Making Starlink actually work for use on the road

Previously: Is Starlink worth it?

Starlink setup and teardown at each location limit where and when you can use it, and running an inverter to keep it running sucks a lot of power. Both these can be fixed by:

• Flat-mounting the dish, instead of pole-mounting it
• Rewiring it for 48 volt PoE injection (displacing the Starlink router, which does that)

Contents

• Learning from others
• Wiring
• Parts and tools

YouTube University

Background and stories about it all.

Official flat-mount

Starlink’s official flat-mount dish is larger and requires more power than the normal dish, and it costs a whopping $2,500.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgxlWl244nY

Rednecking the flat-mount

If you don’t want to spend $1,500, but do have a square dish, try taking it apart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRI8AB0AfR8

3d-printed mount

If you’ve watched all those and want to try a cleaner and more sophisticated DIY approach…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRSnTMrUPrQ

Also peep the PoE mod in that video.

12 volt mod

And here’s another 12 volt mod/PoE example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrGCL9pNDDc

Wiring

The cable to the Starlink dish is ethernet with weird ends and weird pair order.

Spacex Starlink swapped RJ45 wiring

1. Orange stripe
2. Orange
3. Blue stripe
4. Green
5. Green stripe
6. Blue
7. Brown stripe
8. Brown

T586B “normal” RJ45 wiring

1. Orange stripe
2. Orange
3. Green stripe
4. Blue
5. Blue stripe
6. Green
7. Brown stripe
8. Brown

Wiring it together

The ideal setup as shown in the Everlanders video linked above is to connect the Dishy to the PoE injector, and then connect that to your own router (eliminating the Starlink router entirely).

That requires two cables:

1. Dishy to PoE injector
   1. One end is the Dishy proprietary connector
   2. The other end is the RJ45 Spacex Starlink swapped connector you’ll have to crimp on
2. PoE injector to your own router 3. One end is the RJ45 Spacex Starlink swapped connector you’ll have to crimp on 4. The other end is a regular T586B “normal” RJ45 connector (you can crimp this on yourself, or cannibalize a regular cable that already has this connector)

If you ever need to use the official Starlink router again (say, if you need to connect to Dishy through the app), then it requires the following cabling:

1. Dishy to RJ45 coupler
   1. One end is the Dishy proprietary connector
   2. The other end is the RJ45 Spacex Starlink swapped connector you crimped on above
2. RJ45 coupler to the official Starlink router
   1. One one end you’ll have a RJ45 Spacex Starlink swapped connector like you did for the cable connecting to the dishy
   2. The other end is the proprietary connector that plugs into the Starlink router

Be sure to label everything. Nearly any label works if you secure it to the wire with clear heat shrink

Parts

• PoE injector
• 12 to 48 volt boost transformer
• Shielded RJ45 crimp connectors with boots (fit for the heavier insulation on the Starlink cable)
• RJ45 couplers
• Clear heat shrink tubing (to seal your wire labels in place)

Tools

• RJ45 crimp tool kit

Update

Everlanders’ with an update to how their Starlink has been working, and an alternative DC power supply.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlENmAikSQQ