How Long Will a UPS Run Starlink?

Starlink's help center lists the Standard 4 and Standard 4 X kits at an average of 75 to 100 W and the Mini at 20 to 40 W, both measured at the AC input and both including the router, power supply and cables. A 1500 VA UPS with two 12 V 9 Ah batteries carries the Standard for roughly an hour and the Mini for roughly two and a half to four.

What each Starlink kit draws, from Starlink

Size from the help center figures, because they state what is included: "The Starlink specs below include the Starlink, WiFi router, power supply, and cables," and "the specs are based on AC input power averages." That is exactly what a UPS outlet supplies.

Starlink adds that "power utilization can vary depending on the temperature, location, and utilization of the Starlink." Treat the top of each range as your sizing figure. Better still, put a plug-in meter between the wall and the Starlink power supply for a day (how to measure power draw).

The amp figure printed on the Standard power supply ("100-240V ~ 2.5A 50 - 60 Hz") is an input rating, not draw. At 120 V it works out to 300 VA, three times the top of the average range. The Mini's supply is rated 1.6 A. Size runtime from the watt averages, and read the UPS watt rating rather than its VA figure (VA vs watts explains the difference). Any UPS rated 300 W or more covers every kit except Performance with headroom.

The "50 to 75 W" figure: right number, wrong dish

Many pages put "Gen 3" Starlink at 50 to 75 W on average. That range is real, but Starlink assigns it to the Standard Actuated kit, the dish with motors that reposition it. For the current Standard it gives 75 to 100 W. Starlink's own naming note settles which is which: "Standard 4 refers to the same hardware many customers previously called 'Gen 3 Starlink.'" The old "Starlink Standard Kit" is now Standard 4 X; Standard with the Router Mini is now Standard 4.

Both dishes carry "Standard" in their names, which is how one kit's figure ends up attached to the other. The error matters: on a 1500 VA UPS, 50 W predicts about two hours, while 100 W gives 58 minutes, less than half.

The newest dish complicates it again. Starlink's V4 vs V5 comparison lists V5 at an average of 35 to 50 W against 75 to 100 W for V4. If your dish is the smaller one, 384 x 306 mm rather than V4's 594 x 383 mm, use the V5 row.

Runtime table: Starlink on common UPS sizes

These estimates use the same model as our UPS runtime calculator: new sealed lead-acid batteries, a Peukert exponent of 1.25 referenced to the 20-hour rating, 88% inverter efficiency and 8 W of inverter overhead. Why UPS runtime is not linear explains each of those terms. Battery configurations are typical for each class; check the replacement battery listed for your model.

The manufacturer's runtime chart for your exact UPS, read at your measured load, beats any table.

Worked example: Standard 4 X plus a switch on a 1500 VA UPS

A household runs a Standard 4 X with an Ethernet switch for a desk PC and a TV. Size at the top of Starlink's range, 100 W, plus about 5 W for an unmanaged switch (typical small switches draw 2 to 6 W): 105 W at the outlet.

Halve the load and runtime more than doubles. If the dish idles at its 20 W figure overnight while nobody is using it, the same UPS lasts around four hours with the switch, five without. That is the practical lever during an outage: turn off what is not needed and let Starlink idle.

Snow melt: the load Starlink does not put a number on

Starlink's snow and ice article says the dish "automatically uses the power it draws to gently heat the dish and melt snow." It lists three modes: Off, which "will not use extra power"; Automatic, which "heats only when needed"; and Pre-heat, which "may increase power consumption." The spec sheets rate melt capability (up to 40 mm, or 1.5 in, per hour for the Standard; up to 25 mm, or 1 in, per hour for the Mini) but give no wattage for it.

Two published ceilings bound it. The Mini's input rating is 60 W, so nothing the Mini does can exceed that at its DC input. For the Standard, Starlink's own DC-DC power supply is rated to output 56 V at 3.57 A, about 200 W, and Starlink sells it to power the Standard directly from a DC source. Our reading: plan for a Mini at up to 60 W and a Standard at up to 200 W while melting. At 200 W the 1500 VA UPS above lasts about 25 minutes and the 2200 VA unit about an hour. During an outage in snow, switch Snow Melt from Pre-heat to Automatic, or to Off if you can clear the dish by hand, and the UPS goes back to the table figures.

The Mini on DC: skip the inverter

The Mini's spec sheet accepts 12-48 V DC up to 60 W, and Starlink sells a USB-C to barrel jack cable for it. That opens two routes that never pass through a UPS inverter, the efficiency argument laid out in DC mini UPS vs AC UPS.

• USB-C power bank. Starlink's requirement is USB PD "with a minimum rating of 100W, 20V/5A," and the Mini "will not work with USB PD ratings of 65W or lower." Check that the USB-C port itself is rated 100 W, not just the bank's combined output.
• 12 to 48 V DC battery. A 12 V or 24 V battery system with a matching cable feeds the Mini's input directly. Starlink says it "only guarantees performance with the included Starlink power supply and cable," so a third-party DC setup is at your own risk.

Runtime on a power bank is simple division once you allow for conversion loss. Assuming 85% of a 99 Wh bank reaches the Mini (an assumption; banks vary), that is about 84 Wh:

At the Mini's upper average, a 99 Wh bank comes within about half an hour of the 1500 VA UPS. Power stations follow the same arithmetic; UPS vs portable power station covers switchover, which decides whether Starlink reboots when the grid drops.

The Standard has a DC route too. Starlink sells a Standard DC-DC Power Supply for Standard 4 and Standard 4 X in select markets, with input "12-48VDC 30A" and XT60 connectors, which removes the inverter for RV, boat and battery-bank installs.

Routers, switches and the rest of the chain

Starlink's figures already include its own router on the kits that ship with one, and the Mini's Wi-Fi is built in. What they leave out:

• The Router Mini in a Mini X kit. The Mini figures cover the dish with its built-in Wi-Fi. The Router Mini has its own power supply (rated 100-240 V, 1.6 A), and Starlink publishes no wattage for it. Plug that supply into the UPS too, or the Wi-Fi drops while the dish stays up.
• Your own router or mesh nodes. Each typically adds 5 to 20 W. Only the nodes between Starlink and the devices you need have to be on battery.
• A switch. Small unmanaged switches draw a few watts and are easy to forget. If it sits in the path, it needs backup.
• Phones that ride on the connection. A VoIP adapter adds a few watts and goes on the same UPS; see VoIP and landline phones.

Test the chain once: with everything running, unplug the UPS from the wall and confirm a phone on Wi-Fi stays online.

Where these numbers stop applying

• Performance kits. At 110 to 150 W average and 45 W idle, a Performance kit gets about 36 minutes from the 1500 VA unit at its upper average. Run the calculator at 150 W for other sizes.
• Outages longer than a few hours. Beyond the 2200 VA row, more lead-acid runtime means external battery packs. Use how much runtime do you need to decide, then look at a DC battery or a generator.
• Old or cold batteries. The table assumes new batteries at room temperature. An aged battery, or a UPS in an unheated garage, falls short of it.
• Kits not listed. Starlink has renamed and revised its kits more than once. Read the power line on the spec sheet for your own kit and use the top of its range.