The Starlink day-one checklist.

Before, during, and after the dish arrives. The steps that take you from "Where do I put this?" to "We have working internet" without any frustration.

Before the box arrives

Starlink hardware ships fast in mature markets, often within 3 to 7 days of ordering. Use this window to prepare so you can be online within an hour of delivery instead of fumbling for a weekend.

Run the obstruction check

Download the Starlink app and use the free obstruction tool from each potential mounting location. Pick the spot with the lowest obstruction percentage. Aim for under 1 percent. If your best spot is over 5 percent, address obstructions (trim, raise, relocate) before the dish arrives. Detailed walkthrough: Starlink obstruction check.

Pick a mount

The included pipe adapter and ground stand work for testing but are usually not the long-term solution. Decide where the dish will live permanently and order any mount hardware in advance:

• Roof: Pivot mount or volcano mount, $50 to $130
• Pole: Fence-post or chimney mount, $80 to $200
• Wall or eave: Wall bracket, $40 to $100
• Ground: Heavy-duty stand or buried pole, $30 to $100
• Renter setup: Tripod, balcony rail clamp, or weighted base, $30 to $80

Plan the cable run

The included cable is approximately 50 feet / 15 meters (some older kits had 75 feet). Measure the path from the planned dish location to where the router will live. Account for vertical drops, going around obstacles, and slack. If you need more than the included length, order the longer extension cable from Starlink ($100). Generic cables do not work.

Pick where the router goes

The router needs a power outlet and good central placement for WiFi coverage. Avoid:

• Inside a closed cabinet (kills WiFi range)
• Next to large metal appliances
• In a corner of the house far from where you actually use the internet

The Standard kit comes with a separate Gen 3 router. The Mini has the router built into the dish, so the dish placement determines the WiFi origin. Put the Mini somewhere that is both a good sky-view and reasonably close to where people use the internet.

Buy the optional accessories you will need

• Ethernet adapter ($25 Standard, $35 Mini) if you want wired connections
• Cable entry pass-through and silicone caulk ($20) if running through a wall or roof
• Outdoor surge protector ($30 to $80) if you live in a high-lightning area
• Small UPS ($80 to $150) if your power is unreliable

The day the box arrives

Unbox carefully

The box contains: dish, mount or kickstand, cable, power supply, and (Standard kit) the router. Check that nothing is damaged. The cable connectors are the most delicate part; do not bend the proprietary connectors.

Test in the yard first

Before you commit to roof mounting, plug everything in temporarily and run the dish from the included ground stand at your planned final location. Confirm it boots, connects, and gets reasonable speeds. This catches DOA hardware (rare but happens) before you have drilled holes.

Standard boots in 2 to 5 minutes. Mini boots in about 1 minute. The first activation can take longer (up to 15 minutes) as the dish downloads firmware and registers with the network. Patience here.

Install the app and pair

If you have not already, download the Starlink app and sign in with your account credentials. The app pairs automatically with your dish over WiFi. Check that the app shows the dish online before doing anything else.

Run a speed test

From within the app, run a built-in speed test. Compare to expected speeds for your area. If you see anywhere from 50 to 200+ Mbps download, you are good. If you see under 25 Mbps with no obstructions, something is wrong.

Permanent installation

Mount the dish

Once you have confirmed the dish works in your yard, mount it permanently. Key points:

• The dish has no "facing" requirement. It self-orients via the motorized phased array. Just point it generally up.
• Mount it as high and as exposed to sky as practical.
• Use a sturdy mount. The dish is light but acts like a sail in high wind.
• Tighten cable connectors fully. Loose connectors are a top failure point.

Run the cable

Route the cable from the dish to where the router lives. Best practices:

• Drip loops at every entry point so water flows away from connectors.
• Use UV-rated cable clips outdoors. The cable jacket survives sun, but the clips might not.
• Seal any wall or roof penetrations with silicone caulk and a proper pass-through grommet.
• Add an outdoor surge protector at the wall entry if you live somewhere with frequent lightning.

Set up the router

Plug the router in and let it boot. The Starlink app walks you through naming the WiFi network, setting a password, and basic configuration. Default settings are fine for most users.

Power users: enable bypass mode if you want to use your own router (Asus, UniFi, etc.) instead of the Starlink one. The Starlink router has limited features.

The first week

Run obstruction check from the dish location

The app's "Statistics → Obstructions" view shows what the dish actually sees from its current mounted spot. Sometimes it differs from what the pre-install check showed. If you find unexpected obstructions, address them now before they become annoying patterns of dropouts.

Tune router placement

Walk the house with your phone, noting WiFi signal strength. If certain rooms are weak, move the router to a more central location. The Starlink router has limited WiFi range; for big houses, a mesh setup is sometimes worth adding.

Check for firmware updates

The app shows the dish's firmware version. Updates roll out automatically every few weeks but sometimes lag. If you notice odd performance, a quick check on update status is worth doing.

Test peak-hour speeds

Run speed tests at different times of day for the first week. Especially: 8 to 10 PM local time when network usage peaks. If your peak-hour speeds are unacceptably slow on Residential 100, upgrading to Residential 200 or Max is worth it for the priority bandwidth, not just the speed cap.

Set up backups for important services

If you depend on the internet for work, enable a backup option. Phone hotspot, secondary ISP, or just keeping the office cellular plan active. Starlink has rare outages (a few hours per year typically), and you want to be ready.

Common first-week mistakes

• Mounting before testing. Always run from the ground stand first. Confirms hardware works before you commit to drilling.
• Skipping the obstruction check. Then wondering why speeds are inconsistent. Always run the check.
• Buying mount hardware after delivery. Order it in advance so you can install on day one instead of waiting for shipping.
• Forgetting the referral link. If you have not ordered yet, click any valid referral link before checkout. Free month, no downside.
• Running the speed test over WiFi from across the house. Tests your WiFi, not your Starlink. Plug ethernet directly into the router for a true reading.

Following this checklist gets you from "box arrives" to "fully working internet with optimal speeds" in one to two days. Most of the work is preparation, not installation. The dish itself is genuinely plug-and-play.