SpaceX’s Starlink struck a deal with Peplink to become the satellite internet service’s first “Authorized Technology Provider,” according to a release from the network gear manufacturer.
The partnership will combine Starlink’s Flat High-Performance Terminal — recommended for businesses, boats, land mobility, and maritime uses — with Peplink’s SD-WAN (or Software-Defined Wide Area Networking) routers. These routers provide “increased network agility and cost reduction,” according to the company.
The combination of Starlink’s terminal and Peplink’s router will make cost, speed, and reliability more accessible “in even the most daunting of physical conditions.”
Peplink said the team is working in the cruise ship industry first.
The company said it deployed multi-link aggregation routers and multiple Starlink satellite terminals on a large cruise ship. As a result, Peplink said it was able to “greatly increase reliability and speed of ship-board internet connections” while “significantly reducing operational costs” in comparison to previous internet options.
“With Peplink technology, we achieved over 1 Gbps capacity with multiple Starlinks on the cruise ships, delivering seamless internet connectivity to passengers,” Chad Gibbs, Starlink’s vice president of business operations said in a statement.
This comes as Starlink has been expanding its service over the last year. The company is planning to release a mini dish later this year. A new Standard terminal is also in the works.
Starlink’s service became more accessible after the company removed its waitlist earlier this year, but steep subscription and hardware prices may remain a deterrent for customers.
Starlink’s current residential hardware costs $599, not including the $120-a- month subscription. The Priority plan for businesses costs up to $500 a month, and the Mobile Priority plan for boats, maritime, and land mobility costs up to $5,000 a month. Both plans recommend the Flat High-Performance dish which costs $2,500.
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Image credit: Peplink