Update: The Starlink Mini has been launched for $599, check our latest blog post for more information.
Last night the Starlink web team uploaded additional documentation for the Starlink Mini, which revealed several key specs. The official specification sheet and setup guide are now public, giving us a lot of information on the upcoming ultra-portable Starlink dish.
Product launches move fast, so let me quickly get you caught up before diving into the new stuff. Earlier this week, I uncovered the first images of the Starlink Mini by digging around the development mode of the Starlink app. It’s a much smaller version of the Standard dish, about the size of a laptop. Thanks to a few posts by Elon Musk, we also learned that the Mini will cost about half the price of the Standard kit, and should be available this summer.
Now, on to the new stuff…
12-48V DC power input
The Starlink Mini specification sheet that was uploaded to the Starlink site reveals the Mini can operate directly from a DC power supply, with an input voltage range of 12-48 volts. The kit includes an AC wall adapter as well, if you would rather plug it in to a standard outlet or use an inverter.
Starlink will sell an adapter that allows you to power the dish directly from a USB-C port. The adapter will plug into the included DC power cable. The spec sheet lists the USB PD requirement at USB PD 100W+. That’s good news for anyone planning to use the Mini with a portable power bank or a newer vehicle, which often have higher output USB-C ports.
Power consumption
Speaking of power, one of the most common questions about the Mini is how much it will require. The Gen 2 and Gen 3 Standard dishes use about 50 and 75 watts respectively. Starlink Mini will use much less, with an average of 25 watts, peaking up to 60 watts in certain conditions.
That’s great news for people with smaller battery systems. The Mini will use about half the power of the Gen 2 Standard Actuated. By keeping the snow melt setting turned off, you can improve efficiency even more.
The tradeoff for the lower power consumption is performance. Elon Musk shared a speed test while he was testing the Mini, and it offers a glimpse into what to expect in the real world. It looks like the Mini, and any special service plan that may accompany it, will target speeds of 100 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up. That’s plenty for most people, but something to keep in mind when considering purchasing the Mini over the Standard for some use cases.
Weaker Wifi
Unfortunately, there is a bit of bad news. The integrated Wifi router in the Mini will only feature Wifi 5 technology. The radio is a dual band 3 x 3 MU-MIMO design, which can cover about 1,200 sq. ft.
Why is this an issue? The Mini is targeted to nomads, campers, etc. I do a lot of camping with my Standard dish. I typically find myself having to place the dish 20-60 feet from my campsite to get a clear view of the sky. With the Standard kit, that’s no big deal, as the router stays inside my travel trailer. With the Mini, however, the router is inside the dish itself. If you have to place the Mini far away from your camping spot to get a good signal, it could mean a weak Wifi signal inside your RV.
For comparison, the Gen 3 Wifi router can cover about triple the area of the Mini. The good news – Starlink Mini’s integrated Wifi is mesh compatible, wireless or wired. If you need additional Wifi coverage for your application, you will be able to add a Gen 2 or Gen 3 Mesh Router.
Pipe Adapter accessory included
In addition to the Mini’s kickstand mount, Starlink decided to include the Pipe Adapter accessory in every kit. That’s a nice touch that will give people more installation options right out of the box. Here is the complete contents of the kit:
- Starlink Mini dish with integrated Wifi
- Kickstand
- Pipe Adapter
- 15M (~50 ft.) DC power cable
- AC wall adapter
- Ethernet port plug
You can find additional details in the Mini setup guide on the Starlink website.
Other confirmed features
The Mini will boast an impressive 110 degree field of view, exactly like the Standard dish. Since it doesn’t have motors, software assisted aiming will be required.
It’s pretty lightweight as well, with the antenna itself weight just 1.10 kg, or 2.43 lb.
There will be a status LED on the back corner of the dish, as well as a factory reset button. For troubleshooting purposes, I’m glad Starlink included these small touches.
A single Ethernet LAN port sits next to the DC power input on the bottom of the dish. You can use this port to connect a device like a 3rd party router, or a wired mesh node.
It sounds like my plan to buy the Mini and use it with unlimited internet data while roaming isn’t gonna happen. I’m not going to pay $150 for 50gb of data plus $1/gb extra when I am currently getting 100gb data for $50 from Straighttalk – especially since it seems the system only works properly if you’re camped in a desert (i.e. zero sky obstructions.)
I live in Oregon, you know, the “Evergreen State,” with towering trees everywhere you look. If I get 50% unobstructed view of the sky here in the forest, that’s doing well. Perhaps someday, this will all become easy, but I believe Starlink isn’t really a great solution/value, at this point. BTW, I had adequate (i.e. stream a movie) internet speeds and coverage via cell tower all the way through Oregon and Cali, with the small exception of deep inside Joshua Tree N.P. and Death Valley N.P. Obviously, those two places are ideal for Starlink, but realistically, that is like only 1% of the time on a trip.
Any issues with using it in a maritime environment?
It has an IP67 rating, so there shouldn’t be any issues.
Sometimes I wonder about the person who makes the decisions at Starlink. Besides providing Internet service to a home, the second largest market are RVers. But here we are three years into Starlink and they still don’t have a 12 option for the standard dish. So what does Starlink do next? They create a miniature 12 volt, less efficient antenna with a built in wifi modem. What the heck? Nobody is going to backpack the thing! Holy cow, will you just design a freaking 12 volt powered standard antenna, for God’s sake!!
And yes, I have modified my standard Gen 2 antenna to operate on 12 volts as have many, many RVers. But why should we have to hack the equipment?? The market for a 12 volt powered standard antenna is HUGE! Talk about missing the mark.
did you read properly?
It does have DC input between 12V to 48V
finally its the perfect dish to mount on RV