Starlink Broadband Scraps Free UK Pause Mode for Paid Standby Mode
SpaceX’s Starlink service, which sells ultrafast broadband to the UK and globally via masses of compact satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), has done what some might consider a bit of a ‘bait-and-switch’ by suddenly replacing their ‘Pause Mode‘ (i.e. allowing you to stop and restart the service at no extra cost) with a new ‘Standby Mode‘ that costs £4.50 per month.
The Starlink service currently has around 8,100 satellites in orbit (c.4,500 are v2 / V2 Mini) – mostly at altitudes of c.500-600km – and they’ll add thousands more by the end of 2027. Residential customers in the UK usually pay from £75 a month ($120 in the USA), plus £299 for hardware (currently free for most areas) on the ‘Standard’ unlimited data plan (kit price may vary due to different offers), which promises UK latency times of 28-36ms, downloads of 103-258Mbps and uploads of 15-26Mbps. Cheaper and more restrictive options also exist for roaming users.
One of the most useful features on this service was Pause Mode, which until now had allowed customers to stop the service (inc. monthly payments) anytime they wanted and then restart it once needed again (handy when using Starlink as a backup or for periodic roaming / travel etc.). But customers on their Roam, Residential and Priority plans in the UK (inc. some other countries) have now been informed of an “upgrade” that sees Pause Mode being replaced by Standby Mode.
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In Standby Mode customers will remain connected to the service at a significantly reduced speed (seemingly 0.5Mbps) for unlimited data, albeit now at a cost of £4.50 per month. The move will no doubt annoy some people and the modern internet is extremely difficult to use at such a connection speed, although some people may find it useful for getting basic tasks done (it could also be seen as a really cheap backup plan). But all the same, it would have worked better as an extra option, rather than an enforced replacement. Credits to forum member Stewart for the screenshot below.
However, while Pause Mode might have just been unceremoniously jettisoned in the name of more £££ for SpaceX and Elon, it’s worth noting that there is still a way to get a similar benefit. The FAQ page states: “If pausing with Standby Mode does not meet your needs, you are able to cancel at no cost and restart service on an available plan whenever you’re ready.” The catch is that this approach does come with some added checks (friction), but that may be worth it to avoid the £4.50 monthly charge for a service you’re not using.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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It sounds like the low speed is just enough to load the Starlink website to upgrade to a normal plan, which would be useful if your main internet connection went down (and you don’t have mobile signal etc). I’m assuming you couldn’t load the Starlink website while on pause mode?
It’s good enough for most low BW things – can even do 480p on it – FB live streams also work without buffering. I’ve got it on my backup dish and was trying it earlier
While it does look like a bait and switch, it might still be useful for telemetry, monitoring, a remote CCTV camera, or even music streaming (if it’s 512kbit then Spotify or BBC sounds at circa 192-256kbit fits).
This sort of thing (and many other things previously) is why I simply won’t trust any Musk related company.
Can’t wait for a rival service to become available.
Well enshitification is normal these days. But considering anyone using Starlink probably doesn’t have any other cheaper or even any alternatives at all this is still very good compared to other broadband offerings. I don’t believe there is a single broadband provider that lets you pause your internet connection. Of course disconnecting and reconnecting it’s always possible but most providers will take their equipment back so you can’t be reconnected quickly. So for now it does remain a good offering.
I know of at least two – if a house is going to be unoccupied or undergoing renovation or whatever, some will. Also student accommodation which is left empty two months a year.
Its crazy they brought out an £8 a month package, then they cancel pausing and offer you low speed for £4? What’s going on in their pricing department. Think i’ll just be done with it and get rid of it. It was ideal for my use for camping/euro road trips but im not going to pay all year for needing it a few weeks out of the year off to ebay then
Re: last para and point about being able to cancel and restart.
I bet you would end up paying a congestion charge again if you’re in one of the applicable geographic zones.
I was on roam and they removed the pause option for me, all I could do was cancel. Then if I wanted it back I’d have to pay a hefty reconnection charge! They keep changing things so often. Since left and gone to fibre to the prem as its now available in my rural area.
I’d sign up to this. 0.5mb anywhere remote or where cellular bandwidth is overloaded for £4.50/m is fine by me. Can we sign up straight on to Standby Mode or do we have to sign up and do 1 month at the £50 roam plan?
Only bought it (before muZk went full naZi) as a last resort disaster recovery backup internet connection for the office because it cost nothing whilst sat in the box.
Suspect this shows that Ztarlink sales are plummeting just like teZla…
I won’t be taking this “upgrade” and will find a low cost mobile subscription instead.