All Tesla vehicles are equipped with eSIM or built-in SIM cards that provide 4G/5G connectivity for the car. This Tesla SIM works only on official markets and is useless in “gray” areas. There is no connectivity at all in non-official regions. Installing a local SIM card can solve the connectivity issue. Previously, I explained how to replace the LTE modem…
Category: Networking
Starlink terminal revision 4: overview and tests
Revision 4 is the new version of the Starlink user terminal. As of February 2024, the new version is only available in the US. I decided to test the new hardware and compare it to the well-known REV3 (a.k.a. Gen2/V2 or “Standard Actuated”).
How to power Starlink terminal from 12V without PoE injector and DC/DC converters
Today it has become popular to convert rectangular Starlink terminals into a flat “automotive” version. There are tons of projects like this one or this. People cut the terminal case and pack it in a custom flat housing. Typical usage: RV. An essential part of such modifications is the change of the power scheme.
Reworking Gen2 Starlink router from SPX connector to 8P8C (RJ45)
Everyone would agree that the proprietary SPX connector isn’t the best solution. Sometimes it fails, especially when frequently connecting and disconnecting. And there is no easy way to repair or replace this connector. In this article, I would like to show a method of reworking the Starlink Gen2 router to RJ45 (it’s 8PC, but…).
How to add Ethernet port to the Gen 2 Starlink router
Many people are asking about Ethernet on the Gen2 Starlink router. My article about the Ethernet adapter is also quite popular. Let’s see how we can bring this port back to the router.
Initial analysis of the Starlink router gen2
It was fun to do reverse engineering of the original Starlink router. The article was also well received. Sure, it would be great to do the same thing with the new Starlink router gen2. It’s not easy to get new hardware, but why should this stop the fun?
Reverse engineering of the Starlink Ethernet adapter
The new generation of the Starlink terminal was released at the end of 2021. The Dishy antenna is square now, and a completely redesigned indoor unit combines a WiFi router and power supply. The new design should be more cost-effective, so there is no AUX Ethernet port on the router, only WiFi. Later SpaceX released an official Ethernet adapter that…
Analysis and reverse-engineering of the original Starlink router
While waiting for my Dishy, I decided to find and buy the Starlink router separately. Sure, it might be just a WiFi router, but it was very curious what’s inside. Spoiler: there are some interesting implementation details. Lucky enough, I found the router on eBay. It’s the first generation of the router. Currently, it’s impossible to buy (separately) the second…
RS-485 practice and theory
I just built two RS-485 adapters (version 2) and decided to write a little note about the RS-485 bus (and differential line) theory, plus perform some testing of the devices. This material mostly interesting for newbies. At the end of this article, you can find a funny way to test these devices 🙂
Printing sk_buff data
Sometimes when working with network packets inside the Linux kernel, it might be very useful to print packet contents to see what is actually going on. Here I’m describing how to print packet from sk_buff structure and analyze this data with Wireshark. In this short note, I will not describe capturing the packets inside the kernel but only show how…