Starlink For Business
5 results
Starlink For Business
5 results
The industry doesn't decide the terminal — exposure, headcount and motion do.
Two operations in the same industry can need two different terminals, because the job varies more than the label. A single surveyor with a laptop needs something different from a busy yard running forklifts past the dish all day. Work through how exposed the site is, how many people and devices rely on it, and whether it has to keep working while moving, and the right terminal falls out of that — not out of an industry chart.
- Exposure decides the enclosure. A terminal that gets pressure-washed, soaked in spray or left in extreme heat needs a different rating to one that just sits on a roof.
- Headcount decides the router. A site with dozens of staff and devices needs the coverage and device capacity a fixed router provides, not a portable unit stretched past its limit.
- Motion decides the mount and the plan. A terminal that has to keep working while a vehicle or vessel is under way needs a mount built for that and a plan region wide enough for the route.
- None of this is a consumer decision. Every recommendation on this page assumes a commercial or organisational deployment.
On this page
Business, not consumer
What This Page Covers
Everything on this page assumes a business, a site, a vessel or a fleet is doing the deploying. The hardware itself is the same equipment listed on the shop page, but the plan, the mount and the support expectations for a commercial or industrial deployment are different, and this page works from that assumption throughout.
Four terminals cover the range: Mini, Standard, Performance and Enterprise. The full model-by-model comparison lives on the Starlink hub and the shop; this page assumes you already have a rough sense of each one and works the other direction, from the job to the terminal.
Before the industries
How to Match a Terminal to the Job
Four questions do most of the work, and they matter more than which industry you're in.
01
It has to fit in a case and travel with one person
→Mini
Integrated WiFi 5 router, runs on DC power, and it's the only terminal built to be carried rather than mounted.
02
It's a fixed site — one building, staff on WiFi all day
→Standard
Router 3 gives WiFi 6 coverage up to 297 m² and handles up to 235 devices; a Mini's 112 m² and 128 devices run out fast with a full site on it.
03
It gets washed down, soaked, or has to keep working while the vehicle or vessel is moving
→Performance
Rated for one metre of submersion for up to thirty minutes, pressure-washable, and specified for in-motion and high-vibration use — the only terminal built for that combination.
04
It's a permanent professional install with a long cable run and proper grounding
→Enterprise
Ships with a 50 m cable and a power supply with a dedicated earth terminal, plus wall-mount hardware — built for an install crew, not a first attempt.
Foundations
Remote Sites, Failover, and Vehicles
These three cover more deployments than any other group — a location with no other option, a location that needs a backup, and something with wheels.
Remote and Temporary Sites
A survey crew, a pop-up field office, a three-week assessment before a project even has a name — these sites often have no fibre, no cell tower worth using, and no time to wait for one to be built. A Mini covers a single trailer or a handful of laptops and packs into a case when the job ends. If the site runs for months with a proper set-up around it, a Standard's WiFi 6 coverage and device count handle a full crew better than a portable unit stretched past its limit. The plan follows the project, not the company: local if it stays in one country, global if it doesn't.
Backup and Failover Internet
A branch office, a retail till system, or a server room that cannot go dark when the primary line drops is the classic failover case. The site isn't moving, so a Standard suits it: proper WiFi 6 coverage for the building and enough device capacity to matter, with no case to pack away. The plan is local, tied to the site's own region, because failover only has to cover the one address it protects. The real mistake is treating Starlink as backup and never testing the failover — a connection that's sat idle for a year isn't a tested one.
Land Mobility
A convoy, a mobile command vehicle, or a truck that needs connectivity on the move is a different problem from a site that just relocates occasionally. A light vehicle with occasional stops can run a roof-mounted Mini. A vehicle that stays connected while actually under way, in weather, with vibration from the road, is what Performance is specified for — rated for in-motion use, not just outdoor use. Mobility itself is included on every plan Satmodo sells, so the plan question here is really about range: local if the vehicle stays in one region, global if it crosses borders.
Exposure and vibration
Maritime, Energy, and Construction
These three share one thing: the terminal spends its working life somewhere hostile, not on a quiet roof.
Maritime
A vessel is the sharpest version of the exposure problem — salt spray, washdown, and a phased array with no gimbal to compensate for pitch and roll. Performance is rated for pressure washing and for one metre of submersion for up to thirty minutes, which is the profile a working boat actually needs, not a marketing extra. A larger vessel with a proper technical space can justify an Enterprise install instead, with its dedicated earth terminal and longer cable run. Plan region is almost always global here, because a vessel confined to one country's waters isn't much of a vessel — and coverage still depends on each territory's own regulatory status.
