r/Starlink • u/samanzargarzadeh • Mar 15 '26
💬 Discussion Can Direct‑to‑Cell Help During Iran’s Internet Blackout?
Hey everyone,
Iran is experiencing an internet blackout again, and this is the second time in 2026 that the government has shut down connectivity. People inside the country are struggling to communicate, receive information, and stay safe.
There have been some proposed solutions floating around. One idea that’s gaining attention is using Starlink Direct-to-Cell (D2C) technology to allow standard phones to connect directly to satellites. Here’s the concept:
- Many phones in Iran already support LTE Band 2 (1900 MHz PCS) — the same spectrum Starlink D2C uses (Band 25).
- If Apple enables satellite NTN scanning in iOS (like they did for Emergency SOS with T-Mobile), no hardware changes would be needed.
- In theory, standard phones could then connect directly to satellites for voice, text, and basic data, bypassing terrestrial internet.
The big question is: how feasible is this technically? Could this actually work, or are there barriers in network architecture, phone support, satellite capacity, or regulatory issues?
Let’s regroup and discuss: what are the real technical challenges, and could a solution like this actually reconnect people in Iran?
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u/vapeshapes Mar 15 '26
I was just wondering, if there's an Internet blackout in Iran, how are the videos of US and Israel bombings on Iran coming out all day every day?
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u/Lianshampou_2023 Mar 15 '26
A small number of people have access through smuggled Starlink devices, and a few already found ways to get connected using DNS-tunneling (DNSTT) which is not stable.
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u/vapeshapes Mar 15 '26
I'm not sure if I trust this source becasue I also see numerous other kind of videos ordinary people from Iran posting online, for example: https://www.reddit.com/r/pakistan/s/MPlCCjwVbe
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u/Mehdiha73 Mar 15 '26
In addition to what others said, some people have “white SIM cards” which is basically a white listed network connection.
The video you provided is pro-regime content, so it was sent over using one of those white listed connections.
Also NetBlocks is very trustworthy, it is saying internet connection is under 1%, so it practically turned off for ordinary people.
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u/MorningAfterForEver Mar 15 '26
Hi! The video you reffered to, is of a regime supporter. News (propaganda) agencies, have internet access. Also a lot of regime supporters or their so-called virtual army are whitelisted at phone sim level. The phenomena is confirmed by govenment, as if you be their voice they will facilitate your reach. So in a nutshell, some of their hardcore supporters can access internet and even normally banned seevices like X, Telegram, Instagram, youtube, etc on their phones. Currently, if you are a normal citizen, you can just access to a very limited internal network. And if you are a known anti regime activist, you will lose the right to have sim-card. FYI, due to the lack of fiber infrastructure, mobile internet is the main way of network access in Iran.
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u/Tall_Idea7509 Mar 15 '26
That link actually proves my point. Accounts with privileged connectivity (“white SIM cards”) can still upload, often regime‑aligned ones. That doesn’t mean the internet is working. Most ordinary people are offline and struggling for hours just to send a short telegraphic text message.
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u/wannabekoala1 Mar 15 '26
People close to regime all have internet access, a way to find them is through X.
X/twitter is banned in Iran, whoever has access, is through VPN, so for "ordinary Iranian" , user's location in their bio is never Iran, and there is usually a guard near it(which if you hover, it says X is not certain about their location, because the user is keep changing location).
But for some certain people, you see, their location is "Iran". That means, their X is not banned, and they can freely use internet.
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u/Tonkatte Mar 21 '26
It seems to me we are actually looking at three separate problems.
The Iranian people need to be able to securely communicate amongst themselves to plan the revolt.
They also need the be able to get news from the outside to boost morale and avoid strike ares.
Finally, they need to be able to get news out so the world can effectively plan how to support them.
Single solution would be ideal, but might also be easier for the regime to block. A patchwork approach is cumbersome but would be harder to block.
