Posted: 2/9/2026 11:28:02 AM EDT
[Last Edit: snaggletooth1925][Edited]
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Looking for suggestions/feedback for a mobile failover internet connection. Id like it to plug directly into my router mainly for use when Im working from home or my phone when the power is out. I have an UPS to run the modem/router/failover. ETA: I know starlink might be a good option but is really pricey for what I’d need. I probably need it for had a day a few times a year. |
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Check for your area. Starlink prices are now $50, $80, and $120 for some areas. The only difference is the available speeds. A Starlink mini can have a 100gb per month plan plan for $25 per month and you can activate it as you need it. Standby cost (slow speed but unlimited data) is $5 per month. We have Starlink as primary Internet connection but recently took advantage of the “rental” mini for travel. It would be worth it to buy the dish and pay the $5 per month. |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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Originally Posted By ColtRifle: Check for your area. Starlink prices are now $50, $80, and $120 for some areas. The only difference is the available speeds. A Starlink mini can have a 100gb per month plan plan for $25 per month and you can activate it as you need it. Standby cost (slow speed but unlimited data) is $5 per month. We have Starlink as primary Internet connection but recently took advantage of the “rental” mini for travel. It would be worth it to buy the dish and pay the $5 per month. Maybe it is viable the . I checked a month ago while I was having a local isp outage and all I saw was the $80/month as the cheapest option. My other concern is that I will mostly need it during bad weather so I’m not sure how well star link holds up in a blizzard |
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Originally Posted By snaggletooth1925: Maybe it is viable the . I checked a month ago while I was having a local isp outage and all I saw was the $80/month as the cheapest option. My other concern is that I will mostly need it during bad weather so I’m not sure how well star link holds up in a blizzard The only issue i have had with my StarLink is during extremely heavy rain. And even then it doesn’t stay down for long. Snow isn’t a problem for the main antenna. The mini might need to have the snow removed…I don’t know on that one. We used to have shitty WISP Internet. It sucked. Fiber isn’t an option where we live (rural). We switched to Starlink almost 2 years ago and love it. |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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Starlink on standby mode for $5 a month. 500kbs is plenty fast for basic web browsing. If you need faster service turn it up for the day and may the monthly fee, then go back to standby mode when your regular internet is back in service. Few other options even come close to comparing unless you have reliable cell service then you just hotspot your phone. If you are serious about preparedness then a Starlink mini for the grand cost of a few hundred bucks, and $5 a month will probably provide you with more utility than another rifle and case of ammo. |
Originally Posted By ar-jedi:
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
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At my day job I am an Information Systems Manager and we have facilities all over the country. Keeping them connected when things are dicey has been a challenge. Each of our faculties has multiple internet connections using different technologies. Generally speaking they have fiber buried in the ground but then they have something else, usually coax based (Spectrum or COX) that runs overhead. The idea is to try to keep a backhoe from taking out them both. Most people don't know that the moment the utility power goes down, so do the coax providers. I have seen spectrum boxes up on the telephone poles with a Honda EU1000I sitting on top of the box running to provide power when the leads on the transformer was laying in the yard. I really should have taken a picture of that. Bottom line if you have to have connectivity, a standby generator won't power the services around you. The CO's for fiber and cell towers have backup batteries but they don't last very long. I remember when our HQ was hit by a power outage and we were running on our generators. We lost our T1's a couple of hours into the outage and my thoughts were "so much for the service level agreements" but then during the night they came back. I was surprised. Then driving down the road going to work, I saw this little piece of junk generator sitting at the CO, providing power to the cabinet. Well that explained why they came back. I don't know how many generators they were prepared to deploy to keep customers running. I do have a picture of that one. We had a facility in OK that had the roof ripped off during a storm. Since the furnaces/AC were on the roof they came off too. That meant that gas line to the building had to be shut down and that took out our backup generator. Speaking of OK, their COX connection is out right now and all services are running on the fiber. COX assured us that they would have fixed by morning. I may report back. In NW Nevada the wildfires burned down all of the telephone pole in the area. All utilities (fiber) are above ground in that area because burying cables isn't feasible. For a backup internet connection at that facility we have cellular with line of sight to the cell tower. We and the business around us all switched to cellular backups and completely overloaded the towers. My understanding is that Starlink handles that much better. A few months ago I read a government paper on a regional outage, how it affected local businesses and how each backup technology handled the outage. I was impressed with what they said about Starlink. We have sent Starlink antenna's to each of our facilities. Everything that i know about them says as long as you can power them that they should keep working even everything around them is down. We run them quarterly to test them and they work really well in testing. But then again our cellular tests in NV worked well too. I hope that helps. |
