How to Read the Starlink Obstruction Map Before You Mount Your Dish
Tips & Tricks
There are two different obstruction checks. Before installation, the phone's sky-scanning tool helps assess a proposed location. After the terminal is online, it builds a live obstruction map from its actual connections. The live map is not available as a completed assessment before the dish has operated.
Compare safe candidate locations
Use the phone scan only where you can stand safely. Assess more than one permitted position, including surrounding trees and roof overhangs. A scan from the ground cannot certify the view from an inaccessible roof position; ask an installer to assess that location.
Plan the mount and cable route alongside the sky view. Avoid unstable supports or a route that creates a trip hazard simply to improve a scan.
Let the live map develop
Starlink says the terminal's complete obstruction map can take up to 12 hours to build. Keep the kit in a stable intended test position and record interruptions while it collects information. Repeatedly clearing the map or moving the terminal makes comparisons less useful.
Compare the map with normal activities such as a call, rather than assuming that one attractive image or one speed test proves reliability.
Interpret an interruption in context
Note the time of a call dropout and compare it with the app's events. A matching obstruction is useful evidence. If the same device works beside the router but fails in a distant room without matching terminal interruptions, check local Wi-Fi too.
A clear sky assessment does not rule out cable, power or local-network faults. Use each test to examine the part of the connection it actually measures.
Recheck when the surroundings change
Growing foliage, construction and a different campsite can change the view. Keep dated notes of location and performance so a later comparison has context.
Official Starlink obstruction guidance. Reviewed 26 September 2026.
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