- Joined
- Feb 12, 2020
- Messages
- 3,693
Hi all. I've b***ed up a storm about my current ISP and how much it sucks. It has really gone downhill. No longer has US customer service, speeds are slower, often unusable, and we have more outages. It also started miscalculating our bandwidth usage. We signed up for Starlink and paid a deposit over a year ago. We were supposed to get it last year but our state govt requisitioned the equipment so we had to wait longer. Our equipment is supposed to be delivered today.
One thing my mother and brother didn't realize when the order was set up was that it only comes with a mount that sits on the ground or on some flat surface. We can't leave it down like that because it can get stepped on by cows. So, we need to find a way to mount it. I'm not about to put holes in the roof.
The official eaves mount from Starlink is $40 but would not arrive until sometime in March. Our current ISP will bill us on the 12th and we are hoping to be able to cancel by then if Starlink works well for us. Gen 2 is a rectangular flat faced dish that weighs around 8lbs or so. It has full pivoting motion on its short pole and automatically adjusts itself to get the best signal.
The good news is, there are no trees or major obstructions on the northwest side of the house (our house is angled so the corner points north). We do have a 50ft tower but I'm not about to climb up it to try to mount something-- especially since I want to be able to somewhat easily get Dishy McFlatface (Elon Musk's name for it) down to protect it from hurricanes/tropical storms.
I'm thinking the best way to mount it would be to the eaves in a similar manner to how our current Dishnetwork (DN) satellite is mounted. I saw a J-arm mount online for $40 on Amazon that has braces so it can mount to a wall, but my eaves overhang too much for wall-mount. I was told the arms are adjustable but I don't know if the 2" pole fits the Gen2 dish. I know it fits the Gen1 which is larger and heavier.
I pulled the mounting brackets off the old DN dish and off the Hughesnet (HN) dish. The DN still has a busted pole in the grip of the mount. I think I can cut it with my chopsaw. The HN has no pole but I think it fits on the pole of my existing Viasat dish. But, that pole would have to be cut short to be used as well. I haven't measured either pole to know their sizes. I just know that the HN one fits on a larger pole.
If Dishy fits on the old DN mount I might be able to bend the pipe slightly (but I don't have a pipe bender) to be more of a J profile. Gonna see if the local hardware store has something I can use or if they can help me out-- owner is a very nice guy who likes to help people. I will have to get proper screws to get the mount to grab. Although, I'm hoping that the hardware store will have a J-arm mount. I'm still trying to find out what the OD is of the Dishy pole. Starlink's website does not have much info.
Without further ado, the pictures:
This is a stock photo of the dish style I'm getting mounted with the type of mount I'd wanted to use but it's not available yet (worst case we can order it if our temporary setup doesn't work)
This is the way my current Dishnetwork dish is mounted (antenna next to it is defunct):
This is how our current Viasat dish is mounted (facing south)
Old Dishnetwork mount still attached to the busted pole (end is squished bc it had been in concrete)
Old HN mount
Cat tax
This shows the front of the house (corner, fence, & carport all got sprocked by a falling tree)
Top view of the house showing that the damaged corner faces north
If I had the right mounting hardware the top of the tower would get good signal BUT it's too far up, could attract lightning, and would be difficult to remove for hurricanes. The orange line routing to the wall goes in where the existing modem wire goes in (just lower down).
Our plan is to set Dishy in or on the truck for testing to see what sort of signal we get, run the cable through a window and prop the window open so it won't crush the cord, set the modem where we want it, and test it out. I will figure out which (if any) of the mounts work.
Then we will have to hope it has strong enough signal to send wifi to my brother's room. Eventually we hope to get their Mesh system when it comes out. Their modem does not have an ethernet port so we will have to all connect wirelessly. I'm hoping the position I've chosen for the modem will still let me get signal in my room but be able to get around the signal blocking from the HVAC and water heater.
As an aside, I'm thinking of seeing if I can get my friend to help me look in the workshop for a pipe bender just in case my dad had one and I didn't know it. I need to figure out what they look like. LOL.
One thing my mother and brother didn't realize when the order was set up was that it only comes with a mount that sits on the ground or on some flat surface. We can't leave it down like that because it can get stepped on by cows. So, we need to find a way to mount it. I'm not about to put holes in the roof.
The official eaves mount from Starlink is $40 but would not arrive until sometime in March. Our current ISP will bill us on the 12th and we are hoping to be able to cancel by then if Starlink works well for us. Gen 2 is a rectangular flat faced dish that weighs around 8lbs or so. It has full pivoting motion on its short pole and automatically adjusts itself to get the best signal.
The good news is, there are no trees or major obstructions on the northwest side of the house (our house is angled so the corner points north). We do have a 50ft tower but I'm not about to climb up it to try to mount something-- especially since I want to be able to somewhat easily get Dishy McFlatface (Elon Musk's name for it) down to protect it from hurricanes/tropical storms.
I'm thinking the best way to mount it would be to the eaves in a similar manner to how our current Dishnetwork (DN) satellite is mounted. I saw a J-arm mount online for $40 on Amazon that has braces so it can mount to a wall, but my eaves overhang too much for wall-mount. I was told the arms are adjustable but I don't know if the 2" pole fits the Gen2 dish. I know it fits the Gen1 which is larger and heavier.
I pulled the mounting brackets off the old DN dish and off the Hughesnet (HN) dish. The DN still has a busted pole in the grip of the mount. I think I can cut it with my chopsaw. The HN has no pole but I think it fits on the pole of my existing Viasat dish. But, that pole would have to be cut short to be used as well. I haven't measured either pole to know their sizes. I just know that the HN one fits on a larger pole.
If Dishy fits on the old DN mount I might be able to bend the pipe slightly (but I don't have a pipe bender) to be more of a J profile. Gonna see if the local hardware store has something I can use or if they can help me out-- owner is a very nice guy who likes to help people. I will have to get proper screws to get the mount to grab. Although, I'm hoping that the hardware store will have a J-arm mount. I'm still trying to find out what the OD is of the Dishy pole. Starlink's website does not have much info.
Without further ado, the pictures:
This is a stock photo of the dish style I'm getting mounted with the type of mount I'd wanted to use but it's not available yet (worst case we can order it if our temporary setup doesn't work)
This is the way my current Dishnetwork dish is mounted (antenna next to it is defunct):
This is how our current Viasat dish is mounted (facing south)
Old Dishnetwork mount still attached to the busted pole (end is squished bc it had been in concrete)
Old HN mount
Cat tax
This shows the front of the house (corner, fence, & carport all got sprocked by a falling tree)
Top view of the house showing that the damaged corner faces north
If I had the right mounting hardware the top of the tower would get good signal BUT it's too far up, could attract lightning, and would be difficult to remove for hurricanes. The orange line routing to the wall goes in where the existing modem wire goes in (just lower down).
Our plan is to set Dishy in or on the truck for testing to see what sort of signal we get, run the cable through a window and prop the window open so it won't crush the cord, set the modem where we want it, and test it out. I will figure out which (if any) of the mounts work.
Then we will have to hope it has strong enough signal to send wifi to my brother's room. Eventually we hope to get their Mesh system when it comes out. Their modem does not have an ethernet port so we will have to all connect wirelessly. I'm hoping the position I've chosen for the modem will still let me get signal in my room but be able to get around the signal blocking from the HVAC and water heater.
As an aside, I'm thinking of seeing if I can get my friend to help me look in the workshop for a pipe bender just in case my dad had one and I didn't know it. I need to figure out what they look like. LOL.
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