Starlink App Overview

The Starlink app serves a number of important purposes for customers of the satellite internet service. The simple management and consolidation of features is one of the things that sets it apart from competing services like HughesNet and OneWeb. Let’s run through each one in the order they appear on the main screen.

The Starlink app’s main screen displays your network status, showing both a text indication of status (online, offline, etc.) and a visual indicator in the form of a Starlink router and satellite dish. It’s a clean way to get a quick overview of the system.

Click the user icon in the top right of the app’s main screen. You can access a number of account-related features here, including the ability to order accessories directly from Starlink. If you need new mounts, stands, cables, or other gear, this is the place to do it. Simply tap into the “Shop” section to browse the available accessories.

From the same account screen you can also manage your Starlink subscription or review recent statements. You can see a breakdown of your monthly bill or make changes to your service—for example, you may switch from a Standard to a plan like Starlink Business.

The main app screen, under the service status, lists of options you can click into. The first one, Statistics, shows you how your Starlink service has performed over the last several hours. It covers three metrics:

• Uptime: Uptime shows a running graph of your network’s connection, so you can see how many times it’s dropped over the last several hours.
• Latency: This is satellite internet—latency is a thing—and it may be a big thing (gamers, we’re looking at you). The Starlink app gives a handy graph of your network’s latency over time.
• Throughput: Throughput shows how much data you’ve used.

Visualizing these measures on one screen makes it easy to get a bird’s eye view of your network performance, which can be handy for diagnosing issues.

The Network option shows you every device connected to your Starlink network in an easy-to-view list. With this, you can figure out what devices are eating up bandwidth and monitor your network for devices that shouldn’t be there.

The satellite dish is a key component of Starlink internet. For it to work optimally, it needs a clear view of the sky with minimal obstructions. However, it can be difficult to visualize the dish’s field of view, and it’s easy to overlook things when placing it. Plus, obstructions can crop up after the fact and impact performance.

The Starlink app can quickly show the location of any obstructions in a simple graphic. If that’s still not clear enough, you can use your phone’s camera to help track them down more directly.

The Starlink app has a handy speed test built right into it, so you can quickly check your network’s speed. This can give a different perspective on your network performance by directly measuring current download and upload speed, which is handy for diagnosing network issues or even comparing speeds to another satellite service like Viasat.

The Starlink app is the place to go when you need to adjust your Starlink dish and router settings. These include a number of important options:

• Choose a network name and password
• Filter content for your network
• Reboot the router or dish
• Reset the router to factory settings
• Adjust the dish’s heating to accommodate for different weather conditions
• Set up a sleep schedule for the dish

You can also use the Stow Starlink option to totally disconnect your dish from the satellite network. This is useful if you need to pack it up for travel or stash it while you’re away. It not only powers the dish off, but it also returns it to its default position and angle, making it easier to pack up.

Finally, Starlink customer support is available through the app. The Support section presents a list of common support categories, as well as a search box to help avoid a bunch of menu-hopping.

Support is one of the more common complaints about Starlink, and while we think some of these complaints are overblown, there are definitely some things that could be improved.

For one, there’s no option to directly open a ticket or connect with a representative. To get there, you first need to head to a page for suggested solutions and indicate that the solution didn’t work for you. Then you can opt to open a support ticket, and a rep messages you back.

Our other big complaint is that all of the support interactions take place through these automated processes and messaging systems—you can’t just get someone on the phone. Call us old-fashioned, but sometimes it’s just easier to talk to a real person.

It’s also worth mentioning that all your support options with Starlink require internet access—this can be an issue if your internet is down. For this reason, it may be worthwhile having some sort of backup solution, such as LTE or 5G home internet or an unlimited hotspot plan. This can be especially important if you’re using Starlink Roam, since you may be in isolated areas with relatively few options for connectivity.

Occasionally, users find that when they try to log into their account, they get an error message reading “Unable to load account information. Please try again in a few minutes.” There doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason as to why this happens—it can hit any phone, operating system, or app version.

If you encounter this message, you can try a few things:

• Force close the app: On either iOS or Android, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the recent apps view, then swipe up on the Starlink app to close it. This will force it to reload the next time you launch it.
• Restart your phone: A reboot forces everything on the phone to reload, so it can potentially resolve issues that a simple force close doesn’t.
• Reinstall the app: Reinstalling clears out the data and files used by the app, so if a bug has cropped up there, this can help squash it.

If none of these work, your best bet is to contact Starlink for support. 

Some users have reported poor Starlink performance—taking forever to register input or load new screens, for example. The most commonly recommended fix is to uninstall and reinstall the app (noticing a pattern here?). This seems to work for some people, but not everyone.

Unfortunately, if it doesn’t work, there isn’t much you can do beyond waiting for an update to hopefully resolve the issues. You can also try to reach out to customer support, but they’re  likely to recommend the same fix.

While the Starlink app isn’t required for your Starlink service to function, it is required for the initial setup. The app helps find the best place for your dish with the obstruction finder, and it’s also where you configure your router and wireless network.

Once you’ve completed these functions, you can technically use the service without the app. That said, so many of the Starlink configuration and support functions are in the app that you almost certainly want to use it.

Starlink prices vary depending on the plan and hardware you select. Plans range from $120 per month to as much as $5,000 per month, while hardware runs from $599 to $2,500 (one-time up-front payment). Here’s a breakdown of the different options: