Three Roam tiers, one portable dish, and decisions that can easily cost you $600 or more per year if you pick the wrong one. Here is a plain-language breakdown of what each plan does, who it is for, and where the traps are.
Before comparing tiers, these are the questions that actually determine whether Roam makes sense for your situation — and which plan within Roam is the right one.
Starlink Roam is designed for people without a fixed address or with an address they regularly leave — RV travelers, van lifers, boaters, remote workers on the move, and anyone using satellite internet across multiple locations. The core difference from a Residential plan is portability without penalty: you can use a Roam plan anywhere within the U.S. (and internationally, on the Unlimited tier) without violating your service agreement. Residential plans are tied to a registered home address. Roam costs more per month and carries lower network priority during congestion, but it carries no address restrictions. All Roam plans are month-to-month — no annual contract, no termination fee, and you can pause billing anytime through the Starlink app and restart when you need it again.
There are three Roam plans in the United States right now. Roam 100 GB at $55 per month gives you 100 gigabytes of high-speed data, after which speeds reduce but do not cut off — this tier is U.S.-only (domestic coverage only). Roam 300 GB at $80 per month launched in May of this year, adding a mid-range option for users whose usage regularly exceeds 100 GB but who do not need unlimited data — also domestic U.S. only. Roam Unlimited at $175 per month provides unlimited data and includes international use for up to 30 days per trip abroad, requiring identity verification (government ID plus selfie) before activating overseas. Note: the former Global Roam unlimited international tier was discontinued in August of this year; Roam Unlimited replaced it with the 30-day-per-trip foreign use rule.
This depends entirely on your hardware, not your plan tier. The standard Starlink dish (the Gen 3 or V5 kit, sold at $349) detects motion and shuts down at highway speeds to protect its motorized self-orienting mechanism — it is a parked-use dish. To use Starlink while actively driving, you need the Flat HP dish, which costs $2,500 and is designed for in-motion use. The Starlink Mini ($199–$249) is marketed as supporting in-motion use within Roam plans, though real-world results in vehicles moving at highway speeds are mixed due to the smaller antenna array. For most RV users, the practical workflow is: Starlink at the campsite (parked), cellular hotspot while driving. The Flat HP dish makes financial sense for commercial maritime, fleet, or situations where driving connectivity is genuinely essential.
In uncrowded rural areas, no — you often cannot tell the difference. In congested suburban or urban locations during evening peak hours, yes, sometimes significantly. Starlink’s network uses a software priority system: Residential subscribers are served first, Priority data users next, and standard Roam data third. Independent speed testing across 2026 shows Residential customers in the continental U.S. averaging 150–180 Mbps download, while Roam customers on the same network average closer to 100–150 Mbps, with the gap widening sharply during busy evenings. The practical implication: if you’re parked in a rural campground or off-grid location, this difference rarely matters. If you frequently set up in suburban campgrounds or neighborhoods near major cities, you may notice slower peak-hour performance compared to a neighbor on a Residential plan.
Roam plans fully support pause-and-resume through the Starlink app with no reactivation fee and no cancellation penalty. When you pause, billing stops. When you resume, billing restarts at the current plan price. There is also a Standby Mode option at $10 per month that keeps your account active with minimal speeds (around 0.5 Mbps) and allows emergency messaging — useful for users who want to reactivate instantly without re-registering hardware. You can pause for up to 12 months without losing your account or hardware configuration. Starlink does not prorate months — if you pause after a billing cycle has already started, you are billed for the full current month. Time your pause at the very start of a new billing cycle to avoid paying for unused days.
Two hardware options work with Roam plans. The Standard Kit at $349 includes the Gen 3 or V5 dish (depending on order date and location), a Wi-Fi 6 router, roughly 75 feet of proprietary cable, and a kickstand base mount — this is the full-size dish best suited for RVs with mounting space. The Starlink Mini at $199 (or $249 without a promotional discount) is a compact satellite dish with a built-in Wi-Fi router, measuring about 11.75 by 10.2 inches and weighing 2.4 pounds. It fits in a laptop sleeve. The Mini is the better choice for backpackers, van lifers, kayakers, and anyone carrying the dish by hand. It draws roughly half the power of the Standard dish — important for off-grid battery setups. Neither option includes internet service; hardware is a one-time purchase, plan fees are separate and ongoing.
