Starry Station - Touchscreen WiFi Router - Simple Setup and Easy Parental Controls. Fast Gigabit Speed

Update at bottom: I have been using my Starry for about 4 days now and I have to say, it is amazing as to how things change. I'm an IT professional so I'm not afraid of technical setups, but this requires no technical knowledge to setup. Power it up, plug it into your modem and walk through the setup wizard on the touchscreen and you are done. Here is what you may not see in the description. It's a WiFi only access point(& Router), so you still need a modem. If you have an all-in-one modem (Like I do), turn off the modem's WiFi as you most likely will not need it any more since Starry becomes a great WiFi access Point for everything. The other thing that is not so apparent, is that you should connect everything to Starry. (In my situation, again I have all-in-one modem with 4 LAN ports on the back). This means do not use 3 of the other ports on the modem itself, just use the one port on the back of the Starry to connect a wired device or switch). Why? Because Starry won't be able to see those wired devices if connected to the modem. So to connect wired devices, you have to use the single OUT port on the back of Starry and connect it to a "Switch" (such as: TP-LINK 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Desktop Switch (TL-SG1008D) ) and then connect your wired devices to the switch. The Pleasant Surprise: I have about 25+ devices connecting to Starry(Image 1&2) - and all of them connected and none of them have dropped signal. (I did say I'm an IT Professional - and I do love gadgets). I have 2 NAS (Network storage) devices connected via Wired connection and I've connected my NAS devices to TP Links Powerline Adapters TP-LINK TL-PA4010KIT AV500 Nano Powerline Adapter Starter Kit, up to 500Mbps and they work great! Starry even shows these as Wired devices in the app and I can monitor data usage. Also, for those wondering where to put Starry...you should find a spot central location to your devices that is out in the open. I was able to go to Comcast, get a Wire Splitter kit for free, and move my modem to the same wall outlet as my Cable Box. This let me put Starry next to my TV so it is central to everything in my home and I never need to run to the other room to check the router. So feel free to make Starry be in the middle of things. The PROS: ---------------------- - Easy Setup - Beautiful Look - It broadcasts 2.5Ghz and 5 Ghz at same time under same SSID, and has another dedicated 5 GHZ SSID (uses same name as your network with "_5" at end. (This is so you can definitively connect to 5GHZ only). - No issues connecting devices (Chromecasts V1 and V2, Wireless Printer, Nest Thermostat, Drop Cam, Nest Cams, Ipads, Tablets, Phones, Laptops, you name it) - The mobile app for Android & iOS is great to use, even when not at your house. (use it to see what data is being consumed) - 'ScreenTime' lets you make multiple rule for devices can be online (i.e. disable internet for your kids tablets off a few hours before bedtime) -The mobile app lets you see what devices are connected, how long ago, and if the signal is poor for that device, plus how much data it is consuming (image 3) - Being able to see diagnostics whether at home or not is awesome - No more modem resets - Custom naming of devices (use the app to edit a device name to something you can remember) - You can add repeaters/extenders, as long as Starry is the main station - The touch screen can turn off based on a timer you set (i.e. turn off screen at 8PM to 8AM), and WiFi remains on of course - The screen shows floating bubble of how many devices are online. The biger the bubble, the more data it is using. The color of the bubble tells you signal strength (Red = none/weak, Dark Blue = great, light blue = OK) - The power cord is a 2 prong figure-8 style cable, so you can use a regular extension cord if needed Cons: --------------------- - You have to use a switch (average prices are $15-$40) to get more wired ports and most people don't have one already - No web interface from a Laptop (You must use the App or the touchscreen on the Device) - You need to locate the unit more central to your home than at one end for best results. - The price is higher than most all home WiFi access points, but it delivers on what it does. - It does weigh a few pounds so it needs a good surface to rest on - It does have a fan in it, but its very quiet unless you are up close (I do wonder what happens if the fan burns out since it can;t be replaced) Overall, it was a wise purchase, and I'm really looking forward to lower cost, contract free, blazing fast, Over-the-Air Starry Internet service, (which should hopefully be offered to Starry owners first!). Pick one up - you won't be disappointed! UPDATE 1 WEEK LATER: ---------------------------------------- THE Starry wifi router is really impressive. I've had no modem issues, no need to reset, no dropouts. All my devices are connected, and get a great signal. STARRY has 4 antennas inside so it broadcasts really well. The mobile app is great, I can see how my network is at all times. UPDATE 1 MONTH LATER: ------------------------------------------ This device has been rock solid. I have not touched my modem in a month, all my devices connect. i ahve signal everywhere, and everything talks between divices great! The mobile app is getting some improvements, which makes this device better over time. (most of the time routers rarely if ever update). I added some screenshots of how it looks when many devices are connected. You will see a bunch of bubbles. This is still a great buy even if just for a WiFi Access Point and Router. One useful thing is to set the screen time rules, set one for around dinner time and when wifi goes out, it's time to eat! UPDATE 3 MONTHS LATER: -------------------------------------------- OK, this Wifi Router is a SOLID performer! In 3 months, I've done Nothing to my home wifi, moedem, devices. It is all just seemless. I now have over 45+ devices of my own that connect to it.( See image below) Many guests came over and had zero issues connecting. I've never had to restart anything once to get it to work. It delivers in a big way! In the past, I've had to restart, reboot, and all sorts of the typical nonsense. Not any more. It's almost unbelievable that you need to do nothing other than the initial setup. If you hate dealing with WiFi routers, this will be your answer. Even at ~$300-$350 price range, the saving in headache and annoyance is worth it! Also, the mobile app has been updated and some of the minor app bugs have been fixed. This is whats great about a devices made this way, it can improve over time to get new features and fixes, unlike other devices that come shipped one way and you get seldom updates. One last note, I've used the mobile app to contact support for questions, like : "What to the lines on the chart relate to? (since both are kinda same in color), and they resonded within same day and within 24 hours. (Answer, the lighter color lice is that devices usage, the darker color line is the total useage for the house). Still really cool how they have great support and make it effortless to reach them right through the app itself. I probably won't have much more to report on this device since after 3 months it's a solid performer for me and my many devices. If you are only a one or two device household, this might be considered overkill, so don;t think you need to spend money on a powerful device, but when you have many devices on one network, things can get more complicated, so a router like this alleviate any of those problems.) In closing, if you are in a a shared office place or co-working location or something, this is the device you should try. Especially since you can set rules for each device and turn off devices at certain times, and see who is using all your bandwidth and deal with them directly if needed. Even though it is pricier, it's definitely worth having a super premium device that performs extremely well. IF YOU HAVE ANY SETUP ISSUES - CONTACT STARRY SUPPORT. THEY ARE AWESOME AT REPLYING! The device works great. If it fails you, get support, it's free through the app or through the settings page on the device. Also, if you have a combo modern/router/wifi from your cable company like I do, you will need to put info 'bridge mode'(search 'how to set up bridge mode on XYZ modem' online) or you might get some conflict, warning messages, etc. (One person did below on comments, it may happen to you, but it's an easy fix) PS- I have no affiliation or connection with Starry. I paid full price as a consumer. I'm just a big geek and fan!!