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Thread made me go look at starlink once more- still an upcharge for heavy use area, but only $500 now. Our phone company is running fiber so probably just going to wait. Starlink missed an opportunity to get a customer when they jacked up the location upcharge to $1000. Was prepared to buy the starlink Roam for boat use but it looks like 10-12 miles offshore is all it is good for. Gonna need to look at Garmin I guess. |
a loaded gun won’t set you free, so you say…
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Originally Posted By snaggletooth1925: Looking for suggestions/feedback for a mobile failover internet connection. Id like it to plug directly into my router mainly for use when Im working from home or my phone when the power is out. I have an UPS to run the modem/router/failover. ETA: I know starlink might be a good option but is really pricey for what I’d need. I probably need it for had a day a few times a year. It depends on your phone coverage, but if it's good, just add (if not already part of your plan) your phone to be a Wifi hub. My wife uses here's all the time. As to the Starlink, I made the decision to puchase the Mini. Much of our camping is remote or where there's little to know cellular coverage. Having been through hurricane Helene and with no power for 18 days, it's also my contingency comms for work. It's the plan is about $50/month (lowest download limit), but can be maintained on standby for $5/month, which is what I will start on next month. Other than the initial purchase, compare your mobile plan for your phone to serve as a Wifi hub to what it would cost to have a much better access option with the Starlink. ROCK6 |
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Originally Posted By thederrick106: Starlink on standby mode for $5 a month. 500kbs is plenty fast for basic web browsing. If you need faster service turn it up for the day and may the monthly fee, then go back to standby mode when your regular internet is back in service. Few other options even come close to comparing unless you have reliable cell service then you just hotspot your phone. If you are serious about preparedness then a Starlink mini for the grand cost of a few hundred bucks, and $5 a month will probably provide you with more utility than another rifle and case of ammo. Originally Posted By thederrick106: Starlink on standby mode for $5 a month. 500kbs is plenty fast for basic web browsing. If you need faster service turn it up for the day and may the monthly fee, then go back to standby mode when your regular internet is back in service. Few other options even come close to comparing unless you have reliable cell service then you just hotspot your phone. If you are serious about preparedness then a Starlink mini for the grand cost of a few hundred bucks, and $5 a month will probably provide you with more utility than another rifle and case of ammo. Originally Posted By ROCK6: It depends on your phone coverage, but if it's good, just add (if not already part of your plan) your phone to be a Wifi hub. My wife uses here's all the time. As to the Starlink, I made the decision to puchase the Mini. Much of our camping is remote or where there's little to know cellular coverage. Having been through hurricane Helene and with no power for 18 days, it's also my contingency comms for work. It's the plan is about $50/month (lowest download limit), but can be maintained on standby for $5/month, which is what I will start on next month. Other than the initial purchase, compare your mobile plan for your phone to serve as a Wifi hub to what it would cost to have a much better access option with the Starlink. ROCK6 This. And know that if you leave it on Standby, which gives you more than enough connectivity to change your plan if you need high speed for streaming, it is based on your billing cycle -- you pay the prorated amount between when you change plans to your next billing cycle. For example, if your billing cycle is on the 1st of the month and you need high-speed, even for a day, and you upgrade to the $50 plan on the 15th of the month, you'll pay the prorated amount of $25 for the remainder of your billing cycle -- switch back anytime. Mini works great. Last ice storm (Fern) we lost the one cell tower with 5G we were hitting and had no cellular in the house and only 1 bar of LTE outside which was basically unusable. I've gone all in on my business continuity plan fitting a small camera tripod in a hard-case, with a USB-C connection to an EcoFlow Trail 300 which gives about 14 hours of use in the field. Really impressed. Happy to share links to my kit if interested. Also know what you may see on the StarLink app for checking residential use does NOT match to what I have experienced with using the Mini -- app said no go for home but worked like a champ with Mini in the yard nonetheless. Being the forum we are in, will add it is worth the ~$40 or so to get a digital TV antenna too. I am in the sticks and get over 40 channels in 4K including local CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox Weather. |
