Your Starlink Gen 3 kit can be up and running in well under an hour. Most of the work is not technical at all, it is choosing the right spot. Here is the full process, in order, along with the mistakes that cause most support calls.

What comes in the box

Your Gen 3 kit includes the dish, the Gen 3 WiFi router, a 50 ft (15 m) dish cable, an AC power cable, and the basic kickstand base. That base is designed for a temporary ground or balcony placement. If you are mounting to a roof, wall, or pole, you will need a separate mount.

Step 1: Find a clear view of the sky

This matters more than anything else you will do.

Starlink needs an unobstructed view of the sky. A single tree branch or roofline clipping the dish's field of view will cause dropouts that look random but are not. Before you mount anything:

• Open the Starlink app and use the built-in Check for Obstructions tool
• Hold your phone at the height and position where the dish will sit
• Pan slowly across the whole sky as the app instructs
• Aim for zero obstructions, and treat anything above 5% as worth relocating

North-facing sky matters most for customers in the northern hemisphere, so prioritise a clear view in that direction.

Step 2: Place or mount the dish

For a first test, set the dish on the included kickstand on open ground or a balcony and confirm you get a stable connection before you commit to drilling anything.

Once you are confident in the location, pick a permanent mount:

• Pole mounts give the most height and the best chance of clearing trees
• Ridgeline and roof mounts suit most homes and avoid penetrating the roof deck
• Wall mounts work well for single-storey homes with open sky
• Pivot mounts are best for flat roofs

Mount the dish level. The dish aims itself by tilting after power-on, so it does not need to be pointed manually, but it does need a stable, level starting point.

Browse our Starlink Mounts collection for the right fit.

Step 3: Route the cable

Run the dish cable from the dish to where the router will live. A few things that save trouble later:

• Leave a drip loop near any entry point so water runs off rather than following the cable inside
• Do not kink or sharply bend the cable, it carries both power and data
• Use exterior-grade clips rather than staples
• Keep the cable run as short as practical, but never cut or splice it

The Gen 3 cable is proprietary. If 50 ft is not enough, use a genuine Starlink extension rather than a generic Ethernet cable. See our Starlink Cables collection.

Step 4: Connect and power on

Plug the dish cable into the router, then plug the router into AC power. The dish will tilt and begin searching. Expect 5 to 15 minutes for the first connection while it downloads updates and finds satellites.

Step 5: Set up WiFi in the app

Open the Starlink app, connect to the default STARLINK network, and follow the prompts to set your network name and password. Choose a strong password. Your connection is your household's front door.

Step 6: Test and verify

Run a speed test in the app, then re-run the obstruction check now that the dish is in its final position. Let it gather data for 12 to 24 hours. The app will report any obstructions it detected over that window, which is far more reliable than a single scan.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Mounting first, checking obstructions second. Always scan first.
• Placing the dish under eaves or below a roofline. It needs sky, not shelter.
• Coiling excess cable tightly. Leave gentle loops instead.
• Skipping the drip loop. This is the most common cause of water intrusion.
• Assuming a higher mount is always better. Height only helps if it clears an actual obstruction, and it adds wind load and install complexity.

Protecting your equipment

Your dish lives outdoors in whatever weather arrives. A weatherproof antenna cover shields the housing from UV, grit, and ice without interfering with the signal, and it keeps the unit looking new. Worth considering in coastal, high-UV, or heavy-snow regions.

Need parts?

We stock mounts, cables, power solutions, and accessories for Gen 3 and Mini.