Sometimes you don't realize how much better a product can be until you start using something that reimagines the entire experience from end to end. The Starry Station wireless router is one product doing just that, raising the bar for the entire category by making managing your wi-fi connection as easy and elegant as the rest of your digital devices. I'm a reasonably tech-savvy person, but definitely not a geek. As I kept adding to the number of devices that connect to the internet, my old router was starting to struggle at times and I was interested in getting something that was a step up. Given what I had heard about Starry Station's ability to easily set up your network and help make sure that you get the most out of your internet connection, I thought it was worth a try. I'll also admit, having a beautifully designed and unique piece of equipment that you'll want to display in your home was an added plus. Starry definitely rivals the best Apple experiences from the moment you receive the box. Elegantly packaged and simply presented, the router is incredibly easy to set up straight out of the box, with no manual necessary. You simply plug in the power adapter and the ethernet cable to your modem, and follow the directions on the touchscreen display and Starry does everything – you never need to install or run any software to set up your wifi with Starry, which makes you wonder how we lived with terrible router experiences in the past. Starry makes your wifi connection information a lot more interesting and useful than I would have expected. Through the onscreen messaging, I could understand a bit more about how using 5Ghz made a difference for certain devices, or just tracking overall general usage. While I didn't need all of the data available, it was nice to have an easy way to feel assured that things are working as well as they should. Performance of the router is very good so far. It does seem to help optimize the network for a growing number of devices, and it improved my signal across my very long but narrow apartment, without having to do anything else on my own. After a couple weeks of use, it's still going strong and the signal hasn't been interrupted once. I also appreciate Starry Station's small but thoughtful features, like the automatic wifi password generator and call button for customer support, all of which are accessible from the touchscreen. All in all, this is a great product that changes the game for wifi routers and the overall experience, which bodes well for their forthcoming internet service that could prove to be even more exciting.

