Houseboats and river shacks · Murray River
Starlink in the Riverland › Houseboats
Starlink on a houseboat
The Murray is the one place where the internet follows you at four knots. We have fitted Starlink to houseboats on the river, and the setup is not the same as a house.
Residential kit $0 upfront. Roam kits from $289. A boxed kit from a shop is $549.
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You buy the kit and the plan from Starlink at Starlink's price. Ordering through that link gets you the free month; it also gives us a referral credit. We are an independent installer, not a Starlink reseller or agent.
The setup
What we fit, and why each part is there.
- Starlink Mini, because it is small, has the router built in and runs straight off 12 V
- Protected flat mount on the canopy, bolted down, high enough to see past the cliffs
- 12 V stepped up off the house batteries, fused, to 24 V or 48 V depending on the kit. Straight 12 V sags under load and the dish drops out
- Anderson plug so the whole thing can come off for winter or move to the tow vehicle
- Sealed cable entry, because a hole in a canopy is a leak waiting for the next big rain
Moored at the shack
If the boat sits at a shack most of the year, one Starlink can cover both. We put a small wireless link between the shack roof and the mooring, so the house and the boat share the one service instead of paying twice.
That is the same point-to-point gear we use to get Wi-Fi from a farmhouse out to a packing shed, and it is on the cost page as whole-property Wi-Fi.
What it costs
Boat work is priced like vehicle work, because that is what it is.
| Houseboat, caravan or 4WD | Inc GST |
|---|---|
Caravan, 4WD or truck (Starlink Mini, 12 V)
| from $825 |
Houseboat questions
Which plan does a houseboat need?
Roam. Roam 100GB is $85 a month for weekends away, Roam Unlimited $210 for people living aboard. Roam supports use while you are moving, and you can pause it between trips.
Will it work down in the cliffs?
Mostly yes, as long as the dish can see a good slice of sky. Tall cliffs right beside the boat can clip the view and cause short dropouts, which is why the mount goes high on the canopy rather than down on the deck.
Can it run off the boat's batteries?
Yes, through a step-up converter rather than straight off 12 V, which sags under load and causes dropouts. It goes to 24 V or 48 V depending on the kit. Roughly 25 to 40 W for a Mini, fused properly, no inverter running all day.
What mount survives the river?
A protected flat mount bolted to the canopy or roof. Suction and magnetic mounts are for a quick trip, not for a boat that moves and sits in the weather.
What about when the boat is moored at the shack?
We often put a point-to-point wireless link between the shack and the mooring, so one connection covers both and you are not paying for two services.
Do you do caravans too?
Yes, the same 12 V setup. There is a page for that.
More
- Starlink vs nbn Fixed WirelessWhat each one delivers here, with the ACCC's own measurements.
- Speeds we have measuredReal download figures from our own Riverland installs, town by town.
- Starlink dropping outWhat it usually turns out to be, and what you can check yourself.
- Starlink vs Sky MusterSpeed, data, latency and what switching costs in the Riverland.
- Starlink for caravans and 4WDsRoam plans, the Mini, 12 V power and mounts that survive corrugations.
- The Starlink free monthHow the referral credit works in Australia, and what disqualifies it.
- Starlink in MilduraMounts, brackets, the Mini and installs across the river, by arrangement.
- Mounts and bracketsWhich mount suits a tin roof, a tile roof, a shed or a van.
- What an install costsEvery price, and what makes a job dearer than a standard one.
- Starlink on a houseboatRoam, 12 V, a protected mount and a link back to shore.
Who we are
CCTV, networking, automation and Starlink installs for farms, businesses, councils and homes across the Riverland.
- Business
- Smart Automation Solutions Pty Ltd
- ABN
- 81 676 961 345
- Workshop
- 2 Eighteenth Street, Renmark SA 5341
- Phone
- 08 7501 6111
- office@smartautomationsolutions.com.au
- Hours
- Mon–Fri 7:30 am – 4:30 pm
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