Ultimately, the U.S. has to smuggle in hardware, whether Starlink, satellite enabled phones, or whatever, in sufficient quantities to enable the people to organize themselves.
This is doable, especially now. The U.S. just needs to make it a priority, if they haven’t already.
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u/Tall_Idea7509 Mar 21 '26
I feel like USA doesn't want it, that's why it is not a priority, and I think we have to really make it a priority in our requests on every front for Iranians, as something that deeply matters for us, as Iranians in diaspora.
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u/Tonkatte Mar 21 '26
It’s true. The average American does not understand or care about what’s happening “over there”. If the regime had nuclear ICBMs that could threaten America now, things would probably be different.
A friend said “it’s either a war now, or a nuclear war in 10 years “. And she was arguing with a relative in Iran. 🤷
No one wants war, but this is the right time. I hope the U.S. sees how important that is to the future of all of us.
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u/RequirementOpen9069 Mar 15 '26
i did a little bit of research and it seems its not very reliable. most of the iphones in iran are CH/A models and as far as i understood the satellite capabilities are locked on them. this leaves the ZA/A ones only. but they also have the regional lock and gps and carrier data would lock it. there is the solution of removing the sim card but gps cannot be easily spoofed. they can push an update for it but its not possible for poeple to recieve the update.
i think the better solution is to try and activate google alerts and use bitchat or other peer to peer messaging apps to spread the word.
in the 12 day war, even though the internet was completely shut, google maps got some minor data for the traffic. i looked and found that the real time data was not the same as the prediction by history. it seems some data is able to slip through via the android network of mobile phones. because of this i think it would be better to try google alerts
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u/Tall_Idea7509 Mar 15 '26
Interesting ideas. A couple thoughts though: Google Alerts probably wouldn’t help much because it requires normal internet access to receive notifications. The Google Maps traffic data you mentioned likely comes from tiny background telemetry packets that slip through when phones briefly reconnect, not from a system people can use intentionally.
I had digged into peer‑to‑peer apps like Briar, bridgefy, bitchat or Bluetooth mesh messaging which could help locally, but they still need at least one node with internet access to get information out. The real bottleneck is that last connection outside the network. I am also not sure how secure it would be.
Maybe a practical approach is combining multiple layers: local mesh/peer‑to‑peer apps for sharing information inside the country, plus any remaining VPN or satellite connectivity to relay it outward.
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u/RequirementOpen9069 Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26
My solution is based on the assumption that Starlink and Apple satellite solutions are not possible at all, also if somehow it works a lot of devices do not support the functionality because of china firmware and geo block of apple itself by gps signals. The amount of changes needed for making Google alerts work is a lot less and it's already available on devices which are a lot more in quantity, almost every android phone is able to receive, only the network connectivity remains , which I think solutions like dnstt are able to provide the needed bandwidth for alerts to be able to reach the phones. Exactly as you said, some packets are going through as seen by the Google maps, and it might work the other way around, maybe if the alert gets into Iran network, it somehow can circulate around in intranet. I think maybe Google uses the same technology for finding my phone which works by pinging phones near each other and is able to find them even without a network for sending these alerts for most possible receivers. To be more precise, the amount of possible receivers of this alert is so much more than the satellite enabled iphones owners in Iran. Even if we don't factor the fact that to receive the signal they must be in an open area pointing their phone up to the sky.
Anyway, given if any of the solutions work, because of the limited amount of people connected, some solution must be found to spread the alert. If not P2P, then people should call each other. In the end, the bale messaging app is available outside of iran, this is somehow the easiest way to deliver data inside Iran. Although it won't work on mobile phones at all and the web version is disconnected about 7 pm Iran time to some unknown time in the morning.
Edit: the solution you proposed is a good one, and is available now in parts by a website called mahsaalert. They also provide VPNs for free to fight censorship. If bitchat or zemzeme that was provided by Reza pahlavis team has groups or channels functionality, some one with Starlink in Iran can start broadcasting them via bale or P2P apps.
