Is Starlink Unlimited? Data Caps, Explained

In recent years, the number of options for reliable rural and in-motion broadband internet access have noticeably grown. Some of them are even specifically geared towards on-the-go use for camping and whatnot, like Starlink Roam and T-Mobile Home Internet Away. The service that is best for you depends on how you plan to use it. If you live somewhere without reliable hardwired broadband access or you want a fallback option in case your hardwired connection goes down, then basic home plans from satellite and 5G internet service providers are fine. If you're going to be traveling with an access point, though, then some ISPs (internet service providers) have plans like Roam or Away when available.

Elon Musk's ISP is a popular choice for rural and mobile broadband, especially with Starlink's thousands of low-orbit satellites. As a mobile option, though, you might expect there to be metered data or at least an allotment of high speed data that slows down after it runs out, as that kind of arrangement is much more common with wireless ISPs. As it so happens, there are no outright data caps on any of Starlink's plans — though, it is more complicated than that. Some are completely unlimited, while others have tiers of "priority" vs. "mobile" data, not unlike priority data on wireless phone plans. To demystify how all of this works, let's take a more detailed look at each tier and how they handle the issue of data caps.

The good news is that, by and large, Starlink's plans don't have any kind of data caps. When it comes to the main $120 per month Residential plan, the $165 per month Roam Unlimited plan for users who are constantly going on trips like camping or boating within 12 nautical miles off a coastline, and, to an extent, the $250 per month and $1,000 per month Boats plans, you have unlimited data. The only outright exception among Starlink's available plans is the $50 per month version of Roam, which is capped at 50 GB. However, it is explicitly marketed as a step-down plan, one that Starlink labels as best for less-frequent travelers.  

Residential is completely unlimited, while for the Boats service options, it's a bit more complicated. Both Boats plans have the slower Unlimited Mobile Data near the coastline, but the $250 per month plan (recommended for navigation systems and weather monitoring) has 50GB of priority data, while the $1,000 per month plan (recommended for conventional high-bandwidth internet usage at sea) has 1TB of priority data. Per Starlink, what it calls Priority Data has, naturally, network priority over the slower tiers of data, Standard and Mobile, allowing for faster, more consistent transfer rates and better stability. Exhausting Priority Data kicks you down to the slower/less consistent Mobile Data. However, Starlink says Mobile Data isn't for vehicles that are in motion at speeds above 10 miles per hour or while not on land.