles, otherwise I don't see this happening.
Edit: I love how Starry's staff is responding to the low-hanging questions, but has yet to address the concerns I outlined. Something's fishy here.
@brodie7838 Sorry for the delay in responding to your comments! Regarding line of sight, the active phased array technology Starry has developed eliminates the need for direct line of sight between Starry Point beta and Starry Beam beta. The active phased arrays in Starry Beam beta steer themselves to direct optimal signals to Starry Point beta, which contains a passive phased array to receive those signals. This technology is a key Starry innovation. Regarding weather interference, we know things like rain and snow can have an impact on signal range and this is something that we factored into the design and development of our system. By taking preventative measures, such as placing Starry Beam betas every 1-2 kilometers, we’ve minimized the impact inclement weather will have on range.
We haven't announced pricing for Starry Internet yet; however, we are very focused on affordability. We have built Starry Point beta to be easy to install in your window. The majority of people shouldn't need help with install. That said, we know we will learn a lot as we both approach and launch our Beta service in Boston this summer.
We will certainly face plenty of obstacles but we firmly believe in our technology–now, we're focused on execution. We hope you'll follow along with us as we learn & share more.
I love the fact of directly adjusting the station on spot, it makes for solving issues related to reconfiguring the Wi-Fi so much easier than logging in remotely.
Definitely the direction I think we should be going, this is the sort of service that is handy in large cities, if i'm moving from place to place a lot having to sort out landlines, line rental and services providers in each place with minimum contracts is beyond a pain.
Is this product/service similar, in principle, to Relish - https://www1.relish.net/ - that we have in London, where by it taps into an existing 3G/4G signal?
@benlaley I posted this below, but just to explain how we're different than 3G/4G: The main difference is the type of spectrum that we're using. At cellular frequencies (3G/4G), spectrum is scarce which causes limits to the max data throughput. Starry Internet harnesses 38GHz band (more spectrum available) leading to higher throughput data transmission.
Starry wifi is actually really good! Use this link https://starry.com/r/030o27 to get another month FREE on top of your first free month!
I used to use AT&T wifi, it was way more expensive than Starry, and way slower. With Starry I can upload pictures and videos way faster.
Love the idea. Wish I could use it in Australia since the internet here is in a mess due to total government mismanagement. Not a bad market to start in, to be honest.
I'm in Boston - eager to try the starry window service and device, signed up for the updates...no need for the router though, is that required?
@passingnotes You're definitely going to need some Starry gear. We'll have much more specific details about what's required once we get closer to launching our Beta in Boston this summer. Thanks for signing up for updates! We hope to talk to you more soon.
@thejermboy sounds good - hope you're able to price below netblazr, they are already doing this same thing in Boston at 40 per month
@passingnotes NetBlazr is a traditional WISP using inexpensive equipment such as Ubiquiti which operate in the 900MHz, 2.4GHz, & 5GHz bands. Not quite the same thing as what Starry claims to be able to accomplish with Millimeter Wave technology. The most specific thing Starry seems to want to commit to as to what sets them apart from their competition is the use of that Millimeter band - which means absolutely nothing in practice; they're still a WISP, just using a very specific band.
ntwrk