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Is there a consumer level alternative to Starlink in Canada?
I would prefer to support a different business if possible. A Canadian option would be amazing.
I would prefer to support a different business if possible. A Canadian option would be amazing.
Really depends on your location and budget, Canada is a very big place. There is traditional satellite internet but the performance is terrible and the cost is usually higher.
Supposedly Telesat Lightspeed's consumer internet is still under development and launching in 2026 (we'll see if that actually happens, I'm fairly dubious)
But until then there are no real competitors to starlink in either internet speed, coverage of rural areas, or cost.
for rural high speed, or specifically satellite? If you're buying / renting, worth asking the sellers / landlord who they have right now. Canada is a big place, I know a few high speed alternatives for Atlantic Canada but not for satellite.
It’s a long shot, but if you’re looking for fixed rural internet access I’ve seen one or two successes using a point to point microwave link - only works if you can find somewhere with an existing connection to link to within a few miles line of sight, though.
Are you just looking for a standard satellite based internet service provider for living in a remote/rural area? If so, there are few other options out there, including at least one Canadian specific one that I know of (Xplornet).
But if you're looking for another constellation satellite internet provider comparable to Starlink, I think you're shit out of luck. The only other one I know of that currently has a similarly high number of satellites is OneWeb, but they're incredibly expensive and mostly cater to large corporations, governments, and commercial maritime/aviation applications.
Yea, I'm looking for a mobile solution for my parents who live on a boat. I guess Starlink is the only option in that regard, which is a big shame.
It pains me to say it, but just get starlink. Nothing else comes close. There are other satellite internet providers but IIRC theyre not fast enough to stream video and they're probably more expensive.
Depending on how much money your parents have, they could get one of the OneWeb systems designed for use on yachts. E.g. https://intelliantech.com/en/products/eutelsat-oneweb-series/ow10hm
It's hard to find pricing for them, since most every site I can find that sells/installs them requires contacting the company directly for quotes... but from what I can gather they run about €9k (CAD$14k) for the terminal with data plans starting at US$675/mo. So, yeah, not cheap! :/
Oh yea they aren't on that kind of budget unfortunately lol. But thank you for the suggestion. Hopefully some more companies can step up and compete with Starlink eventually.
Unfortunately, Amazon's Project Kuiper is probably the only one that, realistically, might be able to eventually compete with Starlink in terms of coverage and pricing... but dealing with Amazon/Bezos has its own ethical/moral issues as well. :/
As a side note, it’s pretty shitty that one guy can ruin satellite internet. I wish he stepped away from SpaceX.