Several issues. 1. The wifi connection constantly had to be refreshed on several of my devices 2. The signal range was terrible, which is just unacceptable for a router in this price range. 3. Some of the family control functions are nice, but the key one that I would want (an online timer) isn't one of them. This is an area where they really could have shined, but just dropped the ball. Probably will be fixed in a future software update, but it will be long gone for me by then. 4. The health meter is basically worthless - it's a weird aggregation of mostly unrelated factors and doesn't refresh fast enough to give you any useful debug information anyways. 5. Touchscreen controls are awkward and slow - not sure why a touchsreen is even needed given the limited number of functions actually available. 6. Perhaps there's some killer function for the speaker and microphone on a router, but it sure as hell isn't for calling customer support. I have a phone for that. Why they wasted hardware on the device for that function is beyond me. Towards the end of its tenure at my house it basically became a conversation icebreaker for how much the wifi sucked at my house.

This router has been Great! The setup was easy a caveman can do it. I have not rated tech support cause I have not needed it The router does get warm and at first, it seems a little loud, but in a very short time you get use to it, and don't even hear it. I love the fact that you can see,all of your devices on the screen and that you can control everything without using a computer. I really noticed it has improved my WiFi signal throughout my home. I stream all of my entertainment and I have had no buffering since I installed the Starry station. The price can be really high, but I bought it really cheap on Amazon Wearhouse as a refurbished model. Besides the steep price, the only other downside is it only comes with one extra Ethernet port to connect other devices. If you see a great deal or have the money, than buy it

We tried the Starry Station to visually see what devices were connected to our internet and to be able to disconnect those devices at the touch of a button. The set up was intuitive and simple. After we connected all of our devices to it, we started to have internet connectivity issues with our laptops and cable. In addition, we noticed a considerable lag in our download and upload speeds. Initially, we thought Starry could help us "optimize" our already slow internet speeds as we live in a rural area with only one carrier. Unfortunately, this product actually created more issues for us than it solved so we returned it. After going back to the regular wireless modem, all devices are working well and we have no more problems. We did find out that the modem has web address that allows us to control device connectivity, have parental controls, and monitor the health of our internet. Make sure to check with your provider to see if you have this FREE tool as well before purchasing this costly piece of hardware.

