SpaceX’s New Portable Starlink Kit Gives You High-Speed Internet From a Backpack
The Starlink Mini is just a small fraction of the original's size and weight.
Imagine how convenient it would be to fit your entire high-speed Internet setup into a backpack — or don’t imagine because SpaceX’s Starlink Mini Kit does just that.
Compared to the Starlink Standard Kit, SpaceX’s portable version cuts away more than half the bulk and is less than half the weight. The design even manages to fit a built-in router, instead of having an external one like we see with the Standard version. The Mini still gives you access to SpaceX’s satellite internet but with a max download speed of around 100 Mbps.
The Starlink Mini Kit is much quicker to set up.
For anyone who’s often on the road working, the Starlink Mini Kit will be a significant time and space saver. SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk, posted on X that he was able to set up the portable kit in less than five minutes.
Portability Comes With a Price
SpaceX leaned all the way into the Mini Kit’s portability — it’s a fraction of the size and less than half the weight of the Starlink Standard Kit at about 2.4 lbs alone and around 3.4 lbs with the kickstand. Even though it’s a lot smaller, you still get the same field of view (the line of sight it needs to access satellite internet) at 110 degrees, an IP67 rating, and the same operating temps between -22 degrees and 122 degrees Fahrenheit. With the portable size, the Mini Kit also consumes less power than the Standard.
There are some noteworthy downsides with the Starlink Mini Kit, though. According to SpaceX’s specs page, the Mini only supports Wi-Fi 5, instead of the Wi-Fi 6 that’s available on the Standard version. Most people won’t notice the difference, but Wi-Fi 5 means a slower connection, more latency, and more power consumption. On top of that, the Starlink Mini Kit covers up to 1,200 square feet and connects up to 128 devices, as opposed to the Standard which has a range of up to 3,200 square feet and can handle 235 devices. If you’re a mobile worker, you’re likely prioritizing portability over the fastest connection speeds anyway, so we’re guessing most people would still tolerate the Mini’s drawbacks.
A Steep Starting Price
Some Starlink customers have already received an email about buying the new Starlink Mini Kit, which currently starts at $599, as first seen by Sawyer Merritt. That price puts it above the $499 Standard Kit. However, only a limited number are being offered at that price, according to the email sent to customers. Later on, the Mini Kit should drop to “about half the price of the standard dish,” according to Musk’s post on X.
While that covers the hardware, there’s still the question of the monthly service charge. The email indicated that early customers have the option to bundle a specific Mini Roam service — which gets you 50GB of mobile data for an extra $30 a month — to an existing residential plan that starts at $120 a month. Deliveries for the Mini Kits will reportedly start in July.
