If you live in rural South Texas, you’ve probably seen the Starlink ads. A small dish, satellite internet beamed from space, no cable required. It sounds like the answer to every rural internet problem. But after serving hundreds of customers across Medina, Atascosa, and Frio counties — and hearing from dozens of people who switched from Starlink to STI — we can give you an honest, ground-level comparison. Not a marketing pitch. Just what we see every week.

The Price Difference

Starlink sells three residential plans: $55/month for 100 Mbps, $85/month for 200 Mbps, and $130/month for Residential Max, which advertises up to 400+ Mbps. Hardware is $0 upfront with a $0/month kit fee, and professional installation is free.

South Texas Internet’s Velocity 400 plan is 400 Mbps for $65/month, with no setup fee and no contract. Compared with Starlink’s comparable plan, that’s $65/month less — $780/year less than Starlink’s 400 Mbps plan.

Starlink's $55 plan caps downloads at 100 Mbps. STI is 400 Mbps for $10 more.

Starlink pricing checked September 2026 at a Hondo, TX address; prices vary by location.

For a family on a fixed income, a ranch operator watching expenses, or anyone who just moved to the area and has other startup costs, that gap is real money.

Speed: What the Ads Say vs. What Customers Get

Satellite capacity is shared, so the speed you see depends on how many other users are on the network at the same time. In Q4 2025, only 45% of U.S. Starlink users saw median speeds of 100 Mbps down / 20 Mbps up (Ookla).

STI’s Velocity 400 plan delivers 400 Mbps download and 25 Mbps upload from our local towers. That 25 Mbps upload matters more than most people realize. Video calls, cloud backups, remote work, uploading files — all of that runs on upload speed.

Ground-Based Service, Built for South Texas

Our Air Fiber equipment uses towers located right here in South Texas. The signal travels a few miles from the tower to a receiver on your home, and our towers are built for South Texas weather. One of our long-term customers, Kerry Kinsey, has been with us for over five years in an area she describes as “not signal friendly.” Her word for our service: exceptional.

Support When Something Goes Wrong

Starlink outages aren’t common, but when they happen, your support options are limited. You submit a ticket through the app and wait for a response from a company headquartered far from South Texas. There’s no local technician to dispatch. There’s no one to call.

When something goes wrong with STI, you call (830) 429-4149. You speak to someone who lives and works in South Texas, who knows our towers and your equipment, and who can often get a tech out the same day. Christian Taylor, who switched to STI after years of satellite frustration, described the difference simply: “Now I have no speed or connection problems. A lot cheaper than Starlink.”

That’s not a coincidence. Local infrastructure, local support, local accountability.

Who Should Consider Starlink

We’ll be straight: Starlink is a legitimate option if you’re in an area with no ground-based coverage whatsoever — extremely remote ranchland, far outside our current tower footprint. If there’s no line of sight to any of our towers and no other provider can reach your address, Starlink is a reasonable choice.

But if STI covers your address, the math is simple: 400 Mbps for $65/month, same-day local support, and $780/year less than Starlink’s 400 Mbps plan.

How to Check Your Address

Call us at (830) 429-4149 or check availability online. We’ll confirm whether your address falls within our coverage footprint and what speeds you can expect. Most new customers are live within one business day of confirmation.

If you’re currently on Starlink and wondering whether to switch, we’d encourage you to check. Hundreds of your neighbors already have.