Power lines, TV dishes and antennas near your Starlink

Overhead lines, utility poles and other antennas matter to Starlink mainly as objects in its view of the sky, and the Starlink app’s scan at your spot shows whether they are. Power lines add a second, harder limit that has nothing to do with signal: how close you can safely raise a pole, a mast or a ladder.

It’s easy to worry that a line overhead will “interfere” with the dish and overlook the more serious problem, which is a tall metal pole standing where it could fall onto that line. Both questions have answers, and the safety one comes first.

Block vs interfere: what Starlink names

Starlink’s help articles describe obstructions as physical things in the dish’s sky. It names a single branch, a pole or a roof as enough to interrupt service. Its maritime and mobility install guide adds that if the dish won’t be the tallest object in sight, you should use the app to make sure masts, antennas or other structures won’t interrupt service. And its US Specifications document lists the proximity of other Starlink kits among the things that can affect performance.

What Starlink doesn’t name, in the help articles and documents this site read on Nov 3, 2026: radio interference from power lines, TV dishes, TV antennas or household Wi-Fi. It doesn’t publish a safe distance from any of them either.

So for most homes the useful question isn’t “will it interfere?” but “is it in the part of the sky the dish uses?”, and that one has a test you can run.

Power lines: in the sky, and the safety distance

In the sky

The service line running from the street pole to your house usually sits low, often below a dish mounted on the roof (our reading). A line on a tall pole close to the dish spot can rise into its view. A single wire is a much thinner target than a tree crown or a utility pole (also our reading), but Starlink publishes no figure for how much a wire matters, so let the scan decide.

Run the app’s obstruction check from the planned spot, at the planned height, in daylight. After installation, Starlink says the app shows a live obstruction map of exactly where signal blockages occur, and that map is the final word.

The safety distance

This part isn’t about signal at all. A pole, a mast or a metal ladder that touches an overhead line can kill the person holding it.

• Keep tall things out of a line’s reach. This site’s pole guide uses a general US antenna-safety rule, not a Starlink one: set a pole at least twice its full height (mast plus dish) away from any overhead line, including the service line to your house, so it can’t reach the line if it falls while you raise it or years later.
• Know that clearance rules exist. OSHA’s electrical safety rules for workers set minimum distances between overhead lines and ladders or long conductive objects (29 CFR 1910.333). Your utility can tell you what applies to the line on your property.
• Never attach anything to a utility pole or to the electrical service mast, the pipe where the power line enters a roof. Utilities and electrical codes generally reserve those for power wiring.
• Leave line trimming to the utility. Branches near an overhead line aren’t a homeowner job, or a job for a general tree crew.
• Call 811 before digging a pole footing, so buried lines get marked.

An old TV dish or antenna on the same roof

As an obstruction

An old satellite TV dish or an antenna mast for over-the-air channels is a structure like any other. If it rises into the Starlink dish’s view, it can block part of the sky. Mount Starlink higher, or on the other side of the roof from it, or take the old one down if no one uses it. A scan from the planned Starlink spot shows whether it’s actually in the way.

As interference

Satellite TV dishes point at geostationary satellites, which stay fixed above the equator. Starlink says its system doesn’t send or receive through that band of sky, which shows as a thick clear band on the app’s obstruction map, so it doesn’t interfere with geostationary satellites. Our reading: that’s a statement about the satellites in orbit. Starlink publishes nothing specific about a TV dish mounted a few feet away, and we found no Starlink guidance on spacing the two.

Metal under the dish

If you’re tempted to reuse the old dish’s metal arm or plate, read this first. Starlink says third-party metal mounts that wrap around the dish’s base, or setting the dish directly on metal, may interfere with GPS and aren’t supported. Third-party mounts are otherwise allowed, though Starlink can’t vouch for their performance or compatibility. Whether the old dish’s spot is a good Starlink spot at all is a separate question, and a scan answers it.

Another Starlink nearby

Starlink’s Specifications list the proximity of other Starlink kits as something that can affect performance, but the documents this site read give no distance. Two practical cases:

• Two kits on one property, say the house and a workshop: give each its own open sky, and don’t mount one where it sits in the other’s view (our reading).
• A neighbor’s dish across the fence: there’s nothing to do beyond choosing your own spot well. Starlink doesn’t publish guidance for it.

