Starlink Gen2 Failure and Gen3 Upgrade: Troubleshooting, Replacements, and Storage Tips

[Derby6]

Makes my wonder, How many of you have had issues?

Mine is a Gen2. It worked fine yesterday — we packed up and moved — go to the next town and set it up — no dice.
Router never “reachable”. Starlink itself is intermittently “reachable”. Did everything I could find; unplugs, resets, app uninstall reinsall, you name it I tried it.

The bad was I can’t figure out a way to talk to human being with starlink. You can only submit a ticket. It is 24 hours but it took them over three hours to respond. I’m not known for my patience and was VERY frustrated.

The good is they were able to see what the issue was and asked for a few pictures and are sending me a new GEN 3 system replacement at no cost.

Hope to have the new one in the next couple days — they were able to send it to a family member since I’m not at home. They also sent me a label to send the old one back once I get the new one. Sounds like all will be good. Lucky at my current stay they have cable TV.

 

[jymbee]

The good is they were able to see what the issue was and asked for a few pictures and are sending me a new GEN 3 system replacement at no cost.

Wow-- that's pretty responsive.

I've had a few issues with our Gen 3 that sound a bit like what you're describing. Get the "Unreachable" message in the app and have to click on the SL Name then it comes back.

I'm using my own Router in "Bypass mode" and the weird thing was the SSIDs stopped coming up recently. Seems that has to be the Router as that should have shown up whether connected to a WAN port with Internet access or not. In any event, kept doing what you describe-- rebooting, unplug, reset etc. and everything finally came back to normal.

Still concerned that there might be an issue with the Router and will probably pick up a backup given numerous experiences in the past with various Router failures.

I’m not known for my patience and was VERY frustrated.

Hmmm... why does that sound so familiar in my case?!

 

[garyb1st]

The bad was I can’t figure out a way to talk to human being with starlink.

It probably better than trying to understand someone who lives half way around the world and speaks English as a second language .

 

[rcflyer-XRD]

I had the same problem with my gen2. Mine appeared to be the connection to the dish. Starlink did replace mine in short order as it was still within one year.

I have cut my cord about 5 feet from the dish and use an inline coupler so I do not have to remove the connector from the dish. This may not be a problem with the Gen 3

 

[Derby6]

Received new unit today. Refurbished Gen3. Works great. We swear tv is clearer? Maybe watching very poor cable pic last few days makes us think it’s better than it really is. Lol
Kinda bummed how big the gen3 unit is compared to gen2 and with no pole, so I can’t use old mount (on stairs) or really temp mount at all on top of my RV.
I guess as long as it works good on ground game I’ll roll with it.

 

[jymbee]

Received new unit today. Refurbished Gen3. Works great. We swear tv is clearer? Maybe watching very poor cable pic last few days makes us think it’s better than it really is. Lol
Kinda bummed how big the gen3 unit is compared to gen2 and with no pole, so I can’t use old mount (on stairs) or really temp mount at all on top of my RV.
I guess as long as it works good on ground game I’ll roll with it.

If you think a tripod might work I really like this one I bought from Amazon. I leave the Starlink attached to the tripod when we move then just set it up a new site.

The site we're at now has lots of tree coverage blocking a clear view to the sky so I just move it about 75' down toward a clearing near the water. Being able to move it around can be an advantage.

I assume there's other options as well and not saying this is the best but it's worked for me. First one I bought was returned soon after purchase as it was just too flimsy.

 

[jymbee]

I have cut my cord about 5 feet from the dish and use an inline coupler so I do not have to remove the connector from the dish. This may not be a problem with the Gen 3

I like your idea as I just had to replace my damaged OEM SL cable. Bought a 100' replacement which works fine but as I leave the antenna attached to the tripod, the whole cable moves with the antenna.

Wasn't sure how to couple a short cable to the longer one but doing some searching it seems like this one from Amazon would do the trick. Ordering it now and will find out soon.

 

[rcflyer-XRD]

Cable splice , rj 45 connector This is what I used from Amazon. I use two so I have a dummy to connect to the ends for protection when the cable is separated for travel.

 

[jymbee]

Cable splice , rj 45 connector This is what I used from Amazon. I use two so I have a dummy to connect to the ends for protection when the cable is separated for travel.

Good find, but before I bought the OEM SL replacement cable I tried to a RJ45 cable and it wasn't compatible with my Gen 3 SL system.

 

[Derby6]

Gen 3 going to be a lil more difficult to store because I put it on This mount I bought. So has to be stored with the pole on unless I remove screws. I also ordered this Cable extension so I can easily unplug.
Plan is to just throw it on the bed for movement. If storage becomes a pain I will replace 6 screws that hold it to the pole with thumbscrews.

 

[John From Detroit]

Good find, but before I bought the OEM SL replacement cable I tried to a RJ45 cable and it wasn't compatible with my Gen 3 SL system.

There are two different RG-45 cables (Cat5 or 6) One is called "Straight" and the other "Crossover"

(TX and RX data are swapped)