Starlink No Longer Offers Standard Dish With Roam Plans – Performance Dish Now an Option for Existing Users

Starlink has made a surprising change to its ordering flow and is no longer offering the Standard Dish as a purchase option with Roam packages.

If you choose to start a new Roam subscription and need to purchase hardware, new users are now only offered the Mini Dish for $199. Existing users who are logged into their account may also see the Performance Dish available for $1,999.

The Standard Dish, which was previously available to purchase outright for $349 with Roam service, is no longer listed as an option when ordering directly from Starlink.

This change appears to impact new hardware purchases through Starlink’s ordering flow. Existing customers who already own a Standard Dish and are using it on Roam service do not appear to be affected.

Along with our recent story, Starlink Implements $10 Rental Fee For Residential Plans – New Customers No Longer Own Their Dish, this means it has become much harder to purchase a Standard Dish outright directly from Starlink.

However, customers may still be able to purchase the Standard Dish from third-party retailers and then activate it with either Roam or Residential service.

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The Mini Dish Becomes The Main Roam Option

The Mini dish is a great option for many users choosing a Roam service plan, especially those who want the smallest, lowest power usage and most portable Starlink setup. But there are still reasons some users may prefer the larger Standard Dish.

One key reason is flexibility.

When purchased outright, the Standard dish has traditionally given users the ability to move between Residential and Roam plans. This can be especially useful for part-time travelers who spend part of the year at a fixed location and part of the year on the road.

The Mini dish does not offer that same level of plan flexibility. In most places in the US, the Mini dish is limited to Roam service.

Residential users who rent their hardware are also restricted and cannot simply switch that rented hardware to Roam or Standby service unless Starlink allows them to purchase the dish outright first.

In the past, purchasing the Standard dish with a Roam plan meant you owned the hardware outright and had the flexibility to switch between compatible plans as needed. With this new ordering flow, that option has become harder to obtain directly from Starlink.

Performance Dish Now Offered on Roam

The Starlink Performance dish is Starlink's flagship hardware and offers some impressive capabilities, but it also comes at a steep price of $1,999.

The Performance dish can benefit users who are in more challenging environments or who need the extra capabilities it offers, such as a wider field of view and higher snow-melt performance.

It can be particularly useful in marine environments, where Starlink’s higher-end hardware is often the preferred or default choice due to the need for more robust performance in motion, harsher weather exposure, and less forgiving installation conditions.

Previously, purchasing the Performance dish generally required choosing one of Starlink's Priority plans. That often meant setting up a business-based account, which could limit access to some consumer plan choices in the future.

Now, it appears that existing Starlink users who are logged into their account and order a new Roam plan may have the option to select the Performance dish. This means existing customers can potentially purchase Starlink's higher-end hardware while remaining on a consumer-based account.

For users who want the flagship dish while still maintaining access to consumer plan options, this is a notable change. It should provide more flexibility for those who want to move between Roam, Residential, and Priority plans as their needs change.

Unfortunately, the Performance dish does not appear to be offered to new users who do not already have an existing Starlink account. New users signing up for Roam service currently are only offered the Mini dish.

Conclusion

The Mini dish has become a favorite for many nomadic users, and for those who are happy using Mini hardware on Roam service, this change may not matter much.

But there are still use cases where someone may prefer the Standard Dish instead, especially if they want to own their hardware outright and maintain the flexibility to use either Residential or Roam service.

For those users, purchasing the Standard dish from a third-party retailer is likely the best path if they want to continue owning the hardware outright.

For existing users who want Starlink's flagship Performance hardware, the option to purchase outright on Roam is a welcome surprise. Existing users can now purchase the Performance dish with a Roam plan on a consumer-based account instead of being pushed into a Priority plan or business account.

That gives existing customers more flexibility to choose higher-end hardware while still having access to a wider range of plan options.

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