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Originally Posted By LoneMouser: This. And know that if you leave it on Standby, which gives you more than enough connectivity to change your plan if you need high speed for streaming, it is based on your billing cycle -- you pay the prorated amount between when you change plans to your next billing cycle. For example, if your billing cycle is on the 1st of the month and you need high-speed, even for a day, and you upgrade to the $50 plan on the 15th of the month, you'll pay the prorated amount of $25 for the remainder of your billing cycle -- switch back anytime. Mini works great. Last ice storm (Fern) we lost the one cell tower with 5G we were hitting and had no cellular in the house and only 1 bar of LTE outside which was basically unusable. I've gone all in on my business continuity plan fitting a small camera tripod in a hard-case, with a USB-C connection to an EcoFlow Trail 300 which gives about 14 hours of use in the field. Really impressed. Happy to share links to my kit if interested. Also know what you may see on the StarLink app for checking residential use does NOT match to what I have experienced with using the Mini -- app said no go for home but worked like a champ with Mini in the yard nonetheless. Being the forum we are in, will add it is worth the ~$40 or so to get a digital TV antenna too. I am in the sticks and get over 40 channels in 4K including local CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox Weather. I get no digital tv channels  Too far in the sticks combined with terrain.
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Originally Posted By ar-jedi:
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
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Originally Posted By tac556: Was prepared to buy the starlink Roam for boat use but it looks like 10-12 miles offshore is all it is good for. Gonna need to look at Garmin I guess. I know people that use Starlink further out than that. I am guessing (and can confirm if it is helpful) that they are using a Mobile Priority plan. |
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Originally Posted By LoneMouser: Mini works great. Last ice storm (Fern) we lost the one cell tower with 5G we were hitting and had no cellular in the house and only 1 bar of LTE outside which was basically unusable. I've gone all in on my business continuity plan fitting a small camera tripod in a hard-case, with a USB-C connection to an EcoFlow Trail 300 which gives about 14 hours of use in the field. Really impressed. Happy to share links to my kit if interested. My personal mini stays in a Storm-Hardigg case with a Solix C200, the cables, and wall plugs. It goes with me camping, ORVing, or the wife breaks it out for hew out of home business if we lose internet on the days that she is working. Since it is a business expense the service is covered by the business. It adds a lot of options. |
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My main internet is a T-Mobile cellular router. It's $35/month added to my bill, unlimited data (I've pulled 6+ terabytes in a month before), and decent speeds (400-700mbps depending on the time of day). It's also powered by a USB-C power plug. My testing shows that an Anker C300DC will run it for ~48 hours without any additional input, and that's with the normal family usage, not trying to conserve the battery or anything. Adding a 100 watt solar panel or charging the battery pack off of a generator (takes ~75 minutes to charge from 10% to 100%) means indefinite internet as long as the cell tower has power. The Starlink Mini for $5/month is an amazing deal, and logging onto Starlink site to bump it up to "active" use is easy as pie and about a five minute process. The Starlink Mini does draw considerably more power than the T-Mobile cellular modem, but it will still run off of the same battery pack with ease. |
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Originally Posted By GreatDane: My main internet is a T-Mobile cellular router. It's $35/month added to my bill, unlimited data (I've pulled 6+ terabytes in a month before), and decent speeds (400-700mbps depending on the time of day). It's also powered by a USB-C power plug. My testing shows that an Anker C300DC will run it for ~48 hours without any additional input, and that's with the normal family usage, not trying to conserve the battery or anything. Adding a 100 watt solar panel or charging the battery pack off of a generator (takes ~75 minutes to charge from 10% to 100%) means indefinite internet as long as the cell tower has power. The Starlink Mini for $5/month is an amazing deal, and logging onto Starlink site to bump it up to "active" use is easy as pie and about a five minute process. The Starlink Mini does draw considerably more power than the T-Mobile cellular modem, but it will still run off of the same battery pack with ease. I wouldn't count upon the cell towers having power for an extended power outage, say a big regional one. Heck, locally, we lost cell coverage during a 1-day event. Cable internet was down, cell was down = no comms. I am very tempted to get a Starlink Mini and a battery pack, but the process of selecting a battery pack with some solar panels is kinda intimidating. 
