Starlink for Film Production & Festivals: Dailies, Upload Limits & Setup (2026)
Short answer
Starlink works well for film sets and festival venues for email, call sheets, video calls, remote review streams and proxy uploads. It can’t replace a shuttle drive for camera originals. Typical uploads are about 10-15 Mbps, roughly 4.5-7 GB per hour at best, while a raw camera day can run to terabytes. Use multiple kits to separate the production office from video village.
Key takeaways
- Plan around upload, not download. Expect roughly 10-15 Mbps up, or about 4.5-7 GB per hour in perfect conditions.
- Send proxies, ship originals. Compressed review files and selects work over Starlink. Raw camera media goes on drives.
- Split the network. Give video village or streaming its own kit, separate from the production office and crew Wi-Fi.
- Power it cleanly. Run kits from house power, a battery station or a generator placed well away from set.
- Rent per production. Borrow Starlink ships kits nationwide and quotes multi-kit shoots and festival venues within 24-48 hours.
Does Starlink work for film production on location?
Yes, for most of what a production needs to stay connected. Ranches, deserts, forests and small towns are great locations, but they often have no usable internet. Starlink only needs power and a clear view of the sky.
It handles these well:
- Production office Wi-Fi: email, call sheets, schedules, payroll and accounting apps.
- Video calls with the studio, network or post house.
- Remote review: streaming video village to producers who aren’t on set.
- Proxy and selects uploads to an editor or a cloud review tool.
It does not replace a shuttle drive for camera originals. That’s down to upload speed.
Our recommendation
For productions, we recommend Roam (Gen 3) kits, plus a Mini for moving units
Roam kits suit the production office, base camp and video village, with a Wi-Fi 6 router and two Ethernet ports. The Mini draws about 25-40 W and suits a small second unit on battery. Kits rent from $25/day, arrive activated, and ship nationwide.
Get a quote for multiple kitsShip one to meReserve local pick-up (UT)How fast can you upload dailies over Starlink?
Starlink is built for download. Download speeds are often 65-130+ Mbps, but typical upload is closer to 10-15 Mbps, and it varies by area and time of day. Ookla data shows some states now reach a median of 20 Mbps up, but don’t plan a schedule around the best case.
Here’s what that upload means in practice, in ideal conditions:
| Upload speed | Per hour | Per 10-hour night |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Mbps | ~4.5 GB | ~45 GB |
| 15 Mbps | ~6.75 GB | ~67 GB |
| 20 Mbps | ~9 GB | ~90 GB |
Compare that with raw camera data. One cloud dailies provider puts a day of ARRI ALEXA 35 ARRIRAW at 2-4 TB, and recommends at least 100 Mbps upload for full cloud dailies workflows. Starlink isn’t built for that.
What works instead
- Ship originals. Camera media and backups travel on drives to post, as usual.
- Upload proxies or review files. Compressed H.264 or small ProRes Proxy files of circled takes are a fraction of the size.
- Upload overnight. Start the transfer at wrap and let it run when crew Wi-Fi is quiet.
- Wire the upload station. Plug the DIT or upload computer into the router by Ethernet.
Tip: Do a test upload of one shoot day’s proxies during prep. Time it, then decide what goes over the air and what rides on a drive.
Can you stream video village to remote producers?
Yes. A review stream uses far less bandwidth than file transfers. For reference, YouTube recommends 3-8 Mbps for 720p and 5-14 Mbps for 1080p at 30 fps. Most private review tools run at similar or lower rates.
To keep it stable:
- Give it its own kit. Don’t share the stream with 40 crew phones.
- Use 720p or a modest 1080p bitrate. Leave headroom in the upload.
- Expect some delay. Starlink latency is typically 25-55 ms, plus the delay of the streaming tool itself.
How many kits does a production or festival venue need?
| Setup | Kits | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Small shoot, one location | 1 | Office + uploads |
| Mid-size shoot | 2-3 | Office, video village, crew |
| Festival pop-up venue | 1-3 | Box office, press, guest Wi-Fi |
Each kit has its own upload. Splitting jobs across kits is the simplest way to get more total capacity. Bonding routers and apps can combine kits into one connection, but they add cost and setup.
