Can You Put A Starlink Satellite Dish On Your Car?

Satellite internet has gradually grown into a popular option for residents living in rural communities or the secluded corners of the world where it's difficult to get cable internet. Then there's the enticing digital nomad who gets all their work done on the road. There are few internet options for them. Sure, they can set up shop in a Starbucks or other coffee shop that provides free internet, but those aren't as plentiful if you're not in a metropolitan area. In a way, Starlink has become the next frontier in internet technology, giving the most remote of users stable internet access.

At its inception, the mounts that came with a Starlink satellite panel didn't affix to a car. That forced some Starlink users to get creative by creating their own car mounts. One California user mounted a Starlink dish to the hood of their Toyota Prius, which they quickly discovered was illegal in the state when Highway Patrol pulled them over and ticketed them. Under section 26708(a)(2) of the California Vehicle Code, "A person shall not drive any motor vehicle with any object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied in or upon the vehicle that obstructs or reduces the driver's clear view through the windshield or side windows."

When this took place in 2021, Starlink didn't have FCC approval to mount Starlink terminals to vehicles in motion. That's not the case anymore. Today, you can mount a Starlink satellite receiver to your car.

According to The Verge, before Starlink manufactured official car mounts, Musk said, "Technically, you could buy one and just stick it on the car," in an earnings call. When the CEO made this statement –the law says nothing about affixing such an object to the top of the car– Starlink didn't have FCC approval yet for in-motion service. However, the company was in the process of making it a possibility.

By the fall of 2022 Starlink started offering its flat satellite receiver that was specifically designed for in-motion vehicles, including cars, boats, and planes for preorders. Starlink users were able to have the new receiver in hand by December of the same year, the same time SpaceX received FCC approval to launch 7,500 second-gen Starlink satellites into orbit. While the receiver's flat design makes it unobstructive, you can't and shouldn't mount it to the hood or trunk of your car while driving.

Even if you think you can see the road perfectly fine, it's still blocking your view in some capacity and can lead to a severe accident. Mounting a receiver to a moving vehicle can be particularly beneficial for those who traverse the country in an RV or van. Users can be working on their laptop or phone while somebody else drives the vehicle and there's no concern for losing service. Before the internet provider started selling its roof rack mount, many users went through third-party providers.

The official Starlink mounts require the vehicle to have a roof rack. It's a versatile option because you can position the Starlink receiver anywhere on along the rack that works best for your needs, whether that's all the way to one side or dead center. However, it's also limiting since not every vehicle has a car rack, making it an additional purchase if a user wants the official mount. For those without a roof rack, there's Adaptis or Star-Mount Systems.

Star-Mounts options use your choice of either high-quality suction mounts or magnets. It doesn't require you to cut any wires, but you do have to remove the back of Starlink receiver for some of the mounts. It places the receiver in a protective casing that Star-Mounts promises won't delaminate, chip, rot, or swell, is weather-resistant, and doesn't absorb moisture. Be prepared to crack open that wallet, though, because the available options range from as low as $150 to as much as $2,169.

Adaptis doesn't have as many options at Star-Mount, but its pricing is more reasonable, and it supports almost every Starlink dish available. Four of its five options come in at $250 with its fifth costing $450. Each of the five kits offers different protections for your Starlink receiver. Some are corrosive proof while most are waterproof. They all use rubber magnets to mount onto your vehicle. However, Adaptis is a Ukrainian company headquartered in Kyiv and with the war happening, there could be delivery delays.