# Software updates

> When updates land, how to pick the reboot window, and how to sideload a dish that has fallen too far behind.

Source: https://joinnasnet.com/en/guides/starlink/software-updates/
Last updated: 2026-08-18

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## Overview

Updates download in the background and apply during a reboot. You do not
install them, but you can choose roughly when the reboot happens, and you have
to intervene if a dish has been offline long enough to fall out of date.

## Schedule

- Released roughly every two weeks, though timing varies, and never on fixed
  days.
- Downloaded automatically in the background, applied on reboot.
- **Update data does not count against your priority data.** Starlink
  zero-counts update and telemetry traffic.
- Updates can be installed even while service is paused or inactive. Use the
  app.

By default the dish reboots to apply updates at **3:00 AM local time, plus or
minus 30 minutes**. Local time here means the physical location of the
hardware, not the billing, service or shipping address on your account.

## Choose the reboot window

1. Open the Starlink app.
2. Go to **Settings → Starlink → Software Updates**.
3. Pick **Overnight**, **Morning**, **Afternoon** or **Evening**.

## When it does not update on its own

Update the Starlink app itself first; an old app is a common cause.

An online dish downloads and installs firmware overnight without asking. While
it is updating, the app shows an indicator under the status title on the status
screen. There is no other notification.

A dish that has been **disconnected or offline for more than a few months** may
need a manual update before it can get back online. Follow the steps the app
offers.

## Sideloading

Sideloading manually pushes an update to a kit that cannot fetch one itself.

### Check whether you need it

1. Connect a computer directly to the ethernet port on the Starlink power
   supply.
2. Check the computer's IP address.
3. If it is in the **206.214.x.x** range, sideloading applies.

If the address is something else, this is not your problem. Try ordinary
troubleshooting or contact support.

### Reaching the sideload screen

All three options end at the same place in the app:

1. Home screen.
2. Menu button, the three lines at the top left.
3. On the subscription screen, the circled **i** at the bottom right.
4. Scroll to **Debug Data**, then **Sideload**.
5. Tap **Update Now** and wait.

### Option 1: Starlink router and the app

Connect your phone to the Starlink router through the app, then follow the
steps above.

### Option 2: Your own wireless router

Works with ordinary wireless routers only. Not switches, not firewalls, not
enterprise routers.

Add this static route on the third-party router:

| Setting | Value |
| ------- | ----- |
| Destination network | `192.168.100.0` |
| Subnet mask | `255.255.255.0` |
| Gateway | Blank, or `0.0.0.0`, or "none" |
| Interface | WAN |

Then follow the app steps above.

### Option 3: Phone and an ethernet adapter

1. Put the phone in **airplane mode** first.
2. Use a phone with USB-C and a USB-C to ethernet adapter.
3. Connect the adapter directly to the kit's ethernet port.
4. Follow the app steps above.

## Related

- [App alerts](/en/guides/starlink/alerts/)
- [Offline](/en/guides/starlink/offline/)
- [Networking](/en/guides/starlink/router-config/networking/)