SpaceX’s Starlink internet service has added a monthly hardware fee to its plans. New customers will now pay $10 per month to rent the Starlink equipment required for internet service, in addition to a monthly service fee.
The “monthly kit fee” was quietly added just a month after the company raised the prices of its internet plans between $5-10 per month.
Previously, customers paid an upfront fee to own the equipment. Starlink has also had new customer offers to bring the price of the equipment down, or even make it free when a customer committed to a year long internet plan. A customer support page now says that current customers who rent equipment can request to purchase the kit outright by sending in a support ticket.
The fee has been showing up on the Starlink website for plans that use the standard Starlink dish for residential internet in the U.S., as well as Canada, Mexico, the U.K., France, and Australia, with activation fees varying by location.
One big change that comes with renting Starlink equipment instead of buying is that customers who rent the hardware cannot pause their service. Pausing puts a Starlink plan into Standby Mode, “which provides unlimited low-speed data for emergency messaging and easy reactivation in dead zones for a small monthly fee.” The feature is available on all Roam, Residential, and Priority plans, but is not available for those who rent equipment, taking away the flexibility of pausing service when needs and budget change or while traveling and being away from home for an extended period.
PC Mag first reported on customers finding the new fee on the website and makes the point that renting the equipment is ultimately more expensive for customers. A $10 monthly fee over the course of the three year subscription adds up to $360. Alternatively, customers can buy the same dish from retailers like Best Buy for $349, but the equipment regularly goes on sale and has been spotted by PC Mag for as low as $89.
If you purchase the equipment from somewhere other than Starlink, you can enter the Starlink Identifier, a unique code assigned to all Starlink hardware, at checkout when signing up for a plan.