Energy
Well pads, solar arrays, wind assets and pipeline monitoring points are usually unattended, often in a temperature extreme, and rarely visited more than once a month. Performance's operating range of -40°C to 60°C, plus a rack-mountable power supply that takes AC or DC with a battery backup, suits a site that has to keep reporting through a cold snap or a grid outage. A permanent metering shed with mains power and occasional technician visits can run an Enterprise install instead. The plan is local in almost every case, because these assets don't travel.
Construction
A job site moves in a different sense — not the terminal, but the whole project, from groundbreak to handover and on to the next site. A Standard suits a site office with a trailer full of staff, subcontractors on WiFi, and a timeline measured in months rather than weeks. It packs down and moves to the next job when this one closes out. The plan stays local for almost every project, since a site rarely crosses a border mid-build. The mistake to avoid is sizing for the quiet weeks and then wondering why the WiFi struggles during a big push.
Working land and moving freight
Agriculture, Transport, and Offshore
Different environments, the same underlying question: how far does this thing travel, and how much weather does it take along with it.
Agriculture and Forestry
A large rural property often has better connectivity in the yard than three fields over, and forestry work happens wherever the trees are, not wherever the tower is. A Mini suits a scouting vehicle or a temporary post at a remote block. A headquarters building with an office, staff and equipment on WiFi is better served by a Standard's coverage and device count. Either way, remember Starlink needs a genuinely clear view of the sky — a terminal parked under dense canopy or hard against a tree line will underperform no matter which model it is. Plan region is local for almost every operation of this kind.
Transport and Logistics
A line-haul truck, a rail yard, or a distribution hub each needs connectivity for a different reason — the truck for the cab, the yard for the operation, the hub as a fixed site. A cab-mounted Mini covers a driver's connectivity; a truck that stays connected through weather and constant vibration is a better fit for Performance. A distribution hub is a fixed-site decision like any office, so it follows the same Standard-or-larger logic. Fleets that cross regions need a global plan, and several terminals running on one account is exactly the case pooled data exists for — priced to the fleet rather than bought off a shelf.
Offshore
An oil and gas platform or an offshore wind asset is the most demanding version of the maritime problem: permanent, unattended for long stretches, and subject to genuinely severe weather. Enterprise's dedicated earth terminal and IP66 power supply are built for exactly that kind of professional, code-compliant install, and Performance's survivable wind rating and pressure-washable housing suit it too where a lighter footprint matters more than the longest cable run. Almost every offshore deployment needs a global plan, since the asset sits outside any single region's home coverage, subject to that territory's own regulatory status.
When failure isn't an option
Emergency Response, Government, and Research
These three share urgency or isolation rather than a physical environment, and both change the plan question more than the terminal question.
Emergency Response
A response team cannot predict where the next incident is, which makes a Mini the obvious choice — it's the terminal built to be grabbed, carried and set up by one person under pressure. The plan has to be global by default, because the next call could be in a different region from the last one. The point worth saying plainly: one terminal is one point of failure. A team relying on a single Starlink kit for command communications should carry a satellite phone as well, not instead — see satellite phones and radios for that fallback.
Government and Defence
This covers two quite different deployments. A permanent, secure facility wants an Enterprise install — proper grounding, a long cable run, hardware installed once and left alone. A field unit that has to move with an operation wants Performance, built for vibration and weather that a fixed installation never sees. Neither case tolerates guessing about coverage: a fixed installation usually sits on a local plan tied to its own region, while a deployed unit needs a global plan matched to wherever the work actually goes, subject to that territory's own regulatory status.
Remote Research
A polar, desert or high-altitude research station runs for months with nobody able to drive out and fix a fault, which is exactly the case Performance's ten-year design life and -40°C to 60°C operating range were built for. A smaller, staffed field camp with a handful of researchers and ordinary equipment is better matched to a Standard, whose WiFi 6 coverage and device capacity a Mini would strain under. Plan region is local for a station that stays in one place for the whole season, which almost all of them do.
The short version
Industries at a Glance
The same twelve, side by side, if you already know your situation.
