SpaceX the week has revealed a new dish for its Starlink satellite broadband service. Up until now, the company has been using the circular dish, but the new one should be easier and cheaper to manufacture, it’s also lighter and smaller than the outing one. The old circle one is 23-inches wide, whereas the rectangular model is only 12-inches wide, as well as being around half the weight too.
One common issue with the old one was the cable couldn’t be disconnected, so routing the ethernet cable through a wall could be especially hard, so now with the new model it can be disconnected. Included in the box is also a long pole accessory to mount in the ground, rather than putting on the roof – although doing that will mean a better chance of a reliable connection.
SpaceX is also including a beefier router with the new antenna now, which is capable of 3×3 MU-MIMO, however it no longer has an ethernet port to connect out your network, Starlink will sell you an ethernet adaptor if you need that connectivity.
In terms of availability, the company said that “the rectangular Starlink is currently available for all new orders fulfilled in the United States.”
