A network for a building fibre doesn't reach.
A multi-storey residential facility with a single ADSL line. Two satellite dishes we installed, thirteen access points. Goal: a stable, low-maintenance network that stays online even if one dish drops.
In a residential facility that only had a 6 Mbit ADSL line, we installed two Starlink dishes and built the network, with each line on its own VLAN: the first serves floors and rooms through thirteen UniFi access points, the second the front office and the basement. The two lines back each other up: if one drops, failover moves its traffic to the other and the building stays online. We completed the setup with phone repeaters on every floor and radio call in every room.
Context
The facility houses residents and staff across several floors, from the basement to the fourth floor. With no fixed line, connectivity goes through satellite. Before we started there was only an ADSL line, 6 Mbit down and 0.8 up, for the whole building. We installed both Starlink dishes and built the network.
The problem
With 6 Mbit down and 0.8 up for a whole building, room Wi-Fi and front-office work couldn't coexist. And two dishes alone don't make a redundant network: you have to decide how to use them. The client wanted the most stable, lowest-maintenance option. With two lines used independently, a dish losing signal leaves part of the building offline: real redundancy means each line can take the other's place.
What we did
- 01
Two VLANs, one per line
The network is split into two VLANs. VLAN A goes out over Starlink 1 and serves the floor and room access points. VLAN B goes out over Starlink 2 and serves the front office and the basement. Normally traffic is split, so the two parts of the building don't compete for the same bandwidth.
- 02
Failover between the lines
If one dish stops responding, its VLAN's traffic moves to the other line with no manual action. When the line is back, each VLAN returns to its own uplink. Satellite latency varies, so the line check relies on lost connectivity rather than a single slow ping.
- 03
Phone and radio call
We completed the setup with phone repeaters on every floor and a radio call system in every room of each floor, so residents and staff can reach each other anywhere in the building.
- 04
Access
A keypad installed for controlled entry.
How it went
The network covers the building from the basement to the fourth floor with two satellite lines on separate VLANs and the access points managed from one controller. If one line drops, the other takes over: residents, staff and front office stay connected.
Tools
FAQ
Is Starlink suitable for a care or hospitality facility?
Yes, where fixed lines don't reach or aren't reliable, as long as redundancy is designed in: two dishes on separate VLANs, with failover from one to the other. Starlink uses CGNAT, so without a plan with a dedicated IP you can't open inbound ports: keep that in mind for cameras and remote access.
Why two VLANs rather than one network on two lines?
With two VLANs each part of the building has its own main line and bandwidth isn't contended, while failover makes sure one line covers the other if it fails. For real-time connections such as calls, a main line with a backup is more stable than constant balancing across two satellite links.
What happens when a dish loses signal?
The traffic of the VLAN tied to that dish moves to the other line. Open connections may take a moment to reconnect, then the network carries on; when the dish is back online, each VLAN returns to its own uplink.