Some new Starlink customers face up to $750 fee

Thinking about getting Starlink for your RV or travel setup? Be aware—you could be hit with a hefty one-time surcharge if you’re signing up in certain parts of the country. Only days ago, we wrote that Starlink was hitting some new customers with $500 surcharges. It’s getting worse. In areas with heavy demand, Starlink has added an extra fee of up to $750 for new customers. This isn’t a monthly charge—it’s a one-time cost added when you purchase service and equipment. The Starlink $750 demand surcharge is a gut-buster.

Starlink $750 demand surcharge isn’t everywhere

The highest surcharges have been reported in places like Portland, Seattle, Spokane, and Coeur d’Alene, where new users saw a $750 surcharge. Other areas are also affected, though the amount varies:

• Asheville, NC – $500
• Anchorage, AK, and Phoenix, AZ – $250
• Sacramento, CA – $100

Meanwhile, some happy cities like Yakima, Washington, and Greensboro, North Carolina, aren’t seeing any surcharges at all.

Starlink is also running a promo in places like Boise, Idaho, and Juneau, Alaska, where you can get the Starlink kit for free—but only if you sign up for a 12-month plan by June 25. That’s a decent deal, but time is running out.

Why the Starlink surcharges?

Why the surcharges? According to Starlink’s website, “in areas with high demand, there is an additional one-time charge to purchase Starlink services.” Basically, if a lot of people in your area are already using the system, new users have to pay more to get on board.

Internet speeds also vary by location. In some high-demand states like Washington, Alaska, and North Carolina, users are reporting download speeds under 60 Mbps, and under 40 Mbps in Alaska. Upload speeds, however, are strong—over 200 Mbps in many places.

Will Starlink $750 demand surcharge hit roaming customers?

Some readers have suggested that these surcharges only affect residential customers, not folks like RVer’s signing up for roam. We’ve found conflicting information about this. Sadly, Starlink doesn’t provide a customer service contact to ask questions like these. However, we did a “dummy run,” by attempting to sign up for Starlink service for an address in Seattle, Washington.

When we tried to sign up for residential service, we were immediately flagged with the additional $750 “one-time” surcharge. So we signed in again, this time asking for roaming service. We went all the way through the signup process, but not clicking the “order now” button. No demand surcharge.

At this point, it does look like roaming doesn’t set you up for the huge fee. However, we can’t suggest that if you want residential service in one of the surcharge areas that you simply sign up for roaming, instead, then use a roam dish at your fixed location. Something suggests that Starlink might look at that with a stink-eye.

RELATED

• Starlink demand surcharge doubles—now higher than the dish itself
• T-Mobile and Starlink team up for cell service anywhere
• Starlink for RVing—Every Starlink user needs to do this!
• 6 months of using Starlink on the road. Here’s what I think of it

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