| Industry | Typical terminal | Plan region | What people get wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remote & temporary sites | Mini or Standard | Local, or global if the project crosses borders | Sizing for the crew on day one, not the crew at peak. |
| Backup & failover internet | Standard | Local, tied to the site | Never testing the failover until the primary line is actually down. |
| Land mobility | Mini or Performance | Local, or global for cross-border routes | Mounting a Mini for a vehicle that's genuinely under way in weather — that's a Performance job. |
| Maritime | Performance or Enterprise | Global, subject to each territory's status | Assuming any phased-array terminal compensates for pitch and roll on its own. |
| Energy | Performance or Enterprise | Local | Leaving an unmanned site on a mount with no thought for a -40°C to 60°C swing. |
| Construction | Standard | Local | Sizing for the quiet weeks instead of the peak headcount. |
| Agriculture & forestry | Mini or Standard | Local | Parking the dish under canopy and blaming the connection. |
| Transport & logistics | Mini or Performance | Global for cross-region fleets | Buying single-terminal plans for a multi-vehicle fleet instead of asking about pooled data. |
| Offshore | Performance or Enterprise | Global, subject to each territory's status | Treating it as a maritime install when it's really a permanent, code-compliant one. |
| Emergency response | Mini | Global by default | Relying on one terminal with no phone as backup. |
| Government & defence | Performance or Enterprise | Local for fixed sites, global for deployed units | Guessing at coverage instead of confirming the deployment region up front. |
| Remote research | Standard or Performance | Local | Choosing on device count when the real constraint is that nobody can drive out to fix a fault. |
The plan half of the decision
Choosing the Plan Region
A plan is defined by two things: how far the terminal may travel, and how much priority data it gets each month. Local plans are tied to a home region and cost less per gigabyte; Global plans work across borders and at sea, subject to each territory's own regulatory status. A regional plan used outside its region isn't a slow connection — it's no connection at all, so the region has to match the job before the kit ships.
Mobility is included on every plan Satmodo sells, on every terminal, so the region is the only variable. Running over the priority allowance doesn't cut a site off either; traffic beyond it is simply served at lower priority. A fleet running several terminals on one account is a pooled-data conversation, not a checkout — see how plans work or go straight to browse and buy a plan.
Be honest about the gaps
What Starlink Does Not Solve
Starlink needs a genuinely clear view of the sky. A terminal wedged against a canyon wall, under dense tree cover, or shadowed by a superstructure on a vessel will underperform no matter which model it is, and no plan or terminal choice fixes a sky it can't see.
It is not a voice service. When the dish is stowed for transit, powered down to save a battery, or simply out of view of the sky, there is no connection at all — and for a crew that needs to raise someone in exactly that moment, that's the wrong tool for the job.
ONE TERMINAL IS ONE POINT OF FAILURE
Fine for a site with a backup plan, precarious for the one team relying on it as their only means of contact in an emergency. For voice continuity when the dish can't help — offshore, in a canyon, mid-transit, or simply as a backup that doesn't depend on line of sight to a constellation — see satellite phones and radios. That's where a satellite phone earns its place alongside Starlink, not instead of it.
Questions
Frequently asked
For most construction site offices, a Standard is the right call — it covers a trailer full of staff and subcontractors and packs down when the job closes out. A short survey visit before the project even has a name is more of a Mini job. Neither needs Performance's ruggedness unless the site itself is genuinely harsh.
No — each vehicle that needs its own connection needs its own terminal. What a fleet can share is the data allowance: several terminals can be pooled onto one account rather than bought as separate plans, which is a conversation rather than a checkout item.
Not well. Starlink needs a genuinely clear view of the sky, and dense canopy or canyon walls block enough of it to hurt performance regardless of which terminal you buy. If that describes your site, plan for a clearer mounting point — a mast above the tree line, for example — rather than expecting a bigger terminal to compensate.
A Standard will physically work on a boat, but it isn't rated for the washdown, spray and submersion a working vessel deals with day to day. Performance's rating for pressure washing and one metre of submersion exists because boats actually do that to hardware. If the vessel is small and the terminal lives under cover, Standard can be a reasonable compromise — but that's a real trade-off, not a free upgrade avoided.
No. A local plan costs less per gigabyte and is the right choice as long as the terminal never leaves its home region. Global only earns its cost when a terminal genuinely crosses a border or works at sea.
Service doesn't stop. Traffic beyond the priority allowance is simply served at a lower priority, so most of the time nothing changes and it's only slower when the local network is busy.
No, and it shouldn't try to. A stowed or powered-down terminal has no connection at all, and a dish without a clear sky view is no better than nothing. A satellite phone is a different kind of fallback — smaller, faster to get a signal, and not dependent on the same install. Teams that need guaranteed voice continuity should carry both, not choose one over the other.
Performance, with an operating range of -40°C to 60°C against the -30°C to 50°C the other three terminals share. For an unattended site in a genuine temperature extreme, that margin on each end is the reason to pick it over a Standard or Enterprise.
The panel is the same size, and the difference isn't raw hardware capability — it's the install. Enterprise ships with a longer cable, a power supply with a dedicated earth terminal, and wall-mount hardware built for a professional crew doing a permanent, code-compliant job. If you don't need that install, you're paying for capability you won't use.
For a defined job with an end date — a trial, an event, a short survey — yes, and that comparison is covered in full on the Starlink rental page. Anything used more than a few months a year usually works out better bought.
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