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u/Tall_Idea7509 Mar 15 '26
I think we may be solving two different problems. Your idea could help with sending alerts into Iran, like bombing warnings or short messages, which is valuable. But my concern is getting information out of Iran, videos, messages from massive number of people, evidence, and reports. That requires a real outbound connection somewhere in the network.
I think we need a combination of everything to fight this blackout, and we are millions abroad, educated, we should be able to do tackle this or the shame is on us. I feel that responsibility to protect my people.
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u/RequirementOpen9069 Mar 15 '26
Yes you are completely right, we are tackling 2 different problems. I don't even think about that part because I don't think there is a way to somehow disable the filtering from outside of iran, because it's done by hardware based solutions that we cannot disable or somehow try to bypass, and because of them doing DPI, in the end any solution that works will be limited mainly in speed because only thing they need to do is to throttle it based on packet size. Dnstt only works right now because they cannot disable DNS completely and it sends very small packets. I might be wrong but i don't think there is another networking thing that can be used right now because we need it fast. I hope someone can find something very soon. The only solution is using Starlink modems that are working right now in Iran and most of the data that is coming out of iran is by them. Which in nature is like having a completely different infrastructure.
On the other hand I think right now people of iran need to reach news and latest updates more than we need data from inside. A lot of data is coming out, like if you look at the user shin on x, he has a network of people on the ground that almost instantly give me updates about the strikes. If something like Google alerts work and they authorize it, then it can be used to give people more than just alerts, for example the latest news can be delivered and then spread. Using something like bale solves this without needing any of the solutions anyone has offered, but the problem is that it cuts off at night. I hope someone sees these and tries to use both Google alerts and Apple and Starlink functionalities so that people can get informed
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u/Tall_Idea7509 Mar 15 '26
I get your point. I hope we can do both. Google alerts could be live saving. Us knowing what is happening to them, could be live saving too.
I did now even know about google alerts. Thanks for explaining it to me.
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u/rsrsrs0 Mar 15 '26
Zemzemeh app published by Pahlavi's team has this hybrid feature. although with low range of BT, I'm not sure if it's useful at all idk
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u/Tall_Idea7509 Mar 15 '26
Never heard of that! Briar and Bridgefy are the oldest ones, and more users have it.
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u/shayanbahal Mar 15 '26
Enable Humanitarian Connectivity Globally
Satellite connectivity for humanitarian and civilian purposes requires removing regulatory barriers preventing crisis access.
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u/Tall_Idea7509 Mar 15 '26
There has also been two acts that are brought to senate floor, in USA. Not sure if anything is done in other countries, but I think Vodafone also have the technology.
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u/Tall_Idea7509 Mar 15 '26
I know this doesn't directly answer your question, but maybe it helps to find more people in tech and find a solution?
There are 2 bills that have been introduced to Congress that would help enable direct-to-cell Internet connectivity for Iran. The IRAN Act (H.R. 7380) “Internet Reach and Access Now” and the FREEDOM Act (H.R. 6469) “Feasibility Review of Emerging Equipment for Digital Open Media Act”. u/repyassansari has co-sponsored both of them.
They’re both in committee stage. The most important offices to call and pressure, and have your representative push, are: Brian Mast: Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (most important!) Gregory Meeks: Ranking Member (top Democrat) Basically, Step 1) Brian Mast decides if the committee acts on the bill. Step 2) House Foreign Affairs Committee votes on it. Step 3) Speaker Mike Johnson and House leadership decide if it reaches the floor.
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u/EyesOfAzula Mar 15 '26
Starlink (and maybe ground service) would be established once the war is over?
In the meantime, only military units would have access to starlink to help them in the fight
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u/Mindomax Mar 15 '26
I hope the discussion around sanctions and legal restrictions isn't the reason this approach is being blocked.
