Starlink Internet

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

I just bought this thing yesterday.

Both of these "things" look exactly the same to me. One has to be a transmitter from the Modem at my main house and one a receiver up at the other house, 50 yards away. I'm a bit stumped as to the configuration. The instructions are a "Quick Start Guide". I need "Instruction for Dummies".

After its wired up and powered up do they just "know" what they are doing?

 

[-JD-]

I have not worked with the AirMax group of products, but I do run a small Ubiquiti network here.

This is absolutely not a plug and play system. Ubiquity stuff is not really targeted at "home users" and requires some network administration.


You might give this a video a look. It seems to give a pretty good step by step ...

I think they may have an app-based option now too, but the vid will at least cover the concepts.

Thoughts ...

• Preplan - figure out your network settings SSID, and Password in advance and write it down. FWIW, all of my primary network equipment also has tags attached with both default (in case of a reset) and as-configured IP addreses, logins, and PWs (obviously don't put login\PW info if they are in unsecured locations).
• I would perform the setup of the remote "Station" unit in your primary location first, before moving it to the other building so it can be easily tested.
• You probably need a network switch and\or WIFI access point in the remote building attached to the remote station nano m5 in order connect the equipment\devices there.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

You might give this a video a look. It seems to give a pretty good step by step ..

Cool...I looked at the video. It answered my question above.

We will attempt setup in the next day or two. I'm cave diving all week so cannot do it today.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Tried setting it up last night...no joy.

The video said login to 192.168.1.20 -- I can not connect to that IP.

I am thinking I have to somehow assign that IP address to my Windstream T3280 Modem/Gateway....No idea how to do that.

 

[-JD-]

Tried setting it up last night...no joy.

The video said login to 192.168.1.20 -- I can not connect to that IP.

I am thinking I have to somehow assign that IP address to my Windstream T3280 Modem/Gateway....No idea how to do that.

I'm not going to venture into advise on reconfiguring your Windstream stuff, there are other ways.
[ETA: Actually, changing the LAN IP subnet and gateway addresses looks pretty straightforward on the T3280. Default gateway address seems to be 192.168.254.254. 192.168.1.0 address using a 192.168.1.___ subnet is much more common from what I've seen. Downside is you'd need to force a reconnection for any DHCP (automatic address setting) devices and manually change statically set devices if you have any.]



Is the Nanostation hardwire-connected to your router or (network switch if you have one)?

It is quite possible that your gateway is configured on different network address range which will not allow you to communicate to the 192.168.1.??? segment. What are the IP settings for your network?

If you are running Windows

1. Got to "Run..." on the Windows menu
2. Enter "cmd" in to the entry field then hit "OK". That will bring up a command line window.
3. Type "ipconfig" then enter.

You should get something like this:

Ethernet adapter Home-Killer E2400:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : localdomain
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::38fb:72e7:5051:7e3d%20
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.221
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

The "IPv4 Address" is the address of your computer and the "Default Gateway" is the address of your router.
The first three sections XXX.XXX.XXX.___ define the network subnet that you are on.
If it is not 192.168.1.___ then it won't work to communicate through your router as is and you'll have to manually set your computer's IP address to the 192.168.1.__ subnet and possibly even go to direct connection from your computer for the initial setup.
Then you can change the Nanaostation to an address on your subnet.

 

[heftysmurf]

If I run the cable 50 yards from my modem will the signal strength be degraded at the other end?

Would this solution be better than a wireless bridge, disregarding cost?

50m for cat6 you should be good to go. cat8, heck, I've barely seen it on the market. As others have said, I'd totally run fiber underground -- no signal loss for that distance.

While I'm in South Florida and have fiber to my house, wifi is trash due to the concrete around...well, all of South Florida. I run an Eero mesh setup with 3 beacons (access points).

While max speed isn't needed for most, it sure is handy with gigabit up/down.

EDIT: looks like you got what you needed and @-JD- has you squared away.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

 

[-JD-]

This video covers the NanoStation setup, INCLUDING changing your computer's network settings (at around 8minutes in) to be able to communicate with the NanoStation. In you case it would be the Wireless LAN Adapter settings.


Having a conversation may be the best way to cover this and some network "design" choices.

 

[Bert van den Berg]

I'm thinking of going the Starlink route here in North Central Florida. I have one friend in the panhandle near Marianna who uses it & loves it.

I need to have internet on two properties about 50 yards apart and I guess this is possible if burying some Cat 6 cable.

Right now we pay Windstream $120.00 for each property and on a good day get about 100 Mbps down, but an overall average about 70.

Anyone using Starlink care to chime in with their experience with it?

View attachment 821466

50 yards can probably be done with a WiFi repeater. There are some videos on YouTube showing repeaters being used on a farm to link two distant buildings.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

50 yards can probably be done with a WiFi repeater.

Been there, tried that, no joy.

I sent the "bridge" back to Amazon and got another one ordered that claims to be "Plug & Play" no configuration needed. It arrives tomorrow. Plug and Play Bridge

A professional network engineer came to my house and tried to set up the one I just sent back and he could not make it work either.

I greatly appreciate all the help you guys have given me on this. I am going to keep plugging away at it.

I also set up a eero Mesh Network in the house. It is great - the house is almost 4000 square feet and there were dead spots that WiFi extenders helped, but did not completely solve. This mesh network has solved the dead spots problem completely.

eero 6 Mesh Network