Trellis vs. Starlink
Local wireless or satellite? Here’s the difference.
Starlink is a great answer for truly remote places. If your home or business in Sonoma County can see our network, a local fixed wireless connection is often faster, more responsive, and a lot easier to get help with.
Why local wins
A shorter path makes a better connection.
A shorter trip for every click
Your Trellis signal travels a few miles to a nearby tower. A satellite signal goes up to orbit, hundreds of miles overhead, and back down again. Fewer miles means a snappier feel on video calls and games.
More speed headroom
Trellis home plans reach up to 500 Mbps, and business connections scale all the way to 10 Gbps. That’s room for every device in the house and every person in the office.
Real people, nearby
Trellis is based in Rohnert Park. When something isn’t right, you call a local team that knows the network, not an app and a ticket queue.
Built for business
Need a guarantee? Trellis offers premium business connections backed by a service level agreement, plus campus WiFi and custom site build-outs.
Side by side
Trellis and Starlink, compared.
Trellis
Starlink
How the signal travels
Radio link to a nearby tower, a few miles away
Satellites in low Earth orbit, hundreds of miles up¹
Top home speed
Up to 500 Mbps
Up to 400 Mbps on its top residential plan¹
Business speeds
Up to 10 Gbps, with an SLA-backed option
Network priority varies by plan¹
Latency
Short local radio path, no trip to orbit
Median of roughly 25 to 50 ms, depending on the measurement¹
Upload speeds
Ask us about upload speeds for your plan
Median under 20 Mbps in more than half of U.S. states in late 2025¹
Installation
Professionally installed by our local team
Self-install kit, with professional install offered on some plans¹
Equipment
WiFi equipment available, including whole-home mesh
Starlink dish kit, bought or rented¹
Support
Local team in Rohnert Park, by phone
Primarily online and in-app
¹ Starlink details are based on public information as of October 2026, including Starlink plan listings reported by HighSpeedInternet.com (January 2026) and Ookla Speedtest data reported by Techlicious (May 2026). Plans, prices and performance vary by location and change often. Starlink is a trademark of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Trellis is not affiliated with Starlink.
The honest answer
When satellite is the right call.
Fixed wireless needs a line of sight from your property to our network. If a ridge or a forest stands in the way, satellite may be your best option, and we’ll tell you so. For most homes and businesses in our service area, a local connection is the better fit.
Is fixed wireless the same as satellite?
No. Fixed wireless sends your connection by radio to a tower a few miles away, which then connects to the wider internet. Satellite service sends it to orbit and back.
Do I need a clear view of the sky?
Not for Trellis. You need a line of sight to our network, not to open sky. Starlink needs a clear view of the sky to work well.
Can I switch from Starlink to Trellis?
Yes. Check your address, and if your property can see our network, our team handles the install and gets you connected.
Is Trellis available where I live?
We serve Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Sonoma, Kenwood, Healdsburg, Cloverdale and areas in between. Coverage depends on line of sight, so the best way to know is to check your address.
See if you can make the switch.
Tell us where you are and we’ll confirm whether Trellis can reach your property.