I bet most of us have experienced waiting for something for quite a long while where our anxiousness builds up to the point that we get disappointed during the wait and then we end up surrendering and accepting the fact that it's not coming any time sooner than we expected.
Such was the case for us when we ordered Starlink. We had to because our internet options in the locality suck are limited. Although they already have fiber optics in the valley (a 10-15 minute drive from our yard), who knows when we can have it here in our secluded kingdom?
Anyway, we paid for the standard kit in July and we expected it would be delivered to our doorstep around the first or second week of August. It is mentioned on the site that "certain countries (including ours) may experience longer delivery timelines" so we thought, "Okay, perhaps it would take 3 weeks tops." That is because we have had orders from overseas and we usually receive them in 5-10 days. Maybe Elon's Starlink will be delayed for a week or two and that's still okay (or so we thought)!
But oh, boy! We were so wrong!
Each time we checked the status of our ordered kit, we sighed in dismay because all we saw was "PREPARING SHIPMENT." Perhaps our expectation was unwarranted? 30 days passed, still the same. We were often reminded about it especially when our internet connection was acting up badly.
"Oh, Elon. Send it already!" we would mutter, LOL!
Forty days have gone and still no change in the order status so we decided to not check any longer and just wait.
Then on the 13th of September, we finally noticed a change. Aha! It will be another waiting game, but at least, it's already in transit and there's an expected delivery date so there's no more wondering when it is coming.
And guess what? The wait is finally over!
The kit arrived yesterday late afternoon. I could not contain my excitement! I should have done an unboxing video but you know, this gal is camera-shy so let's just make do with photos, lol!
Anyhow, today is my very first day of using it, and will see how it goes. My initial test last night was good so far.
Nothing mounted yet, I just hooked up the cables and left the dish outside and it looks like the speed is okay considering that our place has a lot of tall trees around. I wonder how it's going to be when the dish is placed up on the roof. We shall see.
What I like about the product is that it's so easy to get it going. There is no need for a manual or so for one to be able to set it up. Just connect the cables to the router, plug the other end to the power and that's it. The dish outside does its job of finding the best signal.
I didn't even need to install or download an app. I just opened Dishy and personalized the connection settings (naming the connection, adding access password) and that was it.
And there is no contract! There's a trial period of 30 days and if we are not satisfied, we can return the product and we get refunded. I activated the account last night and I was charged with the first month's service (bill). So it's kinda prepaid which makes sense since there is no contract.
The monthly service charge is a little over $50 which is in the range of our internet spending previously.
The device alone is quite pricey (Php 30k or roughly $600 excluding shipping). The good thing is that we bought it when it was on promotion so some $200 were slashed of the price. Yay!(Thanks, Elon!)
While the ordering process is easy and fast (You just select your location to check whether the service is available and then you can make the order), what I didn't really like was the (very) long wait. We didn't expect that in today's tech and delivery channels, it took them only 52 days to send us the product, LOL!
What's even more frustrating during the waiting period is that there is no customer support whom we can contact to follow up. They simply have the FAQs on the site and no more.
Too early to say. But from what I see now, it might be. Here's the speed test from a little while ago. I hope the upload speed will improve though. And it might when the dish is installed in a better position.
The ultimate test will be when the husband comes home, lol! He's addicted to videos and he is fond of downloading gigabytes of them (movies etcetera) in one go. I imagine he would be stoked!
But oops! Maybe, I should manage my expectations or else, LOL!
Lead photo created on Canva. Logo/s from Starlink. Screenshots linked directly to their sources. No copyright infringement intended. 21092023/10:45ph
