Starlink’s new Portability feature brings internet to vanlifers

Photo by Nilay Patel / The Verge

Starlink's internet-from-SpaceX service has gone mobile with a new feature. For an additional monthly fee, Starlink subscribers can now take their internet coverage anywhere in their home country. It's a potential boon to the increasing number of work-from-anywhere types spawned by the COVID 19 Pandemic if it's possible to connect to remote places that won't be covered by 5G.

One happy camper said that Starlink is great for camping or any activity away from cities.

Starlink is awesome for RV’s, camping or any activity away from cities

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 3, 2022

Starlink doesn't support use while driving yet, but the company is working on a solution for moving vehicles. Musk is working on a power efficient solution that can plug into a car's cigarette lighter and still have internet. Some owners are still using a bit of hackery to test Starlink on speeding cars.

When living off your vehicle's battery, power consumption is an important consideration. The Starlink draw is said to be between 60-70W, an improvement on the 80-100W draw from a year ago.

When you move to a new location, Starlink will give priority to your registered service addresses.

Existing Starlink customers can add Portability from their account page. It costs an additional $25 each month, on top of monthly subscriptions that already start at $110 after a one-time hit of $599 to purchase the Starlink kit.