Your service does not cut off. Once you exceed the 100 GB threshold on the 100 GB plan (or 300 GB on the 300 GB plan), your data continues at reduced speeds rather than stopping entirely. Starlink describes this as best-effort speeds at the end of a cycle — speeds can drop noticeably, but you stay connected. For users who regularly bump into the cap mid-month, the 300 GB tier at $80 is meaningfully cheaper than the $175 Unlimited plan and covers the vast majority of travel workloads: streaming video at 1080p uses roughly 3 GB per hour, a standard remote work day uses 5–10 GB including video calls, and casual browsing uses well under 1 GB per hour. Track your first month’s usage through the Starlink app data monitor before deciding whether to upgrade.
Yes, with limitations. All Roam plans cover territorial waters and inland waterways — lakes, rivers, marinas, and coastal areas. Roam does not cover open ocean. For extended offshore passages, Starlink Maritime is the appropriate plan — it is a separate, higher-cost service designed specifically for offshore use with a dedicated hardware configuration. For boaters who stay in coastal and inland waters (most recreational boaters in the United States), any Roam tier works and the Standard dish or Mini provides reliable service. Starlink’s official page notes that extreme weather conditions are handled reasonably well — the dish is designed to handle sleet, heavy rain, and harsh winds. The main variable on the water is sky obstruction from masts, which requires thoughtful mounting placement.
Three Roam tiers, side by side. The right column is the one that matters most: who each plan actually makes sense for, written plainly.
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Data | Coverage | In-Motion? | Pause? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roam 100 GB | $55/mo | 100 GB high-speed, then reduced | U.S. only | Mini only | ✅ Yes | Occasional travelers, seasonal RVers, weekend campers |
| Roam 300 GB | $80/mo | 300 GB high-speed, then reduced | U.S. only | Mini only | ✅ Yes | Remote workers on the road, moderate streamers, 1–2 person travel households |
| Roam Unlimited | $175/mo | Unlimited (deprioritized) | U.S. + international up to 30 days/trip | Mini only | ✅ Yes | Full-time van or RV lifers, international travelers, families with heavy streaming |
| Residential + Portability | $55–$105/mo + $25 add-on | Unlimited (higher priority than Roam) | Within your region | ❌ No | Limited | Homeowners who travel occasionally and want better speeds at home |
| Standby Mode | $10/mo | ~0.5 Mbps minimal | U.S. | ❌ No | N/A | Keeping account active during off-season without full plan cost |
The figures on this page reflect verified U.S. pricing as of the most recent available data at the time of writing. Starlink has restructured its plan lineup multiple times — the 300 GB Roam tier launched in May of this year; the Global Roam unlimited international plan was discontinued in August. Always verify current pricing and plan availability at starlink.com/roam before making a purchase decision. Plan names, data thresholds, and international travel rules in particular have been revised repeatedly.
The dish you choose shapes your entire Roam experience more than the plan tier. Both work with all Roam plans. The right one depends on how you travel.
The Standard Kit ships with the full-size Starlink dish (Gen 3 in most U.S. orders, or the newer V5 in select zones shipping since July of this year), a separate Wi-Fi 6 router, approximately 75 feet of proprietary cable, and a kickstand base mount. The dish needs a clear view of the sky and is not designed to operate while a vehicle is moving at highway speeds — it detects motion and shuts down. For RVs with roof mounting space, a permanent pole mount or quick-release roof bracket keeps the dish in position when parked and stowed for transit. Peak speeds with the Standard dish in a low-congestion area regularly reach 200–300 Mbps. The V5 dish, if you receive it, is significantly smaller and lighter than earlier generations — verify which version you received before purchasing third-party mounting hardware, since V5 compatibility varies across older accessory lines.
The Mini measures approximately 11.75 by 10.2 inches and weighs 2.4 pounds — about the same footprint as a 13-inch laptop, and slightly lighter than one. It has a built-in Wi-Fi router, a 15-foot detachable USB-C cable, and an adjustable integrated kickstand. No separate router box. No installation crew. Plug it in, point it at the sky, and you are typically online within 10 minutes. It draws roughly 25–40 watts on average versus 75–100 watts for the Standard dish — a meaningful difference for users running off a portable battery or van auxiliary power. Real-world download speeds in testing regularly hit 100–150 Mbps from a remote campsite, which is more than enough for video calls, streaming, and remote work. The Mini is available at starlink.com and at retail locations including Best Buy and Home Depot. The $199 price point applies with promotional pricing current at this writing — verify before purchasing, as the standard price is $249.