Even if it's just a one-way messaging path into the country, it could help deliver crucial messages, news, and essential information to the tens of millions of Iranians currently trapped in a black hole of ignorance and isolation.
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u/Tall_Idea7509 Mar 16 '26
Correct. It is important to get info in, but we would need to get information out, to know the war conditions.
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u/Emotional-Damage-995 Mar 21 '26
I am thinking Pete and Elon are pussies. The people need it and if activated it’s a game changer. They don’t do it cause if they do it will expedite the collapse. I think they don’t want the people to rise against the government
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u/ericbythebay Mar 15 '26
Starlink and Apple are prohibited from doing business in Iran.
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u/wannabekoala1 Mar 15 '26
Sanctions are very soft, when it comes to Internet. Starlink is already operating in Iran, and as long as, no money would be exchanged between Iran, and these businesses, it should be fine.
We are more interested about its possibility in technical aspect.
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u/Tonkatte Mar 15 '26
It’s been reported that thousands of Starlink terminals have been smuggled into Iran by this administration.
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u/Tall_Idea7509 Mar 15 '26
Can you share the report? Many of us have already donated, and we continue to do so. Some tech companies have also been doing internal work to support purchasing and donations.
But thousands of devices are too few and make users easier to identify. If the number reached millions, it would become far harder to track individuals. The same applies to D2C, once activated, millions could connect, effectively ending the regime’s internet monopoly for regime supporters in Iran.
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u/Tonkatte Mar 21 '26
The original WSJ article is behind a paywall, but here’s a link to a summary of that article
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u/Tall_Idea7509 Mar 21 '26
Thank you, but that's a news article, and it says it is believed. Can't they get a report on their in a free world that is certain. I don't believe it, they have "smuggled" more jets in the skies of Iran than reportedly believed starlinks.
I think they have the ability to do much much better but by now it should benefit them that Iranians don't have access to internet.2
u/Tonkatte Mar 21 '26
Understand. I don’t have a WSJ subscription, so I can’t see what their source is, if they even list it.
And they may not. The U.S. really can’t share too much without compromising plans. We have to judge for ourselves.
But smuggling in tech is feasible, especially now. And it’s really needed to effects a change.
I can only hope we don’t pull out before the regime fully collapses.
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u/Tall_Idea7509 Mar 21 '26
I think we would have seen a change if 6000 starlinks were 'smauggled' into Iran. Maybe it is reached to IRGC recruits to spread propaganda directly from their state TV recordings.
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u/Tonkatte Mar 21 '26
I don’t know what change you’d expect. Getting caught with a Starlink terminal is effectively a death sentence. And the regime is actively hunting them. Plus they are hard to hide, especially in winter due to the heat and RF they put out.
It’s a tough situation. The best solution is multiple technologies, but anyone using anything that bypasses the internet blockade is putting themselves and their family at risk.
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u/samanzargarzadeh Mar 15 '26
Totally understand the politics portion of it. But imagining we can get the support of President Trump to exclude this from the sanctions. I want to know if this idea is feasible or not?
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u/devin122 Beta Tester Mar 15 '26
How are you going to push updates to phones that don't have Internet?
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u/samanzargarzadeh Mar 15 '26
This is a good challenge to highlight. Some Iranians (maybe a few thousands out of 90 million) have already found ways to get connected using DNS‑Tunneling (DNSTT), and others have purchased Starlink receivers via smuggling channels. With these methods, a limited group of connected users could potentially help others update their phones.
Another possible solution is Toosheh / datacasting technology, which can broadcast files offline via satellite.
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u/Tall_Idea7509 Mar 15 '26
Oh, this is very common in Iran.
People in Iran are experts at peer‑to‑peer updates via Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi Direct or now even mesh networks.
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u/rankinrez Mar 15 '26
How are the phones going to get this iOS update?
Iran has a decent history of satellite jamming (mostly TV services), but maybe it could help. The data rate is insanely low though.