Another Starlink Issue? Redditor Reports Lightning-Strike Blows Apart Dish 

During last week’s massive heat wave that scorched much of the US, some “r/Starlink” Redditors complained their satellite internet dishes were knocked offline because of overheating issues. A different week, a new problem for beta users of SpaceX’s broadband service called Starlink as it appears no match for lighting strikes. 

On Monday, Redditor “Coryhero” posted a picture of what seems to be the remaining bits of a Starlink system after a lightning strike on Sunday blew it to pieces. He wrote in the post, “House was struck by lightning last night. RIP Starlink.”

In a continuation post, Coryhero said the entire Starlink system “exploded,” and it also took out his “DSL internet modem” and “gaming desktop.” 

He said, “we’re completely without internet right now.” 

Coryhero contacted Starlink support, who said he would have to fork over “$375 for a replacement refurbished dish,” adding, “not quite what I was hoping for, with all of the other costs I’m going to have to deal with. I might have to just go back to DSL for now, unfortunately.” 

Last week, in a completely separate issue, dishes were overheating in the hot weather, producing an error message that read, “Offline Thermal Shutdown.” The dish “overheated” and “Starlink will reconnect after cooling down,” the error message continued. 

Some Redditors have found a workaround to operate the satellite internet dish in the summer: build a tent.

The list of issues continues to pile up for Starlink as Redditors report the dish is no match for Mother Nature. 

Since Starlink is in “initial beta service,” hopefully, engineers can resolve these problems.