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bizzyb | 2 years ago

Using starlink at mcmurdo station in Antarctica. The IP shows as Sydney, Australia.

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rootsudo|2 years ago

I would love to learn more about your day to day in Antarctica! Did Starlink really change everything for connectivity there? Do most people stay inside?

bizzyb|2 years ago

Starlink was certainly a game changer for life around here. McMurdo is essentially a small town so many different jobs and routines to make everything go. Some stay inside all the time, some have to work outside a lot.

https://brr.fyi/ is a really good blog from a person nearing the end of a year long deployment who writes much more eloquently than I ever could if you want to read more.

Antarctica: A Year on Ice is an enjoyable film documentary from ~10 years ago.

A Big Dead Place by Nicholas Johnson is also worth a read from the early 2000s.

bart__|2 years ago

Probably the coolest answer in this thread! Did Antarctica have any other option for internet, next to the previous gen satellites?

bizzyb|2 years ago

Here at McMurdo we've had 24/7 satellite internet for at least as long as I've been coming down (~10 years). Think roughly a ~30mbps connection shared with ~1000 people with business and science bandwidth prioritized over personal browsing. So starlink has been a game changer for sure.

At South Pole, I believe they don't yet have access to starlink. They also don't have 24 hour coverage for the few internet satellites they do get.

I don't work in IT so don't have direct access to more specific information, and obviously I can't speak for the many other stations scattered throughout the continent.

jonathantf2|2 years ago

While analysing my web traffic I’ve seen 5 sessions from an IP registered to Starlink in Antarctica specifically