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Originally Posted By thederrick106: I get no digital tv channels Too far in the sticks combined with terrain.Bummer, did you try just one antenna? Here is an FCC website checker of digital TV coverage just in case... https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps |
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Originally Posted By billclo: I wouldn't count upon the cell towers having power for an extended power outage, say a big regional one. Heck, locally, we lost cell coverage during a 1-day event. Cable internet was down, cell was down = no comms. I am very tempted to get a Starlink Mini and a battery pack, but the process of selecting a battery pack with some solar panels is kinda intimidating. Intimidating... you are over thinking it. Check out this link right here eco flow trail with solar panel One stop shopping, around $250 you can get a Trail 300 (as another user mentioned above) that is a 288 Wh unit; that is plug and play with a portable solar panel (that you can buy with it from the same company). The unit can also be recharged via car outlet or wall charger. Buy a USB-C cable for the Starlink, yes it is USB-C on one end and the barrel connector the Starlink panel uses on the other end; not found at every gas station but easy enough to find on Amazon / the internet. |
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Originally Posted By LoneMouser: with a USB-C connection to an EcoFlow Trail 300 which gives about 14 hours of use in the field. @LoneMouser, is your 14 hour run time with the Trail 300 based on your own experience or based on a calculation of how everything should be using power? I ask because the Trail 300 shows to have a 288 Wh battery. When I run my Starlink Mini under a light load with a 99 Wh battery I am seeing 3 hours of run time. So if I 3x my results I would still only be around 9 hours. If you are getting real world 14 hours of run time with the Trail 300, a battery upgrade is in my future. Thanks for the info! |
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Originally Posted By bowmanch: @LoneMouser, is your 14 hour run time with the Trail 300 based on your own experience or based on a calculation of how everything should be using power? I ask because the Trail 300 shows to have a 288 Wh battery. When I run my Starlink Mini under a light load with a 99 Wh battery I am seeing 3 hours of run time. So if I 3x my results I would still only be around 9 hours. If you are getting real world 14 hours of run time with the Trail 300, a battery upgrade is in my future. Thanks for the info! @bowmanch - Yes, that is what I have gotten, however that is a sample size of 2 for me when being the in the field with the (new to me) mini. Super glad you asked the question though as in my little use it has been doing email and light browsing which on the Trail 300 bounces between 15 to 22 watts and it is self calculating the use and time left. I do trust EcoFlow on it's accuracy here having two other large devices getting a lot of home use, however, now that you asked the question I looked up Starlink power consumption by activity. "Starlink Mini power consumption varies based on activity level: Idle: ~15–25 W Typical use (browsing, streaming, video calls): ~30–35 W Peak use (large uploads, video streaming): up to 40 W Initial boot-up: Can spike to 36–40 W for the first few minutes" Going to say now my first response lacked context and YMMV couldn't be more appropriate here. Also sounds like your solution is likely doing well based on battery size. Thanks for the conversation, I needed the reset here. Good stuff. |
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Originally Posted By billclo: I wouldn't count upon the cell towers having power for an extended power outage, say a big regional one. Heck, locally, we lost cell coverage during a 1-day event. Cable internet was down, cell was down = no comms. I am very tempted to get a Starlink Mini and a battery pack, but the process of selecting a battery pack with some solar panels is kinda intimidating. You're not wrong at all, but for 99% of the outages I've experienced, the cell towers have stayed online since about 2008. We get outages multiple times a year here from hurricanes and such. I should have been more clear: I do have a Starlink Mini that I keep in Standby mode. I also have a nine kilowatt hour backup battery to run it and my fridge, and charge mobile devices. That battery is recharged with solar panels or a propane-powered generator if needed, and I have LOTS of propane. Based on my experimental usage during "normal" times, the battery bank will keep everything running for ~2.5 days, and requires 5.5 hours of generator runtime to fully recharge. That means I get 12.5 days from a single 40 pound propane tank and zero solar input. |
