I tested Starlink-powered 4G on my phone — here's what actually happened in a dead zone
A number of smartphones now offer satellite connectivity of some kind, but that's mostly reserved for emergency situations, but the real question is, when will we be able to ditch cellular service and beam our mobile data from space?Big tech has already been mulling over this idea for a while now. Elon Musk has talked about making Starlink a direct-to-cell service. And just this week Semafor reported that SpaceX (the parent company of Starlink) may be looking to acquire spectrum at government auction to compete directly with AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.
- ▪A number of smartphones now offer satellite connectivity of some kind, but that's mostly reserved for emergency situations, but the real question is, when will we be able to ditch cellular service and beam our mobile data from space?Big tec
- ▪Elon Musk has talked about making Starlink a direct-to-cell service.
- ▪And just this week Semafor reported that SpaceX (the parent company of Starlink) may be looking to acquire spectrum at government auction to compete directly with AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.
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| Original publisher | Tom's Guide |
| Canonical URL | https://www.tomsguide.com/phones/network-carriers/i-tested-starlink-powered-4g-on-my-phone-heres-what-actually-happened-in-a-dead-zone |
| Publication time | Thu, 30 Jul 2026 13:55:05 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-07-30T14:07:04.109Z |
| Last seen | 2026-07-30T14:07:12.218Z |
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| Cluster | z6mlnJldIWaK · 1 stories |
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| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
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Phones Network Carriers I tested Starlink-powered 4G on my phone — here's what actually happened in a dead zone Hands-On By Tom Pritchard Published 30 July 2026 You can get 4G beamed to your phone from space, but this isn't the same as cellular data When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Future) Copy link Facebook X Reddit Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Satellite-based internet is nothing new, but the idea of getting satellite internet on your phone is something that has eluded us for a while.
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