{"id":68894,"date":"2025-08-15T00:11:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T00:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/68894\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T00:11:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T00:11:09","slug":"starlink-users-will-now-have-to-pay-5-to-pause-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/68894\/","title":{"rendered":"Starlink Users Will Now Have to Pay $5 to Pause Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

Starlink<\/a> is ending a popular free feature that let customers pause service at any time for free. Now, you\u2019ll have to pay $5 a month to enter what the company is calling \u201cStandby Mode.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subscribers who\u2019d been using the pause feature began receiving emails<\/a> yesterday notifying them that they\u2019d have to opt in to the new Standby Mode by Sept. 13, or their service would be canceled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recently upgraded pause to include Standby Mode,\u201d the company wrote on a support page<\/a>. \u201cPreviously, the pause feature offered zero data at no cost. If pausing with Standby Mode does not meet your needs, you are able to cancel at no cost.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Standby Mode, customers will have access to \u201cunlimited low-speed data,\u201d which is enough to make calls, text and receive software updates. Speeds are capped at 500Kbps, according to Starlink\u2019s support page.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Watch this: Tips for Mounting a Starlink Satellite Dish on Your Home\n <\/p>\n

06:19 <\/p>\n

The company is framing it as an \u201cupgrade\u201d for customers, but many people are viewing it as a bait-and-switch. The pause feature was especially attractive for Starlink Roam customers, who might only need service on an RV trip one or two months out of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Starlink explicitly refers<\/a> to these plans as \u201cpay as you go,\u201d but now you\u2019ll have to pay when you\u2019re not going, too. You’re still able to cancel and restart service, but you run the risk of Starlink being at capacity in your area when you try to get back on the network — or being hit with a reactivation fee. Restarting service in Standby Mode, on the other hand, only takes a few clicks in the app, and you\u2019re guaranteed a spot when you return.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many Starlink customers have chafed at the news that they\u2019ll have to pay $5 each month for a service they\u2019re not even using.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe purchased the Mini Kit for an emergency trip where we needed to be reachable but otherwise will basically never use it,\u201d wrote one Reddit user<\/a>. \u201cFortunately, we’re still in the 30-day return period so it will likely just go back entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don’t miss any of CNET’s unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add us as a preferred Google source on Chrome.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Starlink is ending a popular free feature that let customers pause service at any time for free. Now,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[64,63,237,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-68894","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-internet","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}