Report: Washington, Oregon and North Carolina off sold-out status, with surcharges instead (Jan. 2026)

BackgroundIncludes press-layer reports

Event date (reported)

Jan 27, 2026

Published

Oct 6, 2026

Last updated

Oct 6, 2026

Background This event is more than 90 days older than this page. It is kept here as dated context, not as current news.

What changed

A January 27, 2026 report by SatelliteInternet.com said that North Carolina, Oregon and Washington had been taken off sold-out status and that new orders there were possible with a congestion charge instead of a waitlist.

The same report gave these amounts:

• Pacific Northwest: recently down to $500, from $1,000 before.
• Western North Carolina: $500.
• Alaska: up to $1,500.

What it means for you

In areas that were sold out, this is a trade-off rather than a simple improvement. Before, you could not activate Residential at all and had to place a deposit and wait. After, you could order, but a one-time charge applied. Whether that is better depends on what other options you have.

It also confirms that surcharges can go down as well as up. The Pacific Northwest figure fell by half in this report. Anyone who saw a high quote months ago may see a different amount today.

Who was affected

• New Residential buyers in Washington, Oregon and North Carolina areas that had been sold out.
• Alaska buyers in areas with the highest reported charge.
• The report described states and regions, not counties.

What you can check now

• Your checkout shows whether your address is sold out, open with a surcharge, or open with none.
• The sold-out log and the surcharge timeline keep these dated press entries side by side.
• If you are an existing customer thinking about moving or pausing, our page on reactivation and moves explains when a surcharge can apply to you.

What stays the same

Starlink still treats the surcharge as one-time and address-based. Its help article still says amounts “may change based on network capacity and regional demand.”

How this fits the record

The Pacific Northwest has the longest run of dated reports we track. Seattle, Spokane and Portland were sold out in November 2024. They were reported at $500 and then $750 in June 2025, and $1,000 later in 2025. By this January 2026 report they were back to $500 and open for orders. Two weeks later, Starlink posted that it had removed waitlists everywhere it operates (our item).

The report also quoted a western North Carolina buyer’s reaction on Reddit. We do not repeat customer posts as evidence of amounts. The figures above come from the report’s own statements.

What we don’t know yet

• The exact date each state came off sold-out status. The report date is January 27, 2026.
• Whether every formerly sold-out area in these states moved to a surcharge, or only some.
• Whether the $500 Pacific Northwest figure applied across the region.

Our data

None for this period. This is a press-layer entry.