You might not like the regular Internet connection on land situated in a rural area within the USA. You could also have a fiery passion for traveling and need a connection no matter where you are. You could also be an organization looking for connections that work on the ground no matter how large you expand or want the connection to cover.
If this is the case, then we may be of some help to you with a few frequently rounded up questions and their answers about satellite internet, for your ease. Give a quick read to this and you will have all the answers.
Table of Contents
Will Satellite Internet Work From Any Location?
The satellite is placed in a location in space within an orbit and looks as if it is stationary from the land. It is however orbiting the Earth but at the same speed, it does to keep it in the same location as needed. This is done within 24 hours, which is quite awesome. The satellite in space is thus geostationary and is 22,300 miles above Earth’s space above the equator.
The ability of this is to transfer and to receive data from the satellite on Earth which is smaller and performs a vice versa communication. This connects the NOC (network operations center) which helps to connect to the internet or a private network. The communication happens with the orbiting satellite corresponding with the NOC and thus passing the information to the satellite on the land. This is not very different than using an ISP, which is based on land from the perspective of the user.
However, it is about the connection and its effectiveness in connecting to the internet. For example, an ISP on the land like CenturyLink would be able to install the internet to your home or office in a day and you are ready to use the internet. While the satellite type may take more than a day to activate the connection, depending on where you live such as in a rural area or it may take even more than 2 or 3 days.
The Effectiveness of the Connection
Then the other worrisome issue is the speed of this type of internet, which is not as much as what ISP on the land would offer. In addition, it is important to note that this is an expensive option and only is possible for a large organization with acres of land within operations and deeply set pockets. The HTS version is less expensive but does not offer much and is adverse in polar locations with bad weather conditions. The VSAT terminal can also cover any area but without the high-speed connection that an ISP on land offers. However, better connections are available with big names such as Inmarsat and HughesNet but on pricey terms.
Is Satellite Connection Used For Internet Communication?
It is possible and used in areas, which have low accessible options to obtain a connection with no extra cables. For example, the ships, oil platforms, and land expeditions may require it to keep a connection, especially solo travelers for safety. People in cities such as news and broadcasting companies also use it because as an ISP, the connection may lag or cut, a good satellite connection will never break unless a very serious weather problem occurs such as hailstorms.
Cable connections are also more vulnerable to malware and outside interference, which is probably why the government and military use private satellite connections. It is possible so with highly proficient tech though. However, the public cannot access it ordinarily.
Does It Work With In Drastic Weather Conditions?
The satellite connection uses the frequencies that come from the microwave radio types, which pass from one place to another in a straight line. This cannot pass through objects of the solid kind such as buildings or poles. Thus, bad weather conditions can affect the air between the dishes placed on Earth with the orbiting satellite and disrupt communications flow. However, stronger signals are even immune to this unless something is harsh like snowstorms or hailstorms of the worse kind can block signals completely temporarily, which tends to happen to global warming. In addition, very harsh winds can end up causing damage to the dish on earth, then antennas, etc. This is due to the shape of the satellite too. The tower may also face damage and an outage can happen. Therefore, your location matters most in your choice of internet connection.
Why Is It Not Popular?
This type of connection can have a problem:
- There is no latency in this making gaming or VoIP (such as WhatsApp calls) impractical in use.
- Best for broadcasting or need with covering more land so only organizations use it.
- Both options mean that a great connection will mean a high price.
The Future Usage of Satellite Internet
The rural retailer or organization can have better use of it as ISP on land provide internet in many rural areas too. The connection is not very expensive or time taking and there are no outages if weather issues occur unless it is a severe one like flooding. This is why this area will remain low on competition unless there is new tech to improve the issues faces. While the ISP on land will have an upper hand meanwhile. So, choose what works for you and not what is said to be best.