Starlink markets the Mini as compatible with in-motion use on Roam plans. In practice, in-motion performance depends on how fast you are moving and how clear the sky view is from a moving vehicle. At highway speeds, the smaller antenna array of the Mini yields less consistent signal than the Flat HP dish built specifically for in-motion use. The Flat HP dish at $2,500 is the correct hardware if driving connectivity is a primary requirement — not the Mini, and definitely not the Standard dish. Most RV users choose a practical combination: Standard or Mini dish for campsite use, a cellular hotspot for driving legs. That pairing covers virtually all connectivity scenarios for land travel.
The single most common Starlink question from people who have both a home address and a desire to travel: do I need Roam, or can I add portability to my Residential plan? The answer depends entirely on your travel pattern.
If you have a permanent home address where you use Starlink most of the time, and you want the option to bring the dish to a cabin, vacation rental, or campsite a few times per year, the Residential plan with the $25/month Portability add-on is the smarter financial choice. You get higher network priority (Residential users are served before Roam users during congestion), unlimited data, and you pay less per month than Roam Unlimited. A Residential 100 plan at $55 plus the $25 Portability add-on is $80/month with higher data priority — the same price as Roam 300 GB but with better priority and no data cap. The Portability add-on allows use at locations other than your registered address within your region. It does not support in-motion use. For people who occasionally travel and primarily live in one place, this is usually the right answer.
Roam makes sense when you are genuinely mobile — living in an RV or van full-time, spending more months on the road than at a fixed address, or traveling between locations frequently enough that there is no meaningful “home” for the service. Roam’s pause-and-resume flexibility is valuable for seasonal travelers who RV spring through fall and hibernate for winter — you can pause billing during the months you are not traveling rather than paying for idle service. If you RV for six months a year, Roam at $55/month paid only for those six months costs $330 for the season — versus $80/month for 12 months ($960) with a Residential + Portability plan. The math shifts dramatically in Roam’s favor for anyone who genuinely pauses for several months per year. Roam Unlimited at $175/month is for full-timers and heavy users only — if you are always moving and use the internet heavily, it earns its price.
Roam Unlimited at $175/month is your plan. You need location flexibility across all 50 states without violating service terms, you cannot use a Residential plan without a permanent address, and if you use the internet for work or entertainment daily, 100 GB or even 300 GB runs out quickly. Full-time RVers who work remotely typically use 200–600 GB per month across video calls, cloud file syncing, and evening streaming. The Standard dish at $349 mounted on the roof is the better hardware choice than the Mini for an RV with dedicated mounting space — you get higher peak speeds and a stronger signal. Pair it with a cellular hotspot from T-Mobile or Verizon for the driving legs, and you have coverage for every scenario.
You probably do not need Roam at all — or you need Roam 100 GB with the pause strategy. If your weekend camping spots have any cellular coverage, your phone’s hotspot is likely all you need. If you regularly camp in areas where cellular fails and you want reliable broadband at the site, Roam 100 GB at $55/month makes sense, but consider pausing it in the months you are not actively camping. A simpler approach: add the $25/month Portability add-on to a Residential plan during the months you are traveling, then remove it when you are home. You keep the higher-priority data from Residential and only pay the add-on during active travel months. If you do not already have a Residential Starlink plan, the Mini hardware plus Roam 100 GB is the lowest-cost entry point for intermittent camping use.
Start with Roam 300 GB at $80/month and monitor your usage for the first two billing cycles through the Starlink app data tracker. A standard remote work day — continuous cloud syncing, 4–6 hours of video calls, light background browsing — typically uses 8–15 GB. At 10 GB per workday, 22 workdays per month puts you at 220 GB, well within the 300 GB cap with room to spare for personal streaming in the evenings. If you routinely exceed 300 GB, upgrade to Unlimited. If you stay comfortably under 200 GB, drop back to 100 GB. Give the 300 GB plan two months before making a final call — usage patterns vary significantly based on video call platform, streaming quality settings, and whether your work involves large file transfers.
Any Roam tier works for coastal and inland waterway use — this is explicitly covered under all three Roam plans. Your choice of tier depends on data usage, not coverage. The Standard dish is the more common choice for boats because it provides stronger signal and higher peak speeds, but it requires thoughtful mounting to avoid obstruction from masts and rigging. For open-ocean passages beyond territorial waters, Roam does not apply — you need Starlink Maritime, which is a separate, higher-cost product with dedicated offshore coverage. If your boating is coastal (the vast majority of recreational boating in the U.S.), Roam covers you. Verify your typical usage against the 100 GB or 300 GB caps before committing to Unlimited.
