Starlink is usually sold as the answer for rural houses, but we get asked about flats too. Three recent examples: a ground floor flat that wanted a Starlink Mini fitted, a flat near Fifield where the resident had tried several mobile broadband services without success, and someone asking whether a dish would work through a skylight.
The short answer is that Starlink can work in a flat, as long as the dish can go outside with a clear view of the sky and the building’s owner agrees. This guide covers which kit suits a flat, where the dish can go, the permissions you need and how to get WiFi indoors.
The one rule: the dish has to see the sky
Starlink will not work through a window, a skylight or a roof. Starlink says the dish needs a clear view of the sky, and its support pages say it will not work through windows. So the question in a flat is never which room the dish goes in. It is where outside it can go.
In the UK the dish is usually aimed towards the northern part of the sky, and the app tells you which way to point it. That matters in a flat, because the building itself can be the biggest obstruction. A balcony on the north side with open sky above it can work well. A balcony with the rest of the building, or the balcony above, blocking the view north may not.
The Check for Obstructions tool in the Starlink app shows you before you order. Stand where the dish would go, hold your phone at that height and scan the sky.
Starlink Mini or the Standard dish?
Starlink makes two dishes for home use, and in a flat the size difference matters:
- Starlink Mini: 29.9 × 25.9 cm and 1.1 kg. It uses 25 to 40 W, and the WiFi router is built into the dish. Starlink rates the built-in WiFi for up to 112 m² and 128 devices. The kit includes a kickstand, a pipe adapter and a 15 m power cable.
- Standard dish: 59.4 × 38.3 cm and 2.9 kg. It uses 75 to 100 W and comes with a separate router indoors.
Both have the same 110° field of view. For most flats the Mini is the easier fit: it is small enough for a balcony, light enough for a short bracket, and easy on the electricity bill.
In late 2026 Starlink’s UK order form has been listing the Mini dish and a Router Mini with the Residential 100 Mbps plan, and the Standard dish with the faster plans. Prices now vary by address too, so check what your order shows before you plan the mount.
Where the dish can go in a flat
On a balcony
This is the most common answer. The Mini can stand on its kickstand, secured so the wind cannot move it, or go on a short pole clamped to the railing. Keep it clear of the balcony above and the walls on either side, because both cut into the view of the sky.
Ground floor flats
A patio, a private garden or a short pole by the back door can work, as long as neighbouring buildings and trees do not block the view. If the garden is communal, the freeholder has to agree. Trees are often the problem at ground level; our guide to Starlink and trees covers the options.
Top floor and the roof
The roof usually has the best view of the sky, but it belongs to the freeholder, and roof work on a block of flats needs safe access. It is worth asking, especially if the balcony faces the wrong way.
A small wall bracket
A small bracket on the outside wall beside a window can work for the Mini if that side of the building faces open sky. It needs the freeholder’s agreement, and in a conservation area a dish on a wall facing the road needs planning permission.
Permissions: freeholder, landlord and planning
Flats have more people to ask than houses:
- Freeholder or managing agent. The outside walls and roof usually belong to the freeholder, and many leases restrict what can be fixed to them or to balconies. Ask first and get the answer in writing.
- Landlord. If you rent, check your tenancy agreement and ask your landlord, even if the dish will stand on the balcony without fixings.
- Planning. The Planning Portal says permitted development limits for flats apply to the building as a whole, not to each flat. On a building under 15 metres high outside a designated area, that means no more than two antennas on the building overall. If it already has two, a new dish needs planning permission. Taller buildings have different limits.
- Conservation areas and listed buildings. In a conservation area, a dish on a wall or roof slope that faces a road and can be seen from it needs planning permission. If the building is listed, you generally need listed building consent.
Power and the cable route
The dish needs mains power indoors. The Mini’s power cable is 15 m long, so the socket, the cable route and the dish position have to work together. The neatest route is through an existing cable entry or a small sealed hole in the wall, agreed with the freeholder. A cable trapped in a window frame gets damaged and lets in draughts, so we avoid it.
Getting WiFi into the flat
With the Mini, the WiFi router is built into the dish, so it sits outside and the WiFi has to come in through the wall. In a small flat with the dish on the balcony, that is often fine. In a larger flat, or one with solid walls, a Starlink Router Mini or mesh node indoors fixes it. Starlink says the Mini works with its own mesh, but not with third-party mesh systems.
Our guide to Starlink WiFi not reaching the whole house goes through the indoor options in more detail.
When Starlink is not the right answer
If the building blocks the view, or the freeholder says no, Starlink is off the table. The alternatives are full fibre, if the building has it or the freeholder will allow the work, or 4G or 5G. One flat enquiry we had was the other way round: the landlord would not allow drilling for full fibre. A Starlink Mini on a balcony stand, with the cable through an existing entry, can sometimes work in that situation if the landlord agrees to it.
Our comparison of Starlink and 4G or 5G covers the trade-offs, and best internet options for rural Berkshire and Surrey covers the rest.
Flats in Windsor, Maidenhead and Surrey
If your flat is in Windsor, Maidenhead or the villages around them, or in Surrey, we can check it from photos. Parts of Windsor are conservation areas, where a dish on a wall facing the road needs planning permission, so we look at the rear of the building or the balcony first.
Get a quick answer
Send us photos of the balcony or the outside of the building, which way it faces if you know, and whether you own or rent. We will tell you whether Starlink is likely to work and what permission to ask for, and give you a fixed quote from the photos. Use the contact form or our Starlink installation page.
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