Reaching for the Star(link)

High-speed satellite internet may be the future for Columbia County residents, and a former Dayton resident is an early adopter and advocate.

DAYTON-Self-proclaimed techie Phillip McKeen, of Walla Walla, may have a solution for rural households who may not have access to reliable internet connection.

"Growing up in Dayton, with very limited internet options, I saw the value of Starlink when it came available," said McKeen. "When they opened it up for sign up, I signed up with my parents address, just so I could get the equipment, see how it works, and help other people understand how it works."

Starlink has been offering beta service and kits on its website http://www.starlink.com since 2020 and plans on expanding service to "near global coverage of the populated world in 2021."

Since receiving his beta kit, McKeen has been offering independent consulting sessions for people living in, and around, the City of Dayton. McKeen said he does not work for Starlink or SpaceX; the consulting is a result of his love for both teaching and technology, combined with recognizing a potential solution to rural internet availability issues that he, himself, has experienced.

Starlink is a part of the SpaceX program, launched by Elon Musk in 2015. SpaceX builds and launches low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites for the Starlink service. Maiden voyages began in 2018, and now over 1,300 satellites have been strategically launched into orbit. SpaceX consulted with astronomers prior to launch, to eliminate as much satellite pollution as possible for minimal night-sky disruption.

For a small, $50 fee, McKeen will bring his Starlink equipment to you, run some tests, and let you experience revolutionary satellite internet speeds. He says the fee is mostly to cover his travel expenses from Walla Walla, as many of his customers live outside of city limits.

"These people are considering putting a $100 deposit down on a $500 piece of equipment, and a $100 per month service charge," McKeen said. "That's a lot of a gamble. People want to know if it is going to work for them."

McKeen's Starlink equipment works best for homes that are within a 10-mile radius outside of Dayton, but he can receive a signal as far as 20 miles outside of town.

"This works out in the middle of wheat fields, where there is nothing around," McKeen said. "There's no cell service, there is no REA, there is nothing out there, yet (Starlink) will connect, and it will go fast."

So, what sets Starlink apart from other satellite internet providers? The two other major providers, Hughesnet and Viaset use traditional geostationary (GEO) satellites. These rotate with the earth and are positioned over 22,000 miles away. This distance causes high level of latency, the delay between receiving data from one point to the next. Starlink's LEO satellites orbit only 340 miles from earth significantly reducing latency. Since the smaller LEO satellites are closer to earth they individually cover less area than GEO satellites. However, SpaceX is building, launching and creating networks referred to as "constellations" that cover large areas. Starlink, through SpaceX is the only provider that builds and launches their equipment giving the company a big economic and service advantages.

Positioning is another big factor. Starlink will be able to position its satellites to target specific areas where internet service has been unavailable or underserved.

Starlink satellites are constantly moving, according to McKeen, the satellites can orbit the Earth in as quickly as 90 minutes. If you look up at a clear night sky and see a repeating, rotating line of satellites, you are likely looking right at the Starlink system.

McKeen has done a total of eight surveys in the area and said that all of his customers have been awed by the speed of the connection. Three of the eight have been so impressed that they have signed up for their own Starlink beta setup and service. Some of the surveys have been done on McKeen's own time, including one in Waitsburg and one in Starbuck, as he tests the boundaries of his service.

He does worry, however, that he may be doing more harm than good: His customers are often disappointed by the wait time to receive their Starlink equipment, which may not be available for residents until the end of 2021. The beta service is also still being improved as the company is testing and fixing bugs and there are times the service is not available while improvements are being made. Such is the nature of beta testing.

"My most recent survey was for a HughesNet customer who lives far outside of cell range. He depends on internet for basic phone use," said McKeen. "Between the latency and the bandwidth, calls were very low quality. When connected to Starlink, he could actually carry a conversation with family over the phone and do so much more thanks to fast and reliable internet access. He was excited that he could get service by the end of the year."

If you are interested in McKeen's take on Starlink check out his posts on All Things Dayton WA on Facebook. McKeen is happy to explain all the "techie" details and can be reached by email at pmckeen@nndevelopments.com.