Starlink and Internet in Australia

Introduction:

Since I returned from USA to Australia in 1996, I have struggled at the cutting edge of internet technology.  It has been expensive, and a steep learning curve, even for me.

The cost has been at about AUD75 per month to have the best available.  I started with telephone at 57k bps.  This worked in Perth, but before 2000 there were hardly enough telephone lines in the street to cope.  Cellphones saved the day although not useful for data.  I moved to Satellite (1 mbs down, 57k up) then cable, etc. then, 1 year ago, to Starlink.  Starlink is twice the price but seems to have what I need.  The $139 per month unlimited (usually 500 Gb) is much better value than $59 I was paying 20 years ago for a 1 mb dish and 400 mb data. But Now I have Starlink.

Details on how to set it up.

Replacing or adding a Dish:

After 1 year my service crashed after a power outage of a few days, and I didn't have time to drive out to the farm for a few weeks.  It seemed that the Starlink service or hardware was non-functional.  To save time I bought a nearly new dish and modem for $200 on Gumtree. The guy who sold it was very helpful and gave me a few tips by text messages as I had questions.

I could not find the setup information I needed to add a new, extra, dish to my account.  I still don't know exactly.  So here is the problem.

Be Prepared!

When the dish is installed and connected to the PC by Wi-Fi or directly with an ethernet adapter (sold as an extra add-on), it does not connect.  So, you need to have access to the internet so that you can log in to the Starlink site, become a new user, and put in some payment credentials.  After that, your dish will become active.

So that seems easy, but not so easy if you have no Wi-Fi or ethernet (the dish is down), and you live in an area with very poor 4G Telstra service (one bar).  If using the Starlink App on your iPhone, you will need to have a good 4G connection and, ideally, a hotspot from the phone to the PC to get Wi-Fi.  Of course, you normally would set the whole thing up on your iPhone (use the app), if you had a decent connection.  It entails flipping from the app to the browser login and receiving a security code to your email.  Be prepared!

Set it up in a location where you have another Wi-Fi and Cellphone connection:

My solution was to take the whole thing back to Perth and set it up there.  Then, move the installation to my farm.  I found then that it did not like the new location (I guess it felt like it had been stolen).  The solution was, once again, find a Wi-Fi connection and tell the Starlink app (or website) that this particular dish was at a new location, not your account address.

Annoyances:

People at Starlink service are helpful, but don't understand the real-life issues with installation.  There are several other annoying problems.

The printing on the devices is so tiny and poor quality that you will need to take a magnified photo and have that available to read the numbers on your dish and on your modem.  Also, I still haven't figured out how to have both dishes on my account.  Instead, I have two accounts now, with different login emails on each.  I have both dishes up and running at about 200 Mbs.  I'll decide which to cancel next month when the fees are due.

Barry Marshall, 2024/10/14

Who will win the Nobel in Medicine on Monday October 3rd

At 5:30 PM Perth Time (GMT+8) the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology will be announced. Here is my shortlist. As well as scouring the internet, I chose some which might have helped people I know. I spent a few hours on this and we will have a little cocktail party starting 5 pm at the CHRO2024 conference in Perth to see if anyone can pick the winners (QR code below). Here goes!

GLP-1 based therapy for obesityJoel

Habener, Lotte Bjerre Knudsen, Svetlana Mojsov

Habener and Mojsov invented the drug, Knudsen put it into clinical practice. Glucagon-like-peptide-1 is part of glucagon. It is in the gut. It stimulates insulin. Knudsen changed the molecule which allowed long half-life making Semaglutide a once per week injection.

Discovery of TNF and then Anti-TNF therapy

Marc Feldmann and Ravinder Maini (ICL)

for ways to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases such as RA Crohn’s etc. (e.g. infliximab, Humira). UniMelb, WEHI, ICL Oxford)

Treatment of Haemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell disease and thalassaemia

Stuart Orkin

For the discovery of the molecular mechanism responsible for the switch from foetal to adult haemoglobin gene expression during human development and translating that knowledge into a novel treatment for the haemoglobin disorders – sickle cell disease and beta- thalassemia.

cGas the DNA sensing enzyme which detects foreign DNA.

Zhijian (James) Chen (Fujian / USA Texas)

Free foreign DNA in the body is detected via. cGAS cyglic-GMP-Amp-Synthase. This may be important for triggering interferons and innate immunity even relating to autoimmune diseases.

Drugs that repair the defective chloride channel protein in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Sabine Hadida, Frederick van Goor

For developing life-transforming drug combinations. Ivacaftor works by potentiating the CFTR channel, helping it open more often, which improves chloride ion flow. Vertex Pharmaceuticals etc. (Orkambi) and Tezacaftor/Ivacaftor (Symdeko).

Developed noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) using cell-free fetal DNA

Yuk Ming (Dennis) Lo

From The Chinese University of Hong Kong This innovation has revolutionized prenatal testing for mutations such as Down’s Syndrome.

The role of gut microbiota in human health and disease

Jeffrey I. Gordon

His research significantly advanced the understanding of how the community of trillions of microbes living in our digestive tract affects nutrition, metabolism, and overall health.

P.S. I have two tips for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry too! Suggested by Paige Bebee:

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) 

Omar M. Yaghi 

Yaghi’s work on MOFs has revolutionized materials science. MOFs are porous materials with vast applications, including gas storage, separation, catalysis, and drug delivery. Their tunable structure allows for highly specific functions, contributing to advancements in clean energy and environmental sustainability. 

Predicting 3D Protein Structures Using AI 

Demis Hassabis, John Jumper, David Baker 

AI-based protein structure prediction, highlighted by tools like AlphaFold, has transformed our ability to determine the shape of proteins. By addressing a long-standing biological challenge, this breakthrough enhances our understanding of protein function and accelerates drug discovery, biotechnology innovations, and disease research, pushing the boundaries of molecular biology.

Enjoy 🤞👍😁😁