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Originally Posted By bowmanch: Buy a USB-C cable for the Starlink, yes it is USB-C on one end and the barrel connector the Starlink panel uses on the other end; not found at every gas station but easy enough to find on Amazon / the internet. I bought Starlink's Automotive Adapter and it is a plug for a cigarette lighter with a USB-C connection on it and then a cable with the weatherproof Starlink connector on one side and a USB-C on the other. That is what I plug into my Solix C200 or Solix C300. I haven't run it more than a couple of hours on those battery packs though. I have generators for longer service. https://starlink.com/support/article/8a0d11cd-ff87-83a0-5a42-fca892b14cff?srsltid=AfmBOoqM-zxgRxI7TjLSp6-jvemdvO7bQd4pOuG4EV62U4imhRsR1-lX The Solix battery packs that I own have XT60 connectors. Plugging the battery packs into a cigarette lighter into the XT60 ports charge them really fast. I had one pack down to 30%, plugged it in, drove to work, and it was fully charged when I got there. I was surprised. This could be useful if going for a couple of days without power. Run the battery down, plug it into the car while running an errand, and you are back in business. |
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Originally Posted By GreatDane: You're not wrong at all, but for 99% of the outages I've experienced, the cell towers have stayed online since about 2008. We get outages multiple times a year here from hurricanes and such. Your experiences seem to be very different than mine. But I would expect that a lot would depend on the type of outage. When the power outage affected three towns the cell towers were not providing a usable service. |
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Thanks for the Info. I’m torn between doing a permanent installation or keeping it portable so I can pack it away. I saw a picture from a FB group of a system built into a pelican that runs off of Tool batteries. I really like this idea since I have at least a dozen that are generally sitting around charged. But I do already have exterior outlets so I’d only have to drop an Ethernet cable Out the window if I end up keeping it portable. Attached File |
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I use a Unifi Dream Machine Pro Max with fiber on one WAN and a Starlink Mini mounted on a pole for the backup WAN. https://store.ui.com/us/en/category/cloud-gateways-large-scale/products/udm-pro-max It will automatically failover within a couple of seconds. I’m on the 10GB for $10 per month plan ($1 per extra GB) with Starlink but I think that’s supposed to get switched to the $5 per month standby mode for low speed connectivity. At the end of January they told me they were discontinuing my $10 per month plan and would automatically put me on standby mode but I got another $10 bill yesterday for service through mid-April. I have the Starlink Mini’s wifi turned off and hard connected with ethernet but I could take it down and use it during travel with the built-in wifi if desired. |
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I use eero routers and have a 5G Signal backup on order. It cost $200 and requires a subscription of either $100 or $200 a year. $100 gets you 10GG a year, $200 gets you 100 GB a month. The software in the router handles the switchover automatically/seemlessly. I loose Internet about 3-4 hours every couple of weeks so it's a no brainer for me .... once the 5G kits become available. The 4G systems are out and are $100 cheaper. |
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Originally Posted By darkpaladin1: Many cell providers offer the ability to use your cell phone as a wireless hotspot. |
Konfirmed on-foing victom of da Americen edukation systim's inabitti too teash reeding komperhencenn.
