• CombatWombat@feddit.online
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    11 小時前

    I hate everything about this. We’re ruining our astronomical observations and risking Kessler Syndrome so a trillionaire can price gouge rural internet subscribers because he wants to get the high score on net worth because he can’t get a high score on twitter likes (despite owning it) or any video game (despite having paid help). Who the hell told the United States that we have regulatory authority over our shared sky anyway?

  • Sineljora@sh.itjust.works
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    12 小時前

    If you use starlink, you deserve far worse. 5g is usually sufficient unless you’re out in the ocean or something. Either way it’s ruining the night sky, making launches more dangerous, destroying the ozone layer we tried so hard to repair, and supporting death and fascism.

      • Greyghoster@aussie.zone
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        1 小時前

        Fortunately in my area in Australia we have wireless broadband. There are small towers installed and operated by a local company that provide a good service. The whole lot of towers interconnect using microwave too so can span a large area. In any case, fibre isn’t coming to my place probably ever.

    • cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de
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      9 小時前

      5G in rural America is terrible. I can’t make a phone call in my house, let alone get an internet connection. I’m not even in a particularly remote area.

      There are Starlink dishes everwhere you look here because it’s currently the only real option. It will probably be a while until they get some competition from Amazon.

    • CountVon@sh.itjust.works
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      11 小時前

      destroying the ozone layer

      This made me ask “wait, is that true” and apparently it is. Super, skin cancer for everyone. 🤦

      • The_Decryptor@aussie.zone
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        32 分鐘前

        And it’ll take ages to have an impact too.

        Furthermore, we find that these reentry byproducts may take up to 30 years to settle from the top of the mesosphere into the stratospheric ozone layer. Upon reaching an altitude of about 40 km, aluminum oxides catalyze chlorine activation which promotes ozone depletion.

        So the “reentry byproducts” from a satellite re-entering now, won’t start breaking down ozone until 2056, and by then there will be another 30 years’ worth of byproducts deposited in the upper atmosphere.

        And since it’s a catalyst, it won’t even be consumed in the process like CFCs are.

        • Wioum@lemmy.world
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          2 小時前

          I wonder if wooden satellites would help. I don’t know how capable they are compared to normal ones, but it should reduce the amount of aluminium we launch into space.

  • CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de
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    13 小時前

    Prior to and including IPO they have been on quite a marketing kick. Referral schemes, equipment rentals, discount plans for low usage etc. Seems like they’re trying hard to make the business make sense. I maintain that LEO (and WISP) ISPs should be limited to more extreme applications yet I see them all over the place in residential areas. Their technical achievements are impressive but if phone systems to remote areas were possible, then so should fibre optics.

    Also this should be built by international organisations, not billionaires. A plague on Musk and a plague on Bezos.

    • WhoIzDisIz@lemmy.today
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      15 小時前

      Ma Bell had several decades to gain good ROI with POTS, while the rate of technology change today shrinks that outlook to just one to two decades. Plus the most profitable high income areas to be installing fiber now often have local laws requiring much more expensive underground installations so residents don’t have to see the ugly poles with wires hanging between them.

    • Taasz/Woof@piefed.social
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      14 小時前

      Seems like every other 4x4 has one on the roof, every camper, people even mount them on their motorcycles.

      • CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de
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        13 小時前

        I don’t think that’s really the issue, it’s the streaming that really does them in.

        On one hand you have Netflix trying to cram 4k through and the neighbour is trying to have a phone call.

        • Taasz/Woof@piefed.social
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          12 小時前

          True, I don’t know if they already do it, but limiting media streams to 480p like cell providers do on some plans would probably lower congestion a lot. And maybe limiting large file transfers over a certain size to a lower priority and speed.

  • DarkCloud@lemmy.world
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    15 小時前

    The corporate version of privatize the profits, socialize the costs. Get in bed with billionaires and you’re an enemy of humanity.

  • uuj8za@piefed.social
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    13 小時前

    I’ve been having occasional Internet issues over the last few years and was thinking about having a backup ISP.

    A lot of people in my town suggest Starlink… And well, I’d rather not have Internet at all!

    However, I did recently find these guys: https://www.computers4people.org/shield I’m gonna give these guys a shot.

    It’s probably not comparable, but no way in hell am I ever signing up for Starlink.

    • JPAKx4@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      12 小時前

      I think that makes a lot of sense, it would be nice if they clarified if you could BYO router. My guess is you can, as long as it has a sim slot, but can’t be too sure. Make sure T-Mobile coverage is good in your area first as well

  • someguy3@lemmy.world
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    12 小時前

    So if you’re out on a farm, what’s the best option for Internet? Is 3g an option? (Either unlimited or a very large amount) Any line of sight service good?

    • Dave.@aussie.zone
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      4 小時前

      If you’re out on a farm, you fit the intended use case for starlink.

      The issue is that all them city folk see starlink as a way of escaping the locked in municipal ISPs. So they clog up satellite bandwidth when they have fibre/5G/HFC/wireless/xDSL options literally at their front door.

    • potpotato@lemmy.world
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      6 小時前

      Biden’s broadband equity program earmarked over $42MM to expand broadband; past admins were incentivizing telecom to take action, but lo and behold, doge slashed a gutted to move funding toward starlink.

      Is there any source of high speed internet? You could look into a community mesh network.

      • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        11 小時前

        You would be very surprised how many rural areas have barely-working cellular networks that are unreliable and not fast enough for usable data.