A new broadband trend has quietly entered the market. Both Starlink and T-Mobile are advertising broadband that can be used practically anywhere and are aiming new products at campers, hikers, and others that go to remote locations. According to T-Mobile, this is a huge market, with 15 million households taking RV trips yearly and 59 million people camping. T-Mobile says that 40% of these folks would like to be able to do some work while camping.

Starlink recently announced its new Starlink Mini dish and a cheaper monthly plan that will support using data anywhere. The Starlink Mini dish is 10.2 by 11.75 inches and 1.45 inches thick. It’s touted as fitting in a backpack. The dish includes an Ethernet port and integrated WiFi. The dish kit includes a kickstand and pipe adapter to set up the receiver, as well as a plug-in power supply and a 49-foot DC power cable. The Mini kit is priced at $599 plus a $20 shipping charge.

Users of the Mini can buy a 50-gigabyte monthly plan for $50 per month, with excess data charged at $2 per gigabyte. That overage fee could add up in a hurry. Unlimited data is priced at $150 per month, the same as the normal RV plan.

Early adopters have reported on Reddit forums that speeds are decent, with download speeds as fast as 90 Mbps reported. However, Starlink also issued a warning for Mini users in the Starlink mobile terms of service: “Mobile data is designed for low demand, portable, land-based use, such as camping or nomadic living. Mobile data that is assigned to Mobile users is always deprioritized as compared to other Starlink Service Plans, resulting in degraded Service and slower speeds in congested areas and during peak hours. Stated speeds and uninterrupted use of the Service are not guaranteed and are highly dependent on geographical areas. Mobile data is not available on the open seas.”

This is an interesting plan aimed at hikers and camper who want to use broadband while off the beaten path. However, a lot of other folks are going to find this interesting. For example, this is attractive pricing for folks who are using the Starlink $150 per month plan for campers and RVs as long as they aren’t big data users. The smaller portable receiver would allow carrying broadband away from the RV or camper.

Anybody who uses broadband in any serious way will find the 50 GB data cap to be extremely restrictive. This is not a broadband product that will support much streaming. This restriction should remind us of rural folks who have been using satellite or hot spot plans for years with similar severe restrictions.

T-Mobile also introduced a plan for campers at the end of April called the Away plan. It seems like T-Mobile is determined to not let this compete with their normal broadband products and has priced it at $165 per month for unlimited data or $115 per month to buy 200 gigabytes of data. One of the limitations on the plan is that it limits video to 1080p.

The plan has caused consternation among T-Mobile customers since many have been taking their home FWA receiver with them when they travel in a camper or RV. The fear is that the FWA product, priced at $100 less per month, will be limited for use only at the home address—meaning a camper will see a $100 monthly price increase. The other downside of the product is that it will only work in areas with cellular coverage.