Starlink hikes prices to $599 up-front and $110 per month, blames inflation

In an email to customers, Starlink blamed inflation for the increases in equipment and monthly service prices. The monthly service price was raised from $100 to $110, and the up-front hardware cost was raised from $499 to $599.

Due to excessive levels of inflation, the price of the Starlink kit is increasing from $499 to $549 for deposit holders and $599 for all new orders, effective today. In an email to customers yesterday, Starlink said that the monthly service price would increase from 99 to $110.

Can't we honor the pricing on the equipment? Jon Guidry of Georgia wrote that it was brutal. Guidry forwarded us an email from Starlink that said the only purpose of the adjustments was to keep pace with inflation. The email from Starlink says that those who already did that can cancel the deposit for a full refund.

Starlink customers who already have service will be affected by the monthly increase to $110, according to posts in a thread.

The email from Starlink says the team tripled the number of satellites in space, quadrupled the number of ground stations, and made continuous improvements to the network since launching the public alpha service in October 2020.

Musk said he wanted to cut price of terminal

In June 2021, Musk said the user terminal costs the company over $1,000 to make but that it was working on next- generation terminals that provide the same level of capability but cost a lot less.

Musk said at the time that he wanted to reduce the terminal cost from $500 to $300 or $250. It is lighter and smaller than the original.

I understand the increase to the equipment, but I don't feel their service is fast enough or reliable enough yet to justify the 10 percent monthly increase to the early adopters. The user had issues with dropouts and slow speeds. My speeds have been at 5Mbps or less for the last month, so I can't say I'm happy to be getting worse service than I was just a few months ago with an increase in price.

Long waits for Starlink

Many people had to wait longer than expected for Starlink. chip shortages are partially responsible for delays.

After seeing an email from Starlink, some users thought their preorders might finally be coming through, but they got an unpleasant surprise when they read it. Woke up this morning and checked my phone. Email from Starlink. Yes! The wait must be over. Nope. There is a $50 price increase for the dish and an $11 per month increase. What a kick in the nuts, wrote one person.

I was excited to see an email from Starlink since I thought it meant I was finally getting it delivered. I was disappointed, wrote another person. Another person reported getting an email stating that their order was ready an hour after they received the notice of the price increase. The person wrote that he was just happy to have his name removed.

Starlink last month launched a premium service for businesses and residences with a bigger antenna and faster speeds that costs $2,500 for the hardware and $500 per month for internet access. It was originally called Starlink Premium and was renamed Starlink Business, but an FAQ says it can still be used at either business or residential locations. When it was announced, the equipment and service prices were the same.