Starlink has the potential to be game changer for so many different communities and one of those being the nomadic RV and van types. When the early beta was announced back in 2020 or 2021 I signed up almost immediately even though I was still very permanently based in Seattle. Being on the road was the plan for the future and knew the technology would be slow in rolling out.
Catching up to this year after purchasing a Winnebago Solis and starting to live on the road I finally got the email that my time was up and it was my turn to get the equipment. I quickly paid the remaining amount and waited like an excited kid for the equipment to show up.
Mounting Starlink on the roof was going to take some thought to make it safe and secure. Luckily the supplied stand allows for bolts to be installed through the feet but I was not willing to drill into the roof of the van. I ended up settling on magnetic feet with a lock wire backup as the first phase of the install.
I went to home depot and purchased four(4) 95lb magnets to install on each foot. Now these are rated at when installed against 1/2 thick steel and the roof of the van is no where near that thick. I knew I was going to have to have some sort of additional mechanical attach point. The legs of the stand do slope down so I ended up using a grommet underneath washer to cover this difference.
When I was up checking out the location on the roof I did spot that the Ram Promaster does have these two attach points that I thought I could use. Having an actual attach point would make me feel much better about driving around with the stand on the roof.
I ended up using lockwire pliers and standard lock wire to attach two legs of the stand to the roof. I did several short trips around town like this with tape marking the current location of the stand. I checked this to make sure the stand was not moving several times before going on the highway.
Next I routed the dish end of the cable through the velcro on the back end of the pop top of the Solis. I had already routed my WeBoost antenna cable through this location and was very appreciative of having this easy way to do it. The Starlink comes with a 75 foot cable so I ended up coiling up a ton of it under the pop top mattress to keep it out of the interior of the van.
Getting Starlink booted up was incredibly easy and within minutes I was able to use it in the van. Power draw appears to be pretty consistent around 31 watts though it does go up and down depending on the amount of data flowing through it. I always stow the dish before moving and cap off the end of the cable and tape back down to the roof before driving. I just purchased this cable box that I will be modifying to keep the end of the cable better protected.
Having high speed internet like this will be a game changed for my remote job and allows for so much flexibility in where I work. I can’t wait to see what amazing places I can work from now. I do have several more mods planned to the install and also hope to do a semi permanent install that I won’t have to take up and down when I drive. Follow this place for more info as I work through those ideas.
Links
Tucks’ Truck– Phenomonal webpage documenting his adventures with Starlink on his overloading rig in North America.
Starlink for RVers and other mobile users– Great source of info and widespread use by the RV community.
Check out a few of my recommendations for working on the road.