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I have Starlink and TMobile as backup. Either will work using backup battery. But I prefer using Starlink as I have no idea how long the cell tower will be up and running. I've only lost Starlink connectivity twice in 3.5 years. Once was a heavy thunderstorm with a lot of lighting. The other, I for some reason hadn't turned on the receiver heater and we received 6" of snow. |
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Originally Posted By thederrick106: Starlink on standby mode for $5 a month. 500kbs is plenty fast for basic web browsing. If you need faster service turn it up for the day and may the monthly fee, then go back to standby mode when your regular internet is back in service. Few other options even come close to comparing unless you have reliable cell service then you just hotspot your phone. If you are serious about preparedness then a Starlink mini for the grand cost of a few hundred bucks, and $5 a month will probably provide you with more utility than another rifle and case of ammo. This. After Hurricane Helene, Starlink filled a major gap in my preps and we've used a few times already when camping and will use it again at the end of this month in a remote site in Apalachicola, FL and down in the FL Keys where we'll be camping. I love the company I work for, but as a government contractor, their hands are tied during emergencies. Having to burn just three hours a day of PTO would pay for the Mini and a year's worth of it being on standby. During Helene we didn't have power or internet for 18 days. It took about a week to get some mobile 5G hotspot located in our area before I could work from home. I burned too much PTO when I didn't need to after we got most of the debris cleaned up. I have the mobile plan that's $50 a month when activated and only $5 when on standby. I just left it active from our last month's trip as we have one at the end of this month. I also need to pull it out and test it for a few days. If mobile coverage is spotty, this is definitely the answer. Most mobile hotspot services (if it's good coverage) runs about $15/month. That's about $180/year. Once you get over the initial investment of the Starlink Mini, it still offers internet at the $5/month (or $60/year) standby mode. You won't be streaming movies, but you can do some video calls and browse the internet. If you need more band width, it's that $50 for a month fee, which is used only once a year (for a full month), it's still less than most mobile hotspot services. ROCK6 |
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants" - Thomas Jefferson
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Originally Posted By ROCK6: This. After Hurricane Helene, Starlink filled a major gap in my preps and we've used a few times already when camping and will use it again at the end of this month in a remote site in Apalachicola, FL and down in the FL Keys where we'll be camping. I love the company I work for, but as a government contractor, their hands are tied during emergencies. Having to burn just three hours a day of PTO would pay for the Mini and a year's worth of it being on standby. During Helene we didn't have power or internet for 18 days. It took about a week to get some mobile 5G hotspot located in our area before I could work from home. I burned too much PTO when I didn't need to after we got most of the debris cleaned up. I have the mobile plan that's $50 a month when activated and only $5 when on standby. I just left it active from our last month's trip as we have one at the end of this month. I also need to pull it out and test it for a few days. If mobile coverage is spotty, this is definitely the answer. Most mobile hotspot services (if it's good coverage) runs about $15/month. That's about $180/year. Once you get over the initial investment of the Starlink Mini, it still offers internet at the $5/month (or $60/year) standby mode. You won't be streaming movies, but you can do some video calls and browse the internet. If you need more band width, it's that $50 for a month fee, which is used only once a year (for a full month), it's still less than most mobile hotspot services. ROCK6 Buddy of mine has the mini at his weekend lake cabin. He has a $25 per mo plan that does have data caps but he can run his various Wi-Fi devices all the time and weekend TV use (maybe 5 hrs per weekend) without hitting the cap. He’s at the cabin maybe 2-3 weekends a month. |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
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Starlink at $10/month standby is probably what you want, and I have as well after seeing the hurricane issues in NC a while back. However, you do have to purchase the equipment which isn't cheap. Another option is T-mobile home internet backup. They provide the equipment at no charge or contract and you get 100gb/month for $25. We use this in the RV when we go camping and use it for streaming/internet. The speed is insane and coverage great for our area, and we never get close to using up all the 100gb for the 1 weekend we are camping every month. |