(Credit: Starlink.com)
After disappearing last month, Starlink’s Residential 100Mbps plan has returned in the US alongside two more plan options. But it comes with a price increase.
Starlink.com began offering Residential 100Mbps again on Wednesday. However, the plan now costs $50 per month, a $10 increase. The other catch is that Residential 100Mbps is only available in areas where SpaceX has excess network capacity and fewer existing users.
The company hasn’t published a coverage map, but we’ve seen the option pop up in areas around Omaha, Nebraska, and parts of Nevada, Indiana, and Maine if you try to sign up for a Residential plan on Starlink.com
(Credit: Starlink.com)The plan’s return is part of a rebranding of the Starlink Residential lineup, which first appeared for New Zealand users on Tuesday. It now has three tiers—Residential Max, Residential 200Mbps, and Residential 100Mbps—with Max offering the fastest speeds at up to 400Mbps.
Residential 100Mbps is still Starlink’s most affordable plan yet for home internet usage. Although data is unlimited, the download rate is capped at 100Mbps.
Residential Max —formerly the standard Residential plan— remains at $120 per month but adds three perks: A complimentary Router Mini to act as Wi-Fi mesh system, access to a free Starlink Mini dish as a rental, and a 50% discount when subscribing to Starlink's Roam plans.
(Credit: Starlink.com)Meanwhile, Residential Lite has been renamed to Residential 200Mbps. Although its price remains at $80 per month, Residential Lite used to offer speeds up to 250Mbps. The company is now capping the download rates to 200Mbps.
(Credit: Starlink.com)Existing subscribers who upgrade to Residential Max will receive the new perks, SpaceX says. But downgrading from Max to a lower plan means losing out on the benefits, and would require subscribers to pay for the Starlink Mini as a rental.
The plans might not be available in your area, however. SpaceX notes: “If a plan or promotion does not appear in your account, it is not currently available for your service location.” In areas where Starlink is already congested, the company appears to only be offering the Residential Max plan while requiring new customers to pay a pricey one-time "demand surcharge."
The company previously published a map indicating where Residential Lite/Residential 200Mbps is available in both the US and Canada.
On Tuesday, SpaceX also revamped its cheapest Roam tier, which lets you use Starlink in more than one location and on the go. The $50 Roam plan now features 100GB of monthly data, up from a mere 50GB. Users will also receive unlimited, low-speed data access at under 1Mbps once the cap is exceeded.