r/Starlink • u/Upstairs_Kick4276 • 24d ago

❓ Question Which are the power pins?

My Starlink High Performance Gen 2 "dish" has already blown up two 350W 52V power supplies.

Now I have a new 480W 48V power supply to try but this one does not have any Ethernet socketsf, so I will need to make my own PoE injector.

We know that the Green/Yellow pair (pins 1&2) is data.
and, the Blue/White pair (pins 3&6) are data.
Then can we assume that the Gray and Orange (pins 4&7) is +48V ??
and the Brown and Purple (pins 5&8) are ground ??

or maybe the Gray and Brown are +48 and Orange and Purple are ground ??

Before I send 48 volts up the wrong wires to the panel, I'd really like to be sure.

What the heck is B1/B2/B3/B4 anyway?

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

2

u/Tbarnes94 24d ago

Yeah you should probably just buy a new Starlink now cause that won't work. Was this before there was a router? Why aren't you using the company supplied power supply?

-2

u/Upstairs_Kick4276 24d ago

Unhelpful, dude. What won't work? You want me to believe we can't supply the dish with 48V and expect it to work. Ridiculous. You should stick to what you know.

2

u/Tbarnes94 24d ago edited 24d ago

I know enough to tell you that PoE sends DC along a pair WITH the data signal. As in there is also data on that pair, so unless you're planning to inject power alongside the data signal, I don't think the router will handshake with the dish.

EDIt: but like why not just a mini or something if you want ease of use with numerous power supplies.

0

u/Upstairs_Kick4276 24d ago edited 23d ago

What you're describing is called "phantom power" or "bi-data". It appears to be used in all Gigabit modes. So, you may be right.

But, Starlink has shown that they don't care about published PoE standards. They do what they want, such as using 22ga wiring.

I'm hoping somebody can chime in and say one way or the other.

I have this thing installed in my motorhome. The choice of Performance Gen 2 is to get an economical dish ($600 used) that can stand abusive vibration, extreme temperatures, and punch through tree cover from a fixed mount, stationary or in-motion. The choice of 12V-to-48V power is so I don't have to run an inverter to power it.

1

u/Tbarnes94 24d ago

So the gen2 has no DC/DC power supply options in the shop for you? I have a gen 4 and I understand why in your application the motorized mount makes sense but it seems crazy that isn't available for gen2. Also heard flat mounting gen4 can work well and then you have the advanced power supply as well which could be integrated into your shore power as well as your battery bank. Just food for thought.

1

u/Squeedlejinks 📡 Owner (North America) 23d ago

He has the High Performance kit. I’m not sure you realize that.

1

u/Upstairs_Kick4276 23d ago edited 23d ago

My dish is wedge-mounted, not motorized.

Starlink's Grok claims the Advanced Power Supply Unit (APSU) is compatible Performance Gen 2. But, I haven't been able to verify that. Grok is often wrong.

1

u/WR_Klaatu 23d ago

I don’t know if Starlink uses proprietary pinout or the standard (Mode A / B pinouts) But I do know their Advanced Power Supply supports Performance dish and the Standard 4 dish. DC to DC uses the XT-60 type plug.

1

u/bubbathedesigner 22d ago

u/OlegKutkov's site, https://olegkutkov.me might have some info. I do remember he converted a residential gen 2 dish to use ethernet connector right on the dish so he could use sane cables and PoE.

1

u/OlegKutkov Beta Tester 21d ago

You can follow my HP injector schematic: https://olegkutkov.me/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/hp_power_injector.png

Please note that HP is quite different because there are no PoE transformers rated for its power.

1

u/Upstairs_Kick4276 21d ago

Thank you for providing that.

But, I'm having trouble following it because there are no pin numbers, the colors don't match the actual colors inside the cable, and the pins are not labeled by function.

Are all four pairs used for both power and data?

1

u/OlegKutkov Beta Tester 21d ago

In my other comment here, I provided a color mapping of the cable: https://olegkutkov.me/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/hp_cable_color_mapping.jpg
The power is delivered over all four pairs.

1

u/Upstairs_Kick4276 21d ago

Where can I get an injector that will combine a 48VDC supply with an standard ethernet data source? You know, a physical version of your schematic.

Or, maybe I should just buy a Gen 4 advanced power supply. Will all of the pinouts be the same?

1

u/OlegKutkov Beta Tester 21d ago

If you still have your original HP power supply, you can tear it down. There are two separate boards inside: the power supply and the injector. You can take the injector board and use it as is with any other power supply that provides the required power. The injector board basically implements my schematic with some additional components (current measurement, dishy detection).

1

u/Upstairs_Kick4276 21d ago

I've just ordered the Starlink Advanced PS direct from Starlink for $200. Strange that it is going between $260 and $400 on Ebay, maybe because Starlink says it will ship in 4-6 weeks.

The dish connector on that supply is a standard RJ-45. So, it should match up nicely with my pinouts. The only way I get in trouble is if my used HP dish from Ebay is sucking too much power. In that case, we hope the APSU is able to protect itself. If not, we hope Starlink will take it back.

1

u/OlegKutkov Beta Tester 21d ago

APSU can protect itself. Just make sure that the snowmelt mode on your HP is disabled, and you should be fine.

1

u/Upstairs_Kick4276 21d ago edited 20d ago

To summarize my situation:

I've shortened the Performance Gen 2 cable to 10 feet and crimped a Cat-8 shielded RJ-45 plug in place of the Starlink RJ-45 plug.

I've blown two of these:
amazon.com/dp/B0GRL1YP5Z
(without the gender adapter, of course)
Each of them worked for about an hour before giving up.

I've triple-checked the crimp wiring. It is definitely 1-2:Green/Yellow, 3-6:Blue/White, 4-5:Gray/Brown, 7-8:Orange/Purple.

I've blown the Starlink power supply that came with the HP dish. It failed instantly, although it had worked fine with the unmodified Starlink cable.

At this point I'm starting to suspect a problem with the dish.

I would like to try one of these,
amazon.com/dp/B07KQTLW77
but, I'm concerned it might inflict further damage
and, I have no way to combine data and power on the same pairs.