Updated: I've had issues with my starry station. I keep getting "cannot connect to modem". I've spent 2 weeks or more on emails to starry support. They are nice enough people, but I'm getting very frustrated with these things not working properly. The starry station is also saying slow connection to internet, but when I plug directly into the modem I get a great connection. I'm really hoping this next one will be the winner since I do like the product when it is working. Original: They are going to do a swap out of my current station, but it aggrivates me that I need to wait till they get the old one back. I wish they did it like amazon where they send you a new one first. I originally got one that didn't work. The packaging compared to the replacement was quite a bit different. I think Amazon shipped me a return of some sort initially. The second one came in shrink wrap and worked perfectly. Amazon did ship a new one immediately and it didn't cost me anything to return the bad one. I was very apprehensive about paying 350 for a router but I've been having horrible issues with my cable internet provider. I figured if this thing keeps track of when I lose band with I was going to start using this to get my provider to fix their issues. Now I'm thinking it may have just been my Netgear router, so far this thing has worked flawless. It tells me when I'm having issues with devices and not my provider and tries to tell me how to fix it. It is nice to see the ambient screen telling if I have a bunch of data going through my router and who is the consumer of that data. The phone app works great, I'm able to set up all my static routes and port forwarding I'd expect with other routers, it is just much easier here. My non technical wife can go look at the screen and figure out if there is an internet issue. Now I don't have to go tell her if the provider is down or something is wrong with the devices connection. I've been running for 5 days now with out having to reboot my router or modem where I'd have to do this every few hours before. I prefer to use the routers touch screen interface vs. one of the clunky and ugly web pages you have to go find on the router via an IP. I also like the phone app to do just about everything else.

The Starry router is a beautiful piece of technology. It looks like nothing else on the market, and it works flawlessly. It's extremely fast. Comparing speed test results with my old Fios Gateway is a night and day difference - Starry is finally giving me the speed I pay for. Packaging: Usually I wouldn't mention the packaging in a review, but I feel obligated to with this unit because there was so much care and attention to detail put into it. It comes in a cool triangular box. The whole unit pulls straight out of the side with all the cables coiled neatly at the base. Really Apple-esque, which is a big compliment. Hardware: It's a glossy white triangle shape with an oval screen and a proximity sensor on one side and a metal backplate on the other. It feels really solid and well-constructed. The touchscreen is high resolution, and the sensor is quick to notice that you've approached the unit. The only negative is that the fan noise it makes is quite audible. Without the TV on, I can hear it whirring from 8ft away on my couch. Just keep that in mind if you're planning on putting it next to your computer. Not a deal breaker, but certainly noticeable. The device does seem to keep fairly cool so at least the fan is very functional. Software: Here's where Starry really shines. The touchscreen on the unit looks great. The interface is simple and it's very responsive to touch. The installation process is completely painless. It's so much easier to install than a regular router because all the information is right there on the screen. Overall it's intuitive, easy to interact with, and provides a lot of great information about your network. This is what all routers will look like in the future. It also has a wonderful iPhone app that works great for adjusting settings. WiFi Performance: Blazing fast. We're getting 20Mbps more than from my Fios router. So far it's been speedy and reliable. Extremely pleased with the overall performance. We haven't had any connection issues at all. Overall: Great looks, intuitive, and consistently fast. The only two issues are the fan noise (more of a minor annoyance) and the fact that it's one of the most expensive routers on the market. Whether or not it's worth the price is up to you. If you're on a budget there are other options, if you want a beautiful and fast router with a cool touchscreen interface and you're tired of resetting your crappy old router, then this could be for you.

UPDATE: 2 years later: Still a great router! having Fios installed today and they will hook it up to their router/modem for me so i can continue to use it--Love that it shows each device i have named when something would go down. And 2 years later it is 1/3 the price i paid for it. that is a bargain and I recommend this product for sure--i would buy another if it was needed. Wonderful for those of us that do not want to be frustrated by flashing lights--this spoke to me in plain English and works perfectly with my phone, tablets, smart TV, laptop and Roku, i set everything up myself in about 15 mins--i do NOT have it centrally located but it reaches a great signal across the ranch house (i don't not have a vast estate--but previously with my Netgear, i was unable to get wifi with my bedroom door closed, now I can go beyond that area to my outside deck with a strong signal,) so i am happy. there was an issue with my cable wifi/power surge from a big storm--although it was not the fault of the router, the tech called me in 10 mins. (at 9pm on the east coast), he took the time to explain a few things to me and i am very pleased with that level of customer service. you can plug in your phone request from the router screen touch pad. Yes, the Starry is more expensive, but it was worth it for me, hoping for more from this company in the future.