Obstructions at < 25% elevation important?

[Zebedee]

I live in the North of the UK in a rural location with very poor broadband. So am grasping at straws...

When I use the Starlink App to check for obstructions there is a large slab of sky which I have 100% visibility of. However, there is a narrow slice at elevation <25%. The app implies it is required for 3% of the signal I would get. This strip is completely obscured from everywhere in my property.

Looking (endlessly) at the Starlink satellite distribution (in the "starlink satellites" app) it seems very unlikely this low elevation zone would ever be used.

Is it correct that Starlink needs that low elevation strip? Or is it an artifact showing in the App that isn't actually required?

Edited April 7, 2023 by Zebedee

[RicochetStarlink]

First off it's only 3% of the signal, so if you can't get it you still have 97%. Seems like a lot of worry over a little to me.

As for whether that elevation zone would ever be used, I can't say. That's a question for Starlink support.

[Zebedee]

The implication from the Starlink App is that this would lead to connection dropouts - which would be bad for what I primarily need the connection for. Or do you think 3% obstruction would not lead to nearly an hour of connection dropout per day (on average)?

I haven't been able to find a way to contact Starlink support other than the starlinkresolutions@spacex.com  suggested on this forum. Is that the best route for pre-purchase enquiries?

 

[Zebedee]

Bump.....

 

[RicochetStarlink]

As for your question about a 3% obstruction leading to dropouts... it might and it might not. No matter what the cause -- obstructions, power outage at the receiving end, service-provider outage somewhere on the Internet, etc. -- sooner or later, there's gonna be an outage. Every self-respecting, network-based service must be resilient to occasional network outages.

So, like I said before 3% seems pretty minimal to me... not enough to worry over too much.

As far as I know, the ONLY way to contact Starlink support outside a support ticket (which requires a subscription) is through that email address. However, Starlink Support may not respond to non-subscribers...