(as of Feb 4, 2023) (As of Oct 1, 2023, many of the following details have changed)
The answer to this question depends on your overall expectations and how much risk you can accept…
- If you need connectivity while in-motion on your boat, get RV Mobile or Maritime
- While a standard non-mobile RV antenna may work in-motion currently, it may not in the future.
- If you need offshore coverage past a few miles off the coast, get Maritime (Mobile Priority)
- While RV plan may work out in the ocean currently, it may not in the future.
- If you need long term use as you travel outside your home country, get Maritime
- While the 2 month limit for the RV plan is ignored for now, it may not be in the future.
So while you can certainly buy a Starlink RV Standard antenna and use it like a Maritime service/antenna, and it will largely work, there’s no guarantee how long it will continue to work outside of the RV plans stated terms, it could be days, weeks, or months, and then bam, without notice, the rules start being enforced.
So you need to judge the risk (the loss of the value and cost of the hardware, the loss of connectivity when you need it most, etc) and make a decision that you are comfortable with. Consider what you would do if Starlink is all you have on board, out on a long passage or in a remote area, and it suddenly stops working. You may want some sort of alternative as a backup.
If sticking with an RV plan vs. the Maritime plan, if you can afford the mobile antenna and can handle the 100 watts-ish consumption, the In-motion/Mobile (Flat HP) antenna is better than the standard (portable) antenna; it’s better while at anchor, it’s better underway, it has a wider field of view to better handle obstructions, it flat mounts without hacking it, it doesn’t have motors to be hacked out, and it officially supports inmotion use.
Sea-Tech Systems has a a whole suite of Starlink accessories and value add solutions; check them out here!