What a circus!

We went to the circus a week ago, but now we are experiencing another one!

Yesterday was the day to activate our new Starlink Mini because our cellular internet plan runs out today at midnight. 

So I took it out of the box, set it outside, and plugged it in.

They stress that you need a "clear view to the sky" with no obstructions, but we don't have a clear view to the sky. There are a lot of palm trees where we are parked!

Looking up where we are parked.

So I was surprised when the unit connected with seemingly no problem!

You get one hour of free service to complete the registration process, but you can also do it with any other internet connection.

I wanted the unlimited package that costs 1,650 pesos ($115 CAD, $81 USD) per month.

So I filled out all of the information, including with a Mexican service address, but my Canadian billing address. I went to pay the bill, but the system wouldn't accept my Canadian credit card. I tried two other Canadian based cards, including our debit card, but they wouldn't work either.

Hmm. I contacted our friend Chris who lives in Mexico to see if I could use his Mexican credit card, but they only use US based cards. I tried one of those and it didn't work either.

Starlink has different pricing options for different markets around the world. Buying the Starlink Mini down here is cheaper than buying it in Canada. But it has to be activated down here, otherwise you incur a $300 fee. Monthly service is also cheaper in Mexico, but the Canadian registration includes a 50GB plan where you pay $1.40 CAD ($1 USD) per GB after your 50GB is gone. This might actually work out cheaper for us since our usage is rarely over 100GB per month.

So I signed up with Canadian registration, and my credit card worked right away.

I figured that was the end of it... until I received an email this morning...

Notification - Outside Region Fee. Their system had flagged me as using the Starlink Mini outside the region in which it was purchased and so I would incur a $300 USD fee. Obviously I had been incorrectly flagged, but I know they have this system in place to prevent someone from purchasing the hardware in a cheaper country, then bringing it into a more expensive country to register it.

Arrrrgg! Why do they make these things so difficult!? Anyhow, now I have created a support ticket with customer service, so that's where we stand. What a circus!

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