Starlink is ending a popular free feature that let customers pause service at any time for free. Now, you’ll have to pay $5 a month to enter what the company is calling “Standby Mode.”
Subscribers who’d been using the pause feature began receiving emails yesterday notifying them that they’d have to opt in to the new Standby Mode by Sept. 13, or their service would be canceled.
“We recently upgraded pause to include Standby Mode,” the company wrote on a support page. “Previously, the pause feature offered zero data at no cost. If pausing with Standby Mode does not meet your needs, you are able to cancel at no cost.”
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In Standby Mode, customers will have access to “unlimited low-speed data,” which is enough to make calls, text and receive software updates. Speeds are capped at 500Kbps, according to Starlink’s support page.
The company is framing it as an “upgrade” for customers, but many people are viewing it as a bait-and-switch. The pause feature was especially attractive for Starlink Roam customers, who might only need service on an RV trip one or two months out of the year.
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Starlink explicitly refers to these plans as “pay as you go,” but now you’ll have to pay when you’re not going, too. You're still able to cancel and restart service, but you run the risk of Starlink being at capacity in your area when you try to get back on the network -- or being hit with a reactivation fee. Restarting service in Standby Mode, on the other hand, only takes a few clicks in the app, and you’re guaranteed a spot when you return.
Many Starlink customers have chafed at the news that they’ll have to pay $5 each month for a service they’re not even using.
“We purchased the Mini Kit for an emergency trip where we needed to be reachable but otherwise will basically never use it,” wrote one Reddit user. “Fortunately, we're still in the 30-day return period so it will likely just go back entirely.”