How To Stow Starlink? Starlink’s dish is designed for portability in case of sudden location shifts. Luckily, it has a stow feature that helps you retract the dish to its original position for easier storage.
After careful research, we’ve discovered you can stow your Starlink dish in three ways. In this guide, we’ll go through these methods and how you can ensure the hardware is safe and sound.
Why Stow Starlink Hardware?
The stow feature on Starlink is an accessibility module that allows the dish to secure a position fit for transportation.
This feature is available to protect the dish as its sensitive panel may get damaged easily during movement.
You need to stow the dish whenever you need to prepare for travel and move with it or when you want to troubleshoot by sending it back to Starlink.
Stowing is essential to know, especially if you’re on the Starlink RV or roaming plan.
Workers installing a dish on the roof
Stowing Starlink With The App
Hand touching the screen of a mobile phone
The most convenient and easiest method to stow the Starlink dish is to use the mobile application available on the App Store/Play Store.
Your phone needs to have the official Starlink application, which should also be connected to Starlink hardware. Follow these steps once the app is connected:
- Open the official Starlink app. Make sure you’re logged in to Starlink.
- Go to the settings page.
- Look for “Stow Starlink” and slide the toggle to the left to activate.
- Once complete, unplug the dish, and you’re set.
Starlink dish vector image
How To Stow With No Starlink App
In case you have connectivity issues during stowing, Starlink has an alternative process that allows you to do it offline.
It’s also an important feature when you need to move the Starlink hardware and it’s broken or not connecting to the internet. Here are steps to help you stow the Starlink hardware offline.
- Unplug the mount from the dish. Do not remove the Starlink cable to keep the power running for stowing.
- Hold the dish by the base and face it to the ground or a flat base. Do not bang or forcefully place it down. Ensure it is gentle enough not to damage the dish.
- After a few minutes, the dish will detect that it’s prompted to stow and start the process immediately.
- Remove the Starlink cable once the stowing process is complete.
Manually Stowing A Broken Starlink Dish
Wrench and gear illustration
As you can see, stowing a Starlink dish is fairly straightforward, but if you have damaged hardware, the process goes sideways.
Luckily, we have found ways to stow without further damaging the dish. So, to stow the malfunctioning Starlink dish, you need to do the following:
- Remove the Starlink mount from the dish. Unplug the cable and ensure there is no power coming to the dish.
- Place the dish facing down on a ground, table, or flat surface free of massive debris. We do this to prevent any destruction to the outer surface.
- Steadily push the Starlink dish mast to put it in a stow position.
Please note that this method goes against Starlink’s standard stowing recommendations and you must be careful while at it.
Though it does not seem harmful on already broken hardware, we don’t recommend this method unless all others have failed.
Take Care Of Starlink Dish After Stowing
Even after stowing, the rectangular dish still has its mast attached, making it delicate to maintain.
If you plan to move the dish to a distant place, ensure it is on the official box. That’s because it has the right corners to fit the entire dish.
Also, ensure you check on the dish’s external resilience ratings from water and dust resistance, operating temperatures, and the general unstowed height of the dish.
For instance, an IP54 rating means that the outer parts of the dish are sealed enough not to let in dust and splashing particles. So it can withstand rainy conditions without internal damage.
However, prolonged exposure to such conditions will likely cause corrosion. The dish is still sturdy enough to operate within -22F to 122F.
Conclusion
We have tried several ways to stow the Starlink dish and hope at least one will help.
If you still find it hard to activate stowing, contact the Starlink customer service staff to see if they can assist.
Otherwise, we will update you if there is a new way to start the stowing process on your Starlink dish.