Use case · Week 2

Starlink / satellite internet backup in a blackout

When the grid dies but the sky is clear, size a station for the dish + PoE / router stack — higher continuous watts than a cable modem. Cable / fibre Wi‑Fi only: Wi‑Fi / modem backup. Full desk day: WFH outage.

Why Starlink is hungrier than home Wi‑Fi

  • Dish + router together. Public owner measurements and Starlink kit generations vary — planning bands often land roughly ~40–100 W combined depending on Gen, heaters, and activity. Measure yours with a watt meter.
  • Cold / snow / rain may raise draw when dish heaters or higher RF duty kick in — winter Wh budgets should be fatter.
  • DC / PoE paths exist on some kits and third-party setups; many users still use the OEM AC brick into a pure-sine station.
  • Obstructions & sky view still matter — a full battery cannot invent satellites through trees.

Specs below from manufacturer pages (checked Oct 2026). Runtime figures are estimates — not Starlink performance guarantees.

Wh math (estimates)

Hours ≈ (rated Wh × 0.85) ÷ average dish+router watts.

Light / efficient ~50 W

~4.8–34 h

286 Wh ≈ 4.8 h · 1,024 Wh ≈ 17 h · 2,048 Wh ≈ 34 h (estimates)

Typical planning ~75 W

~3–23 h

286 Wh ≈ 3.2 h · 1,024 Wh ≈ 11.5 h — overnight needs ~1 kWh class (estimates)

+ Laptop WFH

See WFH page

Add ~45–90 W laptop — stack math on WFH outage.

Comparison: Starlink blackout stations

Filter by outage length. Prefer UPS-class switchover so the kit doesn’t reboot on flickers.

Model Wh · UPS Est. @ ~50–75 W Starlink note Approx. USD
EcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus Short 286 Wh · UPS <10 ms ~3–5 h (est.) Meetings / evening only unless draw is low; expand packs help. ~$180–300
Anker SOLIX C300 288 Wh · 300 W ~3–5 h if under continuous W Measure dish brick — some generations sit near this ceiling. ~$200–280
Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Overnight 1,070 Wh · UPS <20 ms ~11–17 h (est.) Solid overnight Starlink floor for many kits. ~$499–589
BLUETTI Elite 100 V2 1,024 Wh · UPS ≤10 ms ~11–17 h class (est.) Fast switchover for PoE injectors that hate flickers. ~$380–500
Anker SOLIX C1000 Expand 1,056 Wh · UPS <20 ms ~11–17 h · ~2× expanded Add battery when storms + WFH share the box. ~$400–600
EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus 1,024 Wh expandable · UPS <10 ms Overnight solo; multi-day with packs / solar Good rural / RV Starlink house battery path. ~$600–900+
BLUETTI AC200L 2,048 Wh · 2,400 W ~23–34 h class (est.) Multi-day dish+router buffer without expand day one. ~$800–1,100

QuietWatt is independent. Measure your kit’s wall watts. Cross-links: Wi‑Fi / modem backup · WFH outage · RV shore-power loss.

Where to buy (affiliate placeholders)

Tracked affiliate links will replace these placeholders once QuietWatt is enrolled in each program. Until then, use the official product URLs in the table above.

Buy via EcoFlow Buy via BLUETTI Buy via Anker Buy via Jackery Buy via Amazon

Placeholder anchors: #aff-ecoflow, #aff-bluetti, #aff-anker, #aff-jackery, #aff-amazon.

Sources