Bought your Mini in a store? What you can still do

That applies to every store on Starlink’s list. Starlink's US retailer list has 16 names: big-box and electronics stores (Walmart, Best Buy, Sam's Club, Home Depot, Nebraska Furniture Mart, PC Richards), outdoor, farm and boating stores (Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops, Tractor Supply, West Marine), RV and antenna makers (Thor Industries, Winegard Company), plus Amazon, Boost Mobile, Cost U Less and Microcom. None of them can pass on a referral, and neither can a used or transferred kit. Nor is there a code to enter afterwards: going by starlink.com’s page code, starlink.com's consumer checkout offers no box to key in a referral code; the link itself carries it.

Get it online on a Roam plan

A store-bought Mini activates like any other. Follow the setup guide in the box, and pick a Roam plan when you start service:

• Roam 100GB, $55/mo: weekend trips and light use.
• Roam 300GB, $80/mo: regular streaming, or more days on the road.
• Roam Unlimited, $175/mo: heavy use, and the only Roam plan with Ocean Mode.

Starlink says the Mini works with Roam and Priority plans in most countries, and Residential plans are not supported on the Mini except in limited regions, so for personal use in the US you’ll be choosing between those three. Not sure which? The plan picker sizes one to your trips, and Mini plans compares them side by side. Prices are US list prices before tax.

The warranty: 12 months from purchase

In the US, the Mini Kit’s limited warranty runs 12 months from the date you bought it. That’s true whether it came from starlink.com or from a store. For a store kit, the clock starts on your receipt date, so keep the receipt somewhere you can find it.

Returns go through the store

Kits bought from a store or reseller are returned through that store, not Starlink. Each store sets its own return window and conditions, and we don’t track them. Check your receipt or the store’s return policy.

Starlink’s own 30-day refund is for kits bought on starlink.com, so it doesn’t apply to a store kit. How Starlink returns work.

The Activation Benefit isn’t for store kits

Starlink adds an Activation Benefit automatically at checkout to new Mini kits ordered on starlink.com in the US, and doesn't say what it's worth. A kit from a store wasn’t bought on starlink.com, so it doesn’t get one. Transferred kits are not eligible for the Activation Benefit, either. What we know about the Activation Benefit.

Once you’re set up, you can refer others

Here’s the good news. Per Starlink, customers on an active Residential or Roam plan can refer others; Starlink says participation may be limited to consumer accounts. By our reading, that includes a Mini that came from a store, once it’s on an active Roam plan. You’ll find your own referral link in your Starlink account.

When a friend who has never had Starlink orders on starlink.com through your link and qualifies, Starlink says you both get the reward: $100 each in the US. Your friend has to order in the tab your link opens, and a kit they pick up in a store won’t count.

Only refer people who’ll keep it. The new customer must be an active user who genuinely intends to stay, and SpaceX compares retention against the country average to spot abuse. A friend who wants internet for one camping trip isn’t a good fit.