considering Starlink -- "congestion charge"?

[joeryan80481]

Neighbors using Starlink,

I'm considering using Starlink for an internet connection.  I put in my address and found that the start-up charge would be $488, which includes a $100 "congestion charge."  Starlink explains the congestion charge as "due to network congestion in your area, there is an additional one-time charge to purchase Starlink Residential services. Our intention is to no longer charge this fee to new customers as soon as network capacity improves." 

Have others encountered this extra charge?  Anyone heard anything about when it might go away?
Is Starlink slow because of congestion?
How could our area (whatever our area is) be congested?

Thanks,
Joe Ryan

[Hollis]

Joe, no congestion fee on my account in Jamestown. I've been with Starlink since last April.
Any idea how many folks in your area are with Starlink?

Sure seems an odd way to encourage new accounts with an additional fee.

[jsullivan]

Home Depot in Boulder sells the standard kit for $349. They might charge the congestion fee on activation, but its not part of the hardware purchase. I bought mine there 2 years ago and it was $500 I think.

[Oak]

Because the psycho Nazi space boy is a greedy POS.

[Tim Stokes]

Hey Oak, "Psycho Nazi Space boy" saying the obvious there, but what's a POS?

---

Never mind. Wendy told me.

[Oak]

to clarify, POS. For those who don’t know that one is piece of sh*t.
disrespect intended

[patrickgriffin74]

Hi Joe,
We have had Starlink for about a year, and have not seen any congestion issues to speak of.  Dina uses it for work for video calls and uploading/downloading decent file sizes, and we have streaming services that have not shown any issues.  We did not have an extra charge for congestion when we signed up, but I think the initial startup fee for equipment was still around $500.  Overall quality and reliability have been good.
Patrick

[calbeartara]

We are really happy with starlink - much faster and more reliable than Nedernet was. The congestion charge goes both ways, per Ars Technica (link below). There is a $100 discount where they have extra capacity. Sounds like you can get some promotional discounts to offset that charge as well.

People may not like Elan’s style, and no one is required to buy his products. But I’d like to point out that Elon Musk has been donating starlink kits where natural disasters have struck (North Carolina, California). And starlink has been a game changer for access in many remote areas where high speed internet is not available, despite government dollars and mandates to make it so. Appreciate leaving politics out of BB conversations, especially when his track record deploying this product when emergency services are needed is exemplary.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024...rts-of-us/