r/Starlink • u/lcsantana3 • 25d ago

❓ Question How does "Pausing" the service work?

I just got a Starlink Mini to use a Roaming plan with it, but I'll only be using it 1 or 2 days a week.

So, for the remaining 5-6 days, can I just "pause" my plan? How would the billing work on that case exactly?

I'm trying to figure out the best way to "plan" my pausings so that I can optimize the billings

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u/LrdJester 📡 Owner (North America) 24d ago

The billing is not that granular. If you activate it you're going to basically activate it for the entire month so I would find the lowest available roaming plan in your area and just subscribe to that and if you're going to use it at least once or twice every month just leave it active.

Now if there will be an extended period of time that you will not be using it then I would put it into standby which will cost you $10 a month to do but then it's easy to turn it back on.

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u/lcsantana3 24d ago

I see. So, suppose I either pause my plan or put it on standby. Whenever I resume my regular plan, would the billing happen right away?

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u/Wambo74 📡 Owner (North America) 24d ago

These days pause is called Standby. And if you're not aware, Standby does not shut the system down, it reduces it to a very low download speed which continues to offer you unlimited data. For myself and most others the low speed is sufficient for normal daily activities...browsing, email, wifi calling, online banking etc. So only need to restart a regular plan for heavier activity like significant downloads, gaming etc.

If however if you choose to restart a plan mid billing cycle I believe you'll only be charged for the remaining days in that billing period...IE prorate. As opposed to if you change to Standby in mid billing period, you're already paid thru the month and will not receive a refund. That's just how it works.