Starlink Satellite Internet Terminals

Starlink is low-earth-orbit satellite internet. The terminal (the dish) talks to satellites a few hundred miles up instead of a cell tower, so it works where a fire burned the cell sites, a hurricane cut the fiber, or there was never service to begin with. Typical service runs roughly 45–230 Mbps down and 10–20 Mbps up, with about 30–40 ms latency in the continental US (it varies by area). That's enough for email, resource ordering, video calls, VoIP phones, IAP files, GIS and camera feeds.

KDT picks the right one of three Starlink kits for the job. The Performance (Gen 3) kit is the most rugged: enclosed in aluminum, IP69K waterproof, with an advanced power supply that takes AC or DC, built for harsh and remote sites, extreme weather and use in motion. The Standard kit suits higher-demand internet use and gives the best performance in bad weather, with higher speeds than the Mini. The Mini is a compact kit that fits in a backpack, with a built-in Wi-Fi router, low power draw and DC input. Each goes on a plan that fits: roaming plans for teams that move between sites, and priority-data plans so command traffic stays fast when the network is busy.

A terminal gives you one connection; KDT turns it into a network. We mount it with a clear view of the sky (trees and terrain are the usual problem in fire country), power it from the grid, a generator or a battery with UPS backup, and connect it to a router with Wi-Fi mesh or point-to-point links so the signal reaches every tent and trailer. The Starlink Wi-Fi 6 router is rated for 235 devices and three Starlink mesh nodes, so one terminal comfortably serves a small ICP or a few dozen everyday users. A large camp gets as many terminals as it needs, load-balanced behind one router, often with cellular as backup, and separate networks for command, finance and crew morale use.