Starlink for RV use is now available and taking Internet connectivity to new levels for those who work from the road. But not always.

****IMPORTANT UPDATE: Starlink no longer offers Residential Portability. This big change is one of Starlink's broken promises and other disappointments with Starlink.**

The massive constellation of low orbiting satellites being launched by Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) each month has been recently been switched on for RV mobile use for several months now.

Alas, the result of several months of use is a mixed bag. Good to have for many. Awesome for some. It appears location is the differentiating factor.

In a March 3, 2022 tweet, Musk himself announced, saying: "Mobile roaming enabled, so phased array antenna can maintain signal while on moving vehicle."

You can find the actual tweet here

The tweet came at about the same time Musk announced that he had sent Starlink communications gear to help Ukraine stay connected to the Internet as Russia continued to attack its infrastructure. So the mobile roaming tweet didn't get noticed much by mainstream media.

But RVers sure noticed it and have been quick to see if that upgrade was working. And as we report in RV Podcast 387 this week, some RVers are discovering that it is!

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Starlink for RV travel is rapidly growing

As we noted in the podcast, a handful of very visible RVers have been experimenting with Starlink for the better part of a year now. Many bought residential - fixed location systems - and then used the Starlink app to change their locations as they traveled across the country.

Sometimes, the area they tried to activate was closed because it was either oversubscribed or it just wasn't serviced by the satellites yet. Those areas are constantly changing, though, as SpaceX continues putting new satellites into orbit with rocket launches. Those launches have been putting from 60 to 120 new Starling satellites into service almost monthly and pretty much all of the U.S. and much of Canada is now covered.

Here's an excellent report about Starlink for RV travelers from Mark Quido of Grand Adventure that shows the often painstaking task nomadic RVers have in of finding open areas as they travel:

As you can see, changing your location and finding an open Starlink cell is often a hit or miss proposition. Doable. But annoying.

Then came the March 3 announcement from Elon Musk that mobile roaming is available.