Starlink Mini - Installation

[schvanger]

The special glass in the Mach-E will block the Starlink Mini if mounted inside, so I mounted it on the glass roof.

One note: if you follow my setup exactly, you will also be enabling a special feature: a roof-mounted high frequency whistle that engages at around 50mph. This 4kHz acoustic beacon is intentional, based on CFD modeling of the vehicle-starlink interface, to scare away wildlife from highways where they would otherwise not hear the EV coming.

Disclaimer: DIY at your own risk; you may not be as flawless as I am.

Satellite Antenna
I purchased my Starlink Mini from the Starlink website, with the Roaming plan @ $55/month.
The satellite antenna uses the Ku-band (12 GHz to 18 GHz). It is blocked by Mach-E's special glass.
Thankfully, the Starlink Mini's Wifi router signal, operating at a "normal" 5 GHz has no problem communicating with devices inside the vehicle.

To install, I purchased these products from Amazon:
B0GZYFWWYL - Starlink Mini Car Adapter with 10FT DC Power Cable
B0F675P2G2 - Mini Cord Hider
B0DRVS828C - Starlink Mini Mount, Magnetic
B086RRTBLW - 3M Adhesive Cord Organizer
B0H1779FHH - Starlink Mini Gen3 Magnetic Mount Plates

Photos:

Finished install

Close up of the adhesive mounts. They provide some tolerance to error if you place the antenna down slightly off.
I'd recommend first cleaning the roof really well, then placing the magnetic pads on the fully assembled mount, removing the film covering the adhesive and then slowly lowering the antenna into position. Once it's down, that's it, it's not moving again. A careful person and a heat gun would be needed to remove these metal pads if ever required. Kinematic constraint calls for the loosening of one of the magnetic rubber pads, or else the fixed position mount will not sit perfectly flat on the slightly curved roof. Once it's mounted, slide it laterally to remove and loosen one of the front pads a half turn (or so), so it can wobble. Carefully reinstall. Magnetic force propagates with 1/r^3 so it will really "snap" down and could break your top glass if you just drop it down. Slow and steady, provide ample reverse pre-loading of the mount when lowering it down.

Cable guide / Cable hider

Cable insertion point into the hatchback area

Cable insertion into the interior. No leaks.

View of the power supply fed by another cable hider.

The cable is "almost" cinched by the hatchback, but after a month of openings and closings it appears completely undamaged. It makes a little frog sound, which was not expected, but acceptable.

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[Mach-Lee]

I know people that use Starlink on their roof while camping, but this is a semi-permeant installation for in-motion use. I assume you are doing this because you often have no cellular service while driving? Did you try the built-in AT&T hotspot (which uses cell antennas in the shark fin)? The hotspot does get better reception than a phone inside the car.

I know there's no other place to put it that works, but you basically have a speedbrake up there. I'd imagine there's quite a big drag penalty (in addition to the noise). Creating a lower profile fairing might be worth it? Also I see Amazon Leo will have a 7" antenna, that might be lower drag option once it becomes available.

 

[Jimrpa]

I know the windshield isn’t a good place to mount it, nor the glass roof, but what about the back glass in the tailgate? While it does have the defroster grid, you should be able to appropriately position it to miss most of the grid. Also, you wouldn’t have an annoying whistle or ugly speedbrake on your car.

 

[schvanger]

I know the windshield isn’t a good place to mount it, nor the glass roof, but what about the back glass in the tailgate? While it does have the defroster grid, you should be able to appropriately position it to miss most of the grid. Also, you wouldn’t have an annoying whistle or ugly speedbrake on your car.

Annoying? Ugly? My feature-rich vehicle signature? Glad I spent the time to share this.

It's honestly my favorite part of the car, at least right now. It lets me feel like I'm a participant in the DARPA Grand Challenge. lol

The application for me is the few dozen miles of dead-zone while driving in our area; this eliminates dropped calls completely.

I love it. Whistle and all. But I do think I'll make a 3d printed streamline shroud for it... stay tuned.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Surprised that coverage is this bad in Wisconsin.

They have cell coverage on the peak of Mount Everest! Been in an uber for the better half of an hour in southern India and my coverage is all 5G

 

[Jimrpa]

Surprised that coverage is this bad in Wisconsin.

They have cell coverage on the peak of Mount Everest!

Perhaps at base camp, but I would be very surprised if there was coverage at 8,000 meters. Of course, if you have clear LOS to a tower at 4,000 meters, which would seem possible, you might get a very weak connection.

Edit: it turns out that there is some spotty service, particularly on the Chinese side. I was surprised to learn this.

 

[Jimrpa]

Annoying? Ugly? My feature-rich vehicle signature? Glad I spent the time to share this.

It's honestly my favorite part of the car, at least right now. It lets me feel like I'm a participant in the DARPA Grand Challenge. lol

The application for me is the few dozen miles of dead-zone while driving in our area; this eliminates dropped calls completely.

I love it. Whistle and all. But I do think I'll make a 3d printed streamline shroud for it... stay tuned.

My actual question was whether an interior mount with a view of open sky out the back window would be feasible. I did not understand you were doing this for aesthetics. My bad.

 

[schvanger]

My actual question was whether an interior mount with a view of open sky out the back window would be feasible. I did not understand you were doing this for aesthetics. My bad.

I didn't try the back window. You could give it a shot. A support structure built into the trunk might get a clear shot out without obscuring the back window. Maybe a pole mount on the headrest?

Um... Idk what you mean by your second sentence but this project clearly wasn't for aesthetics. You were the one, I think, poking at it being physically ugly and audibly annoying (it genuinely isn't if you saw and heard it). No worries either way, it's a reversible mod.

Anyways, I just wanted to share something that DOES WORK, because (so far) I haven't seen anyone else make something work to install starlink in the Mach-E.

I tried a bunch of different ideas before this one and I thought I'd save y'all some time by sharing.

 

[schvanger]

Surprised that coverage is this bad in Wisconsin.

They have cell coverage on the peak of Mount Everest! Been in an uber for the better half of an hour in southern India and my coverage is all 5G

Near some Indian reservations.

 

[schvanger]

This is the full view of the car (I didn't include it previously). As you can see the antenna isn't really that ugly or noticable.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I know the windshield isn’t a good place to mount it, nor the glass roof, but what about the back glass in the tailgate? While it does have the defroster grid, you should be able to appropriately position it to miss most of the grid. Also, you wouldn’t have an annoying whistle or ugly speedbrake on your car.

In my experience, it will barely work in the back window. The view of the sky isn't wide enough so there will be too many dropouts. Suction cups also won't stick because of the defrost grid. Starlink does not work at all in the windshield (IRR) or roof.

 

[jav_eee]

Only thing I would’ve done different is route the cable in through the bottom of the rear hatch just to reduce the chance of water intrusion.

 

[DYohn]

I am glad you are happy.

 

[4sallypat]

A custom made fairing in front of the antenna will stop the whistling at high speeds....

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