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5 reasons you should be excited about Starry’s revolutionary internet service coming this year
Last week, if you had told me a new internet service from an unknown company would be the biggest surprise in tech, I wouldn’t have believed it.
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But that’s exactly what Starry did this week: It came out of nowhere, and it blew our socks off. (Assuming it ends up working as advertised, of course.)
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Starry wants to fix the sorry state of broadband internet in the US right now. Compared to most of the world, US internet is slow and expensive. Most people don’t even have a choice of providers.
But that’s what Starry wants to change, among other things. Here are five reasons why you should get excited for Starry’s proposed internet service.
Starry’s plan wouldn’t matter if it weren’t offering something that’s actually better than what’s out there.
Starry’s service offers gigabit internet — that’s roughly 100 times faster than today’s average broadband performance. You can stream content instantly and download full-length movies in seconds. It’s the same speeds you’ll get with Google Fiber or AT&T GigaPower, but those services are only in a few areas of the country. Even Verizon’s expensive FiOS network only reaches half these speeds.
Starry hasn’t said how much its internet service will cost, but a spokesperson told Tech Insider that it will be significantly cheaper than what most people pay for broadband internet access. High-speed internet in New York City, for example, costs anywhere from $40 to $70 per month. The promise of a cheap internet service that’s also fast is already very appealing.
Fiber-optic networks are expensive to build and require a great deal of coordination between individual cities and the tech companies, since every city has different infrastructure. Before Google introduces Fiber to any city, for example, it needs to build plans with city leaders and lay the groundwork for construction.
With Starry, however, there’s no need to install physical fiber optics to get those same speeds. Everything is transmitted wirelessly. That means fewer barriers to entry, and no need to lay cables underground, along telephone lines, and in houses and buildings. You won’t need a technician to come by your residence to install Starry. If you buy into the service, Starry will provide an antenna you stick outside your window, as well as its $350 Starry Station router. (More on the router in a bit.)
The rollout of gigabit internet in the US has been slow. Since creating the infrastructure is expensive, most companies like Google and AT&T are starting with small US cities and gradually moving into more populated areas. Starry, on the other hand, plans to launch the first beta of its service in the Boston area this summer, with more big cities to get the service later in the year.
Starry's wireless technology leapfrogs all the current wired infrastructure: Starry uses airwaves — specifically, concentrated high-frequency radio waves called “millimeter wave bands” — to broadcast fast, wireless internet from nodes (called Starry Beams) placed around a city to a receiver that sits outside the window of your home (called a Starry Point). Installing Starry Beams around a city can be implemented much more quickly than laying down new cables, hence the company’s ambitious launch and rollout plans.
A Starry spokesperson told Tech Insider that customers of its internet service will receive the company’s new $350 WiFi router, called the Starry Station. This triangular router features a 3.8-inch touch screen that monitors the speeds of your connected devices, recommends ways to fix connection issues, offers live customer support, lets parents control when certain devices can or can’t connect, and more.
The Starry Station router also works with any internet service you might have. You can reserve a Starry Station on the company’s website.
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