Iran Is Hunting Down Starlink Users to Stop Protest Videos from Going Global

93 pointsposted 25 days ago
by Agreed3750
(wsj.com)

28 Comments

wildylion

25 days ago

Learn from the Ukrainians: to avoid jamming, the Dishy can be buried in a narrow trench so that only the sky is visible and it's not radiating outwards.

kobalsky

25 days ago

why don't they jam the satellites themselves?

gnabgib

25 days ago

Related:

Iran shuts down Starlink internet for first time (191 points, 2 days ago) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46575224

Iran is likely jamming Starlink (135 points, yesterday, 273 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46573384

Agreed3750

25 days ago

Thanks for including these! I feel like by the end of the month these related comments will span 10 different posts

burnt-resistor

25 days ago

Seems like it. And it's (only) been 5 days now, but jamming SL seems like desperation from the government side while there appears to be support from traditionalist faction(s) per counter-protests.

The perpetual struggles everywhere: rich vs. poor, and open vs. traditional.

hulitu

22 days ago

> Iran Is Hunting Down Starlink Users

Does Starlink has a licence to operate in Iran ? (Is the Starlink transmitter homologated in Iran).

Sending RF signals without authorization will put you in trouble with law enforcement in most of the world, US included.

boelboel

22 days ago

But america are the goodies, they should be able to meddle, spy ... in other countries. Tiktok is certainly a national security issue though, can't have those chinamen spying on americans.

sysguest

25 days ago

hmm maybe this can be easily solved?

1. make a starlink+wireless mesh-network (eg. using BLE) that can handle multiple connects/disconnects seamlessly

2. mount those starlinks on cars/trucks/motorcycles/etc. hide those on ditches, buildings, etc.

Elon should work on that "starlink <-> wireless mesh-network" part (eg. app or device)

bigfatkitten

25 days ago

Terminals are easy to find.

Every single commercial mobile satellite system, other than VSAT needs to tell the network where it is in order to function. None of them are designed for low probability of interception/detection.

sysguest

25 days ago

well that's why you need to move around

coffeebeqn

25 days ago

But this is getting pretty complicated for private citizens without internet access to organize with the protests, sanctions, falling currency and government killing thousands of people, no?

bigfatkitten

24 days ago

That’s not going to save you when your adversary can continuously track your position, and identify your pattern of life.

user

25 days ago

[deleted]

Ginden

25 days ago

> easily solved

Asynchronous (you don't know when and where you will get Internet/local network connectivity) mesh (there is no gov infrastructure to be trusted) networking in presence of malicious (gov operated) and unreliable (destroyed by gov) nodes is probably among hardest problems known to computer science.

dzhiurgis

25 days ago

Or Starlink enables direct to cell 5G in Iran.

lm28469

25 days ago

> Elon should work

Elon? You mean the team behind starlink? The cult of personality around this nerd is amazing

johnisgood

25 days ago

Umm, executive prioritization genuinely determines what gets built. "Design for LPI/LPD" is exactly the kind of strategic call that comes from leadership, not something engineers spontaneously add to the roadmap.

That said, the technical problem is hard regardless. Direction-finding equipment can locate them. Moving helps but you are broadcasting position whenever active. Military SATCOM (MUOS, AEHF) uses frequency hopping, directional antennas, burst transmissions, techniques Starlink was not architected for.

The mesh idea has a bandwidth mismatch problem too. BLE tops out around 1 Mbps; Starlink pushes 100+. You would want 802.11s or a MANET protocol, but then you just have a cluster of RF emitters pointing back at the terminal anyway.

sysguest

25 days ago

agreed

on tech side, I'm not wireless-guy, so I'm giving ble as an example ('something like ble') not as some prescription

btw, maybe elon could add those SATCOM features to starlink? (or is it physically costly -- eg. require changing those satelite hardwares? or would some software update do?)

sysguest

25 days ago

hmm so who should I refer to?

should I call out bill gates? zuckerberg?

amenhotep

25 days ago

Just say Starlink or SpaceX, obviously. When would you ever say "Bill should work on fixing Outlook" or "Mark should improve the WhatsApp gif picker"??

NedF

25 days ago

[dead]