Routing the cable near electrical wiring

Starlink doesn’t publish a separation distance between its cable and household electrical wiring in the articles this site read. What it does say about the cable:

• Keep it clear of kinks, debris and door jambs.
• It isn’t rated to be buried or to sit under water.
• Connect the dish directly, without extra jumper cables, receptacles or devices that extend the link.

Our rule of thumb, from common low-voltage practice rather than from Starlink: don’t run the Starlink cable through the same holes, boxes or conduit as electrical wiring, and cross power cables rather than running alongside them for long stretches. An electrician can tell you what your local code requires. Getting the cable inside covers the route into the house.

Inside, the router is where household interference shows up. Starlink’s Wi-Fi tips say to keep the router at least 20 ft from microwaves, refrigerators, metal, concrete, brick, fluorescent lights, other Wi-Fi networks and bad electrical connections. That’s also the answer to “can Starlink interfere with my Wi-Fi?”: the Starlink router is a Wi-Fi router, and like any other it shares the air with the networks around it.

Scan and decide in four steps

1. Map what’s overhead. Walk the yard and note every line, pole, antenna and old dish, and roughly how high each one rises from where the dish would sit.
2. Scan each candidate spot with the Starlink app, in daylight, at the planned mount height, and screenshot each result. How to run the app check covers the details, and why scans after dark mislead explains the timing.
3. Check the safety limit before you choose a pole spot: the twice-the-height rule, a call to the utility about the line, and 811 before digging.
4. Pick the spot where nothing rises into the dish’s view and nothing tall can fall onto a line. If every clear spot is close to a line, look at a wall or roof mount instead of a pole (mount options), then run the fit check with what you found.

For everything else that can sit in the dish’s sky, from trees to chimneys, start with what counts as an obstruction.

Run the fit check

Questions this page answers

Can I put Starlink near power lines?

Starlink names poles among things that can block the dish, but it doesn't list power lines as a source of interference in the documents this site read. The bigger issue is safety: never raise a pole, mast or ladder where it could reach a line.

Can Starlink interfere with DISH Network or DirecTV?

Starlink says it doesn't send or receive through the geostationary band over the equator, so it doesn't interfere with geostationary satellites, which is where satellite TV dishes point. It publishes nothing specific about a TV dish mounted nearby.

Can Starlink interfere with my Wi-Fi?

The Starlink router is a Wi-Fi router, and Starlink's own placement tips list other Wi-Fi networks among the things to keep it away from. Place it centrally and at least 20 ft from microwaves, fridges, metal and other interference, as Starlink suggests.

Should I take down my old TV dish?

Only if it rises into the sky the Starlink dish needs, or no one uses it any more. A scan from the planned Starlink spot shows whether it's in the way.

How far apart should two Starlink dishes be?

Starlink lists nearby Starlink kits among things that can affect performance but doesn't give a distance in the documents this site read. Give each dish its own open sky.

Read next

Obstructions

Read

App obstruction check

Read

Pole & mast

Read

Does Starlink need to be grounded? Lightning and surge protection at a house

Read

What we checked this page against

1. How do I check for obstructions before installing Starlink? (Starlink help center) · retrieved Nov 3, 2026
2. Maritime / Mobility Install Guide - Performance (Gen 2) (Starlink help center) · retrieved Nov 3, 2026
3. Starlink Specifications, US (DOC-DF-1915-15313-48) · retrieved Nov 3, 2026
4. How should I interpret the obstruction map? (Starlink help center) · retrieved Nov 3, 2026
5. Can I use third-party mounts with my Starlink? (Starlink help center) · retrieved Nov 3, 2026
6. Starlink Beam Switching (starlink.com update, Jul 30, 2025) · retrieved Nov 3, 2026
7. How much cable do I have and how do I route it indoors? (Starlink help center) · retrieved Nov 3, 2026
8. How can I improve my WiFi connectivity? (Starlink help center) · retrieved Nov 3, 2026

Each number on this page traces back to one of these entries; our fact rules explain how. If a reading has drifted, the corrections log shows how it gets fixed.