On almost every hike or camping trip I take in Washington, there's a moment on the drive when service drops, music cuts out in the car and texts stop coming in. Not a problem: Trips like these are designed for me to get a break from the internet.

On this brisk Sunday morning in the North Cascades, that off-the-grid moment never came. This time, I brought along a Starlink Mini satellite dish in my backpack.

As my friends waited in line for the bathroom at the trailhead, I pulled out the small white square, about the size of a laptop, plugged it into my portable battery and waited for it to communicate with the Starlink satellites zooming 342 miles above our heads .

Locating local internet providers

This was a slightly unusual way to use the Starlink Mini. The dish comes

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