New customers can get Starlink hardware for free but there’s a catch

By Dylan Crismale

Last updated 04 April 2025

Starlink will give new customers their hardware for free in select areas, but naturally, there's a catch. You'll need to sign up for its Residential plan for a full 12 months.

The Residential plan costs $139 per month, while the standard Starlink Kit - which includes a modem and satellite dish - would normally set you back $549. You'll also need to pay $34 for standard shipping and handling.

View Starlink's Residential plans

Starlink will still honour its 30-day trial for the hardware. If you change your mind within that trial period, you can return the hardware. Once the trial ends, your service commitment will end 12 months from your activation.

Starlink will charge a $549 change fee if you do any of the following during that 12-month period:

Change your service address
Cancel the service
Fail to pay your bill on time
Attempt to transfer your kit to another user
Cancel your service during the trial period, but fail to return the kit

The change fee will be reduced on a pro-rated basis over the 12-month period.

There's no end date listed on this Starlink offer.

Starlink's Residential plan promises download speeds up to 270Mbps and upload speeds up to 40Mbps with latency between 25 and 80ms.

The ACCC's latest Measuring Broadband Australia Report found Starlink's average download speeds came in at 192Mbps at all hours and 165.5Mbps during peak hours (7pm to 11pm, weeknights). Starlink's upload speeds averaged at 28.6Mbps during non-peak hours and 27.8Mbps during peak hours.

These numbers far outperformed Satellite NBN.

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