Using Starlink internet at vanlife direclty with a 12v power supply - for overlanding and remote working

Guide: Operating the Starlink satellite internet components directly with 12v. Power savings of up to 50% are very valuable for vanlife and overlanding!

It has already been discussed in our #Buschfunk articles that many travelers are using Starlink satellite internet connection while on the road.

Aside from the purchase price and the not-so-low monthly fees, many travelers have also struggled with the high power consumption of the Starlink setup.

Especially during travels to the noth like Alberta (Canada), or Sweden, Norway, and Iceland, even high-performance solar solutions have proven to be insufficient, especially for remote-working and YouTubers who require a fast and reliable internet connection for 7-8 hours per day.

Therefore, it is interesting to explore modification methods to operate Starlink satellite internet directly without a 220v inverter via 12v.

Those who have already had experience with common portable battery box solutions from Ecoflow, Bluetti, or Ective, are familiar with the power consumption of the 220v inverter, even if it only runs in standby mode.

Shopping list: (about 300$):

MEAN WELL 12v/48v converter https://amzn.to/3NvFoPN

DC/DC converter 12V to 5V: https://amzn.to/441iGol

Wifi router with USB-C power input: https://amzn.to/3L6NKui

Cables: https://amzn.to/4417uIk

Car cigarette lighter plug: https://amzn.to/3AufgNq

Dishy to 12/24V Starlink POE powersupply or DishyPowa

Starlink LAN adapter: https://amzn.to/3L7qtbt

For the LAN adapter, you can cut the original (Starlink-owned) plug and recrimp the wires. You can find a wiring diagram on the right side. Further down, you will find a pre-made cable for those who are not familiar with crimping or do not have a colleague from the power/network industry.

Connection:

12V --> DC-DC12/48 converter --> POE injector (DishyPowa/Dishy)

12V --> DC-DC12/5 converter --> USB-C cable --> router

There is a ready-made cable available together with a more stable-looking POE injector, but currently not available. This eliminates the need for crimping with the cables - a blessing for left-handers like me.

The above-linked Wifi router has a very special feature, including preinstalled OpenVPN & WireGuard. This allows direct integration of a VPN provider from the wifi router. It is small, lightweight, offers dual-band, additional LAN ports, and has 128MB cache, enough memory for QoS. An exciting approach to directly operating Starlink hardware without going through a 220v power inverter! This reduces power consumption to about 35 watts if you use the aforementioned wifi router.

This amounts to significant savings, as many YouTubers report a power consumption of 75 watts with original components - a savings of over 50%.

While browsing, I also found interesting mounts for motorhomes and the Starlink antenna: https://amzn.to/40EG3kJ

In 2022, I compared the electricity costs for households for Starlink operations in several countries. I assumed 24-hour operation. Germany was the top of the list for electricity costs:

Links:

https://yaosheng.io/consumer-products/network-equipment/YSNEACSLDV21A/
https://www.offgridcto.com/2022/05/23/starlink-on-pure-dc-power/
https://tuckstruck.net/truck-and-kit/geekery/modifying-the-starlink-power-supply-to-run-on-ac-and-dc/
https://www.caliboard.de/topic/31054-erfahrungen-mit-starlink-internet-f%C3%BCr-home-office-im-bus/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/10mm4sd/sleep_mode_power_consumption_and_snow_melt/
https://youtu.be/vrGCL9pNDDc

Transparency information: Some links contain affiliate links, we will then receive a commission if you make a purchase. You will not incur any additional costs.

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