Starlink, in one sentence
Starlink is an internet access service provided by satellites, developed by SpaceX. Instead of your connection arriving via a cable buried in the street, you receive it from the sky, thanks to a small antenna placed on your roof or in your garden.
In practical terms: no phone line, no fibre to run, no civil works in your way. An antenna, a cable, a WiFi router, and you're connected.
How it works, without the jargon
Very low satellites, and that's the whole difference
Satellite internet has been around for a long time, and it had a bad reputation: slow, expensive, and above all with an unbearable delay. The reason was simple — the satellites orbited at around 36,000 km altitude. The signal had to make the round trip, causing a half-second wait on every click. Impossible to hold a video call or play online under those conditions.
Starlink works differently. Its satellites orbit at around 550 km, sixty times closer. The signal's journey is therefore much shorter, and the delay drops to something comparable to a standard terrestrial connection. It's this change in altitude that makes video calls, remote work and online gaming genuinely usable.
An antenna that manages on its own
The satellites are constantly moving: each one stays visible above you for only a few minutes. The Starlink antenna therefore doesn't need to be pointed at a fixed point like a TV satellite dish. It adjusts electronically and switches from one satellite to the next without you noticing anything.
This is convenient, but it imposes an important constraint: since the satellite being used keeps changing, the antenna needs to see a wide portion of the sky at all times, not just one direction. This is the point that determines whether Starlink will work well at your home or not.
What the equipment looks like
A Starlink kit fits in a box and always contains the same items:
- The antenna: a rectangular panel about fifty centimetres across, fairly discreet, more like a flat screen than a satellite dish
- A stand or mount: to place it on the ground, or fix it to a roof, a wall or a mast
- A cable: it connects the antenna to the router, carrying both data and power
- A WiFi router: the box that broadcasts WiFi around the house, plugged into a standard power socket
There's nothing else to arrange. No phone subscription, no ISP box, no work in the street.
Who Starlink is really for
Situations where it's the right solution
- You don't have fibre and won't for a long time. This is the most common case: an isolated house, a hamlet, an area left out of rollout plans.
- Your ADSL has become unusable. At the end of the line, several kilometres from the exchange, speeds often drop below 5 Mb/s. A video call becomes impossible and a simple update takes all evening.
- You work remotely from a second home. The need is occasional but the quality has to be professional.
- You have a building site, a holiday cottage, a farm building or a mobile home with no existing infrastructure at all.
Situations where it's not the best choice
Let's be frank about it: if fibre is available at your address, take the fibre. It will be cheaper, faster, more stable, and with no installation constraints at all. Starlink really comes into its own when terrestrial solutions are absent or insufficient.
Similarly, if your plot is entirely covered by tall trees and no clear spot is possible, it's better to know before buying the equipment. That's precisely what we check during a site visit.
The questions we're asked most often
Does it really work everywhere?
The service covers the whole of France, but network coverage isn't everything. What matters at least as much is what your antenna can see of the sky from the exact spot where it will be placed. A garden hemmed in between two buildings or a stone pine right to the south can be enough to degrade the connection.
Does it cut out when it rains?
Much less than people imagine. Heavy downpours and snow can cause a temporary slowdown of a few minutes. A violent Mediterranean storm can cause a brief cut. The rest of the time, you don't notice the weather at all.
Is there a commitment?
No. Starlink plans have no commitment and can be cancelled from your customer account. You buy the equipment once, then pay month by month.
What about electricity?
The installation uses very little power, roughly the equivalent of a few light bulbs. All you need is an available power socket near the router — and if there isn't one, we install a compliant one.
Can I install it myself?
The kit is designed to be plugged in easily, and placing the antenna on the ground for a test is within anyone's reach. What's tricky is the permanent installation: fixing an antenna safely to a roof, keeping it steady against the mistral, bringing the cable in without creating a leak, and earthing the whole system to protect it from lightning. That's where our work really comes in.
Want to know if it's right for your situation?
The simplest thing is still to talk it through on the phone for two minutes. Describe your situation to us — your address, what surrounds the house, what you use the internet for — and we'll tell you honestly whether Starlink is a good idea for your home, or whether another solution would make more sense.
For any questions or additional information, you can reach us at 06 95 62 24 33, Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm. Outside these hours, this line is reserved for emergencies, available 24/7.