A global outage, a local obstruction, a router problem, and a weak Wi-Fi hop can all feel the same in the moment. StarBar helps inspect the local side from your Mac.
| Signal | What it suggests | Check in StarBar | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official network update shows an issue | The failure may be broader than your installation. | Use local telemetry to see how the incident appears on your own terminal. | Wait for official recovery guidance before moving equipment or factory resetting devices. |
| Third-party outage reports spike | Other users may be affected, but user-reporting sites are not official Starlink status. | Check whether your local status, events, and ping success changed at the same time. | Use third-party reports as context, then confirm with official Starlink sources and your local telemetry. |
| StarBar shows local events but official status is normal | Your dish/router/path may be the problem even if Starlink service is operating normally. | Compare Events, obstruction, ping success, latency, and router reachability. | Work the local checklist: placement, obstruction, power, cables, and router path. |
| Only one device is affected | The issue may be Wi-Fi/client/VPN/DNS rather than Starlink service. | Use network client and router context where available. | Test another device and disable VPN before treating it as a Starlink outage. |
| Latency spikes without full offline state | The connection is degraded rather than completely down. | Keep Latency or Ping Success visible and compare with throughput/events. | Use the speed/latency guide to separate bandwidth from stability. |
Yes: Treat local telemetry as evidence of impact, not as something you can fix locally.
No: Move to local checks: obstruction, router reachability, Wi-Fi, power, events, and client behavior.
Yes: Inspect dish/router/power/obstruction and recent events.
No: Debug the affected client, VPN, DNS, Wi-Fi band, or app-specific issue.
Yes: The issue may be remote service, browser/app, DNS, VPN, or device-specific.
No: Use the local event reason and nearby telemetry to pick the next physical/network check.
To answer 'is Starlink down?', check official Starlink sources for broad incidents and check your local telemetry for dish, router, obstruction, event, latency, or Wi-Fi symptoms.
Network-wide issues often appear in official Starlink communications, status tools, or many simultaneous community reports. StarBar can show how your own hardware is behaving, but it should not be treated as the final source for global status.
Local symptoms include obstruction events, a reachable router with unstable terminal telemetry, low ping success, sudden latency spikes, partial telemetry, or a Mac that is connected to the wrong network.
The best workflow is official status for the service-wide question and StarBar for the local question. If the official service looks normal but StarBar shows local events or obstruction, your next step is local troubleshooting.
Downdetector-style pages are useful for spotting unusual report volume, but they cannot tell you whether your dish, router, power source, obstruction, or Wi-Fi path is healthy. Treat them as outside context, not a replacement for official Starlink status or local telemetry.
A good speed result does not prove stability, and a latency spike does not prove a global outage. Read status, ping success, events, obstruction, router reachability, and throughput together.
No. StarBar shows local telemetry from your reachable Starlink setup. It is not an official outage map or global Starlink status service.
Check official Starlink sources for broad incidents, then inspect local status, events, obstruction, ping success, and router reachability from your own setup.
No. Account, plan, activation, billing, and official support status belong in the official Starlink app or Starlink support.
StarBar puts local Starlink status, latency, ping success, outages, obstructions, throughput, and power draw into a native macOS menu bar app.