This is a situation where Roam’s pause feature works exceptionally well financially. If you are at the cabin for four months a year, pay for four months and pause for eight. At $55/month for four months, your annual satellite internet cost is $220 — versus $660 for 12 months. The Standby Mode option at $10/month during the off-season is worth considering if you want to be able to reactivate service remotely or instantly without re-registering hardware. If your cabin has any structure for mounting the dish and you want maximum speeds during your visits, the Standard dish at $349 outperforms the Mini in fixed-location use. If you are carrying the dish in the car and setting it up on arrival, the Mini’s portability advantage is significant.
The cleanest solution for snowbirds is one Starlink account with a Roam plan, used at both locations rather than maintaining two separate accounts. Roam 100 GB at $55/month covers the usage of most retirees — light email, video calls with family, streaming television in the evenings, and general web browsing typically uses 50–80 GB per month. If you have a Residential plan at your primary home and want to bring the same dish to your winter destination, the $25/month Portability add-on added during your winter months and removed when you return is the most cost-effective approach — you get better priority data than Roam and only pay the add-on during the months you need it. For snowbirds who also travel internationally for extended periods, Roam Unlimited is the only tier that includes foreign use — but verify the 30-day-per-trip limit aligns with your travel style.
Starlink does not prorate monthly fees. If you pause mid-cycle, you are billed for the complete current month. To avoid paying for time you will not use, identify the exact day your billing cycle renews (visible in the Starlink app under Billing), and pause on that day or the day before. When you resume in the spring or after a trip, the same rule applies — resuming on day 3 of a cycle bills you for the full month regardless. Treat the billing cycle date as the hinge point of all plan changes, pauses, and upgrades, and you will never pay for service you are not using.
When Starlink Roam underperforms at a campsite, the culprit is almost always trees, rooflines, or masts partially blocking the sky — not the plan tier or network congestion. The dish needs an unobstructed view of a large portion of the sky above the horizon. Before assuming a campsite has poor coverage, use the Starlink app’s obstruction checker (point the phone at the sky to scan for blockages) and try repositioning the dish 10–15 feet in a different direction. A five-foot shift from under a tree canopy to an open patch often doubles effective throughput. If you are at an RV park and other Starlink users nearby have strong signal, an obstruction at your specific site is almost certainly the issue.
The Starlink app includes a data usage monitor that shows how much of your monthly high-speed allotment you have used and how much of your billing cycle remains. For Roam 100 GB users, a single long evening of 4K streaming can consume 15–20 GB. If you check usage weekly and you are burning through data faster than expected, you can temporarily lower streaming quality settings (Netflix, YouTube, and most platforms let you cap at 1080p or lower) to stretch the remaining data through the rest of the cycle. There is no notification when you hit the cap — speeds simply reduce. Proactive monitoring avoids the surprise of a slow final week of the month.
Starlink Roam excels at remote campsite connectivity — it works where no cellular tower exists. But while the vehicle is moving between destinations, the standard dish is offline. A cellular hotspot from T-Mobile or Verizon fills that gap for navigation, music, podcast downloads, and passenger entertainment during transit. The combination runs $200–$230 per month total for serious full-time travelers but provides coverage that neither service alone can match. For seasonal travelers on a budget, a prepaid cellular hotspot used only during driving legs keeps costs manageable — download what you need to watch offline while parked on Starlink, use cellular only for the road.
If you plan to use Roam Unlimited internationally, identity verification — a government-issued ID photo plus a selfie submitted through the Starlink app — must be completed before you activate international use. This is not something you can do at a border crossing or on arrival at a foreign marina. Complete verification well before your departure date so there is no delay in activating coverage when you arrive. The 30-day-per-trip limit (updated from the previous 60-day allowance as of July of this year) resets between distinct trips — if you return to the U.S. before heading out again, the counter resets for the next international leg. Verify the specific country you are traveling to is on Starlink’s current authorized list before relying on coverage — regulatory approvals vary and can change.
This guide is for informational purposes only and reflects Starlink plan details as available at the time of writing. Starlink pricing, plan names, data thresholds, international coverage terms, and hardware availability are subject to change by SpaceX without advance notice. Always verify current plan details, pricing, and availability directly at starlink.com before making a purchase decision. Hardware prices and promotional discounts noted here may not be available at the time you read this. Nothing in this guide constitutes a warranty, guarantee, or endorsement of Starlink service or SpaceX. Speeds and performance described reflect publicly available independent testing data and may differ from your actual experience based on location, network congestion, hardware configuration, and obstructions.