Festival season
Winter is festival season. Sundance moves from Park City, Utah to Boulder, Colorado for January 21-31, 2027. Festivals like this spread into temporary venues: pop-up lounges, press rooms, brand houses, parties and screenings in spaces that weren’t built for crowds online. Those spaces need box office scanning, card payments, press uploads and guest Wi-Fi, often for just a week or two. Borrow Starlink ships kits nationwide in hard cases, so they can arrive at a rented venue ready to plug in.
How do you power Starlink on set?
- Roam (Gen 3): about 75-100 W from a normal 110 V outlet.
- Mini: about 25-40 W, and it can run from 12-48 V DC or 100 W USB-C PD. It’s good for a small unit moving between locations.
A rough runtime rule is Wh × 0.85 ÷ watts. A 1,000 Wh battery runs a Roam kit for about 9 hours, or a Mini for about 24 hours. Battery stations are silent, which helps near set. Generators must run outdoors, away from people, because of carbon monoxide. Cold weather and snow melting raise power draw.
For placement, keep the dish out of frame and away from tall trees, grip towers and rooflines. Run the obstruction check in the Starlink app during the tech scout. The Roam cable is about 50 ft, so the router can sit in the production trailer while the dish sits on a stand outside.
Should a production rent or buy Starlink?
For most shoots and festival runs, rent. As of October 2026, buying a Standard kit costs $349 plus a monthly plan, and you’d need to manage accounts and hardware after wrap.
Borrow Starlink rents Roam and Mini kits from $25/day with unlimited data, pre-activated and with no Starlink account needed. Kits return with a prepaid UPS label. For several kits or a festival venue, get an enterprise quote. Quotes usually come back within 24-48 hours, from a few kits to dozens.
Running a festival or outdoor show? Read our guide to Starlink for events for more ways teams use it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I upload dailies over Starlink?
Compressed dailies and proxies, yes. At a typical 10-15 Mbps upload, you can move roughly 4.5-7 GB per hour in ideal conditions. Raw camera originals, which can run to terabytes per day, should go on shuttle drives.
Can Starlink stream video village to remote producers?
Yes. A 720p or 1080p review stream at a modest bitrate fits within a kit’s upload. Give that stream its own kit so crew Wi-Fi doesn’t compete with it.
Will multiple Starlink kits give me more upload?
Each kit has its own upload. You can split tasks across kits, or use a bonding router or app to combine them, though bonding adds cost and setup.
How do I power Starlink on a film set?
A Roam kit uses about 75-100 W from a 110 V outlet. A 1,000 Wh battery runs one for about 9 hours, which is quiet near set. Generators must run outdoors and away from people.
Does Starlink work in winter for festival season?
Yes. The Standard dish runs from -22°F to 122°F and melts up to about 1.5 inches of snow per hour. Mount it above drifts and plowed snow.
Shooting or screening somewhere without internet?
Rent a ready-to-connect Starlink kit from Borrow Starlink. Starlink Mini and Starlink Roam (Gen 3) from $25/day, unlimited data, no Starlink account needed.
✓ Pick up in American Fork, UT · ✓ Ships nationwide with a prepaid return label · ✓ $350 refundable deposit
Reserve for local pick-upGet it deliveredEvents & businessMore guides
Sources
- Cloud dailies for ALEXA 35 and RED V-RAPTOR shoots (Cutsio)
- Choose live encoder settings, bitrates, and resolutions (YouTube Help)
- Starlink speeds hit 130 Mbps (5Gstore, citing Ookla)
- Starlink Gen 3 Router Review (DishyTech)
- Starlink Mini specifications (Starlink)
Prices and plan details were checked in October 2026 and change often. Confirm current Starlink pricing at checkout. Starlinkâ„¢ is a trademark of SpaceX; Borrow Starlink is an independent rental company.