Upcoming Starlink “Coastal Coverage” Limits Might Push Cruisers To More Expensive Plan

If you are an active cruiser, keeping connected on the water via Starlink may soon be a LOT more expensive.

New changes to Starlink's terms for the Roam service plan will soon limit "Coastal Coverage" to "5 consecutive days at a time and a total of 60 days over the course of a year."

These time limits are newly found in Starlink's terms of service and FAQs, and seem to apply to cruising even within your own home country.

The change might be designed to push active cruisers from the $165/mo Roam plan to the $250/mo Mobile Priority plan, which does not include these limits.

But just what constitutes "coastal coverage" - will cruisers who stick to the lakes, rivers, near islands or the intracoastal waterways be impacted?

Will usage at marinas and anchorages count as "coastal"?

How and when will SpaceX begin tracking and enforcing these new terms?

We've got the latest...

Starlink Coast Coverage Video

 

Starlink Introduces New “Coastal Coverage” Limitations

In the past Starlink has divided the world into "Land" and "Ocean" - and inland and nearshore coastal waters were treated as land by Starlink.

This meant that the bulk of our boating audience here at the Mobile Internet Resource Center rarely needed to worry about Starlink's more expensive Priority data that was needed to keep connected on areas mapped as "Ocean" .

But now Starlink has defined a new type of coverage area that bridges the gap between land and ocean.

Coastal coverage is defined in the Starlink FAQ as coverage in territorial waters "up to 12 nautical miles off the coast" - basically areas that Starlink used to treat as "Land" before.

Now boaters with the Starlink Roam plan are limited to "5 consecutive days at a time and a total of 60 days over the course of a year" in coastal coverage areas before their coastal service will get cut off, unless they switch to the more expensive Mobile Priority plan.

But Starlink is still giving mixed messages around just where land ends and coastal begins.

Some time ago, Starlink refined their availability maps to have more precise definition between water (black) and land (blue) - but it's quite inconsistent in how its applied. 

When asked for clarification - some Starlink customer service agents have said that only areas colored blue on the Starlink coverage map will be considered land going forward, which would seem to leave many marinas and anchorages subject to the new limitation.

But when pressed - other customer service agents also say that boats docked at marinas "should" be considered on land, and anchorages "a couple hundred yards from shore" should also be fine.

But other customer service reps have actually said that most "anchorage areas" will require Mobile Priority data for service.

Until Starlink actually starts enforcing the new coastal coverage limitations, it seems that even the Starlink customer service reps are guessing.

So when will these new terms actually kick in?

Starlink Roam Plan Changes Coming - October 10th

As we reported on last month - Starlink has announced some significant changes to the Roam plans that are slated to go into effect on October 10th.

Changes include raising the monthly price from $150/mo to $165/mo - and completely eliminating the option to purchase Priority data only when needed (such as during a brief ocean crossing) for $2/GB. 

Now SpaceX has both eliminated opt-in priority data, and added new limits on coastal coverage - pushing boaters away from the Roam plan to the $250/mo Mobile Priority plan.

We know the Priority Data add-on option is slated to be removed from the Starlink Roam plan on October 10th.

We can only assume that this might also be the date that SpaceX begins enforcing new coastal coverage limitations.

But SpaceX does have a history of being lax in enforcement - so it is possible that Starlink might not enforce coastal coverage limitations at first, or that Starlink might not be so precise on the land / water boundary.

We hope that the Starlink app will be updated soon to let people know how many coastal days they have used in a row, and per year, so that they can keep an eye on the limits.

Once the app is updated and this information is displayed, we might expect enforcement to follow soon after.

Active Cruisers Pushed Towards Mobile Priority

Those wanting to use Starlink on coastal water have up until now been able to take advantage of the Roam plan (formally called Mobile Regional) that was primarily targeted towards land-based nomads.

When needed, they could just opt into by the GB priority data for access while in areas marked as Ocean. 

And this plan might still be a great option for those who spend most of their time at marinas or near land - depending on how aggressive Starlink is with their enforcement. 

But for active full time cruisers who constantly moving about, such as those doing the Great Loop or other extended coastal or inland adventures - these changes could make the more affordable Roam plan less useful. 

The alternative is the $250/mo Mobile Priority plan - which includes unlimited inland data, and 50GB of priority data that can be used in coastal areas and further out to sea.

Mobile Priority Data Gets Used First

But there is one extremely frustrating catch with the Mobile Priority plan.

The included 50 GB of Mobile Priority Data is automatically applied to the first 50 GB used at the beginning of your billing cycle, whether you need it or not. 

This means that customers can't hold on to their 50 GB of Priority Data until they are planning to be cruising through coastal or ocean waters. Depending on your billing cycle, that priority data could be consumed early in the month while at dock. 

Additional Mobile Priority data can be enabled when needed - at a cost of $2/GB. 

WARNING: Be sure to turn Priority Data OFF when no longer needed. Otherwise it will keep getting used even once you are back near shore or docked. Many cruisers have reported accidentally racking up multi-thousand dollar Starlink bills by forgetting to flip this switch!

Concluding Thoughts

Just how much impact these changes will have on the cruising community will depend on how aggressively the upcoming Starlink Coastal Coverage limitations are enforced.

Or if they get further clarified. 

If SpaceX is strict with enforcement - a lot of boaters may feel pushed to switch to the more expensive Mobile Priority plan, at least for key months of their cruising season.

SpaceX makes it easy to change your plan as necessary (moving up in cost happens immediately, moving down happens at the start of the next billing cycle) so during certain parts of the year, you may be able to take advantage of the cheaper roam plans if your travel plans allow it. 

But a lot of other boaters might find themselves tempted to stick with the new limitations of Roam, or to consider other alternatives instead.

After all - pretty much everywhere that SpaceX considers "Coastal Coverage" is likely to have decent cellular coverage as well. 

We will be paying close attention once the new Starlink terms of service go into effect on October 10th, looking for reports around how Coastal Coverage is tracked and enforced.

Stay tuned!

 

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