• Photonic@lemmy.worldEnglish
    18 minutes

    Elon’s mom is also in high demand, but he’s still selling her cheap

  • CombatWombat@feddit.onlineEnglish
    3 hours

    I hate everything about this. We’re ruining our astronomical observations and risking Kessler Syndrome so a trillionaire can price gouge rural internet subscribers because he wants to get the high score on net worth because he can’t get a high score on twitter likes (despite owning it) or any video game (despite having paid help). Who the hell told the United States that we have regulatory authority over our shared sky anyway?

  • Sineljora@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    4 hours

    If you use starlink, you deserve far worse. 5g is usually sufficient unless you’re out in the ocean or something. Either way it’s ruining the night sky, making launches more dangerous, destroying the ozone layer we tried so hard to repair, and supporting death and fascism.

    • cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      49 minutes

      5G in rural America is terrible. I can’t make a phone call in my house, let alone get an internet connection. I’m not even in a particularly remote area.

      There are Starlink dishes everwhere you look here because it’s currently the only real option. It will probably be a while until they get some competition from Amazon.

    • CountVon@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      3 hours

      destroying the ozone layer

      This made me ask “wait, is that true” and apparently it is. Super, skin cancer for everyone. 🤦

      • someguy3@lemmy.worldEnglish
        47 minutes

        Tldr aluminum from burning up satellites is a catalyst that breaks down ozone.

  • uuj8za@piefed.socialEnglish
    5 hours

    I’ve been having occasional Internet issues over the last few years and was thinking about having a backup ISP.

    A lot of people in my town suggest Starlink… And well, I’d rather not have Internet at all!

    However, I did recently find these guys: https://www.computers4people.org/shield I’m gonna give these guys a shot.

    It’s probably not comparable, but no way in hell am I ever signing up for Starlink.

    • JPAKx4@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      4 hours

      I think that makes a lot of sense, it would be nice if they clarified if you could BYO router. My guess is you can, as long as it has a sim slot, but can’t be too sure. Make sure T-Mobile coverage is good in your area first as well

  • CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    5 hours

    Prior to and including IPO they have been on quite a marketing kick. Referral schemes, equipment rentals, discount plans for low usage etc. Seems like they’re trying hard to make the business make sense. I maintain that LEO (and WISP) ISPs should be limited to more extreme applications yet I see them all over the place in residential areas. Their technical achievements are impressive but if phone systems to remote areas were possible, then so should fibre optics.

    Also this should be built by international organisations, not billionaires. A plague on Musk and a plague on Bezos.

    • WhoIzDisIz@lemmy.todayEnglish
      7 hours

      Ma Bell had several decades to gain good ROI with POTS, while the rate of technology change today shrinks that outlook to just one to two decades. Plus the most profitable high income areas to be installing fiber now often have local laws requiring much more expensive underground installations so residents don’t have to see the ugly poles with wires hanging between them.

    • Taasz/Woof@piefed.socialEnglish
      6 hours

      Seems like every other 4x4 has one on the roof, every camper, people even mount them on their motorcycles.

      • CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        5 hours

        I don’t think that’s really the issue, it’s the streaming that really does them in.

        On one hand you have Netflix trying to cram 4k through and the neighbour is trying to have a phone call.

        • Taasz/Woof@piefed.socialEnglish
          4 hours

          True, I don’t know if they already do it, but limiting media streams to 480p like cell providers do on some plans would probably lower congestion a lot. And maybe limiting large file transfers over a certain size to a lower priority and speed.

  • DarkCloud@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7 hours

    The corporate version of privatize the profits, socialize the costs. Get in bed with billionaires and you’re an enemy of humanity.

  • someguy3@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4 hours

    So if you’re out on a farm, what’s the best option for Internet? Is 3g an option? (Either unlimited or a very large amount) Any line of sight service good?

      • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        3 hours

        You would be very surprised how many rural areas have barely-working cellular networks that are unreliable and not fast enough for usable data.