Canadian businesses outside fibre footprint were stuck with $300-500/month T1 lines, Xplore 700ms satellite, or no internet at all. Starlink changed that. Mining camps, construction sites, fishing lodges, remote retail, cafes in cottage country, all now run on Starlink Residential or Performance.
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Order Starlink — 1 month free →The right plan for a business
- Small business (cafe, lodge, restaurant, B&B, 10-30 users): Residential Unlimited at $115/month
- Mid-size business (hotel, larger lodge, 30-100 users): Performance ($3,200) at Residential Unlimited subscription
- Large operation (200+ users): Performance + multiple subscriptions, or Business tier (negotiate with Starlink directly)
- Mobile / construction site: Roam Unlimited ($200/month) with Mini dish
Real Canadian business setups
Lodge / outdoor outfitter
A typical Canadian fishing/hunting lodge has 8-15 guest cabins, a main lodge, and a staff dorm. Starlink Residential Unlimited ($115/month) + Starlink Mesh nodes ($150 each) distributes Wi-Fi to all cabins. Replaces $400/month satellite or barely-working cellular.
Cottage country cafe / restaurant
Muskoka/Laurentides/Eastern Townships cafes need internet for POS (Square, Lightspeed), guest Wi-Fi, music streaming, online ordering, security cameras. Residential 100 ($75/mo) handles small cafes with 1-2 cash registers. Residential Unlimited ($115/mo) handles bigger restaurants.
Construction site
Remote build sites (cottages, energy infrastructure, mining exploration camps) need internet for trailer office, time tracking, daily reports, video calls with HQ. Mini dish + Roam Unlimited ($200/mo) + portable cellular hotspot backup. Total $200/month vs $1,500/month T1 satellite.
Mining camp
Active mining camps in NWT, NU, Northern BC use Starlink Performance ($3,200) + Residential Unlimited subscription for 50-200 workers. Mesh distribution covers worker dorms. Wallboard for site safety video conferencing and family contact. Replaces $5,000-15,000/month geostationary satellite contracts.
Rural medical clinic / pharmacy
Some rural Canadian clinics use Starlink for OSCAR / Telus Health EMR access, telemedicine video calls, and prescription transmission. Residential Unlimited ($115/mo) + UPS for the router during Hydro outages.
Rural school / community centre
One-room schools in NWT, Yukon, remote BC use Starlink for distance learning, classroom video streaming, and provincial reporting systems. Often funded through Indigenous Services Canada or provincial education ministries.
ROI for a typical Canadian small business
| Year 1 cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Dish (Residential Unlimited) | $349 once |
| Service 12 months | $1,380 |
| Mesh nodes (2-3) | $300-450 |
| Surge protector + UPS | $150 |
| Installation labour | $0-500 |
| Year 1 total | $2,179-2,829 |
| Year 2+ | $1,380/year |
Compare to legacy options:
- Geostationary satellite (Xplore, Telesat): $200-500/month = $2,400-6,000/year, plus 700ms latency that makes video calls impossible
- Bell rural DSL (where available): $100-150/month = $1,200-1,800/year for 10 Mbps
- Cellular hotspot bonded (Cradlepoint + multiple SIMs): $200-400/month = $2,400-4,800/year, limited by tower distance
Starlink wins on cost AND on capability. Break-even is immediate.
Business considerations
- Tax deductible as a business expense (full deduction for 100% business use)
- No contract — but consider Roam Unlimited for sites you might close seasonally
- SLA — Starlink doesn’t offer formal SLAs at Residential tier. For mission-critical businesses, plan cellular backup.
- Static IP — Starlink doesn’t offer public static IP. Use a VPN service (Tailscale, OpenVPN) if you need remote access to on-site systems.
- Custom port forwarding — possible via Bypass Mode + your own router
Business FAQ
Can I get a business-grade SLA from Starlink?
Not at the standard Residential tier. Starlink Business and Priority tiers offer better guarantees and higher uptime priority, but no formal SLA matching Bell Business fibre.
Will Starlink work for my Square or Lightspeed POS?
Yes. Latency 25-50 ms is well within POS requirements. Many Canadian rural cafes and lodges use this setup.
Can I use Starlink for VoIP business phones?
Yes. Latency is well within VoIP tolerance. Most major VoIP providers (RingCentral, 8×8, Vonage, GoToConnect) work fine over Starlink.
Should I get the Performance dish?
Only if you have 100+ concurrent users. A Standard Gen 3 dish handles 30-50 concurrent users perfectly. Performance is overkill for most small businesses.
*1 month of free Starlink service (equal to your plan) automatically credited 30 days after activation when you order through our official referral link RC-DF-7650727-61403-46. Official SpaceX program. No extra cost for you: same price as starlink.com. FastSat.ca also receives a free month, which funds the site.