Is Satellite Internet Good and Reliable?
If you're forced to ask whether you can get satellite Internet, there are probably limited options to access high-speed broadband. What do "good and reliable" satellite Internet services compare to terrestrial technologies and networks? For more related articles, visit internet providers in Florida.
Is Satellite Internet Good and Reliable?
Our faithful readers are well aware of what we do are IAG look down on satellite ISP service. We've explained our reasoning previously:
- The cost of satellite broadband for broadband services is higher than DSL, DOCSIS, and DSL.
- Both commercial companies? HughesNet and Viasat limit their usage by imposing ridiculously small caps on data
- the most dreadful of all -- LATENCY.
We've all felt the frustration of being far from civilization to be able to connect to DOCSIS cable or DSL networks. We've experienced awe-inspiring satellite Internet sticker shock following the cost for the installation of a dish and studying the obligatory two-year "commitment" (i.e., contract) that we were required to sign to be able to use the service. If anyone prematurely ends their "commitment" to the satellite ISP, there are severe financial penalties.
To be fair to HughesNet or Viasat their dues, the fact is that over the last two years, they've introduced satellites capable of offering speeds of 25 Mbps (HughesNet) and 100Mbps (Viasat) to customers, which typically exceed the first-generation DSL that telcos offer.
"Is satellite Internet good and reliable" is largely dependent in part on the way people in your household and/or the business you work for use online services. Think about: What are the things I do through the Internet? The answer will determine the ease of satellite Internet is for your requirements.
Terrestrial Networks or Satellite Networks?
In the 1960s, AT&T executives described the new Telstar 1 satellite as the "telephone pole in the sky." The hyperbolic description ignores that it is a "telephone pole" in question 22300 miles away in space. Therefore, it is just right to study the differences between satellite and terrestrial communication networks.
In the previous IAG posts, we've explained the winding, and long path data travels over the satellite network. It's a significantly greater distance than terrestrial networks. This distance discrepancy is the shorter time to lag for terrestrial networks.
If you don't have access to a world in which Earth physical laws are a thing of the past, you'll find that the velocity of your Internet data is likely to be no more than that of light (and radio waves). The "telephone pole in the sky" is quite a distance away. And it's just half the distance that your data travels between your computer with your satellite ISP server, and it will travel for more miles after it departs this satellite ISP server and returns to the URL that it was sent to.
In other words, you'll noticeably slow network performance when using geostationary satellite communications. What is more important is, what is the significance?
Like point-to-point radio channels (i.e., fixed wireless) and point-to-multipoint radio networks (e.g., WiMax), broadband speeds and satellite connections are highly affected by extreme weather conditions. Rainstorms and snowstorms don't interfere with hard-wired networks; however, they can affect satellite communications, reducing radio signals until the connection is lost. Although dropped video feeds may be frustrating, VoIP (voice over Internet) protocol ( VoIP) service loss because of storms and weather conditions could have disastrous effects.
How Do You Use the Internet?
In the past few years, Internet use has become an integral part of our daily lives. People use the Internet for a myriad of motives. The majority of people don't even write letters anymore and respond to emails. Newspapers aren't bought anymore and instead use the news aggregators from Google and Yahoo to check out the latest news. Most people no longer use the landline phones at home that are connected to the Telco Public switched Telephone Network (PTSN) or are using VoIP and the LTE mobile service instead.
The truth is that the Internet has drastically changed Americans' behavior in the last 25 years. At the start of the decade, no one had heard about "over-the-top" ( OTT) television programming accessible via the Internet, which eluded both television networks and cable companies. The advent of OTT TV has put conventional cable companies (aka MSOs) such as Time-Warner and Comcast in a state of eclipse.
When Satellite Internet Isn't "Good and Reliable."
Satellite ISP users might have issues using two apps from the above list streaming online video and online video calls and conferences.
Although streaming video isn't an interactive program (thus, it doesn't matter how latency), videos consume many data. Televisions with HD TVs and, in particular, UHD televisions can crush the data limit of a subscriber's satellite ISP in just a few hours with normal usage.
Calculate for streaming a video in HD resolution (1080p) consumes 4.7 gigabytes per hour. If you're streaming a full-length film, your device will be consuming well over 10GB of data. Then, take a look at the data plan through your satellite ISP. It's shocking to realize that in just a few hours, you've used up 25 percent of your monthly allocation of data (if the plan you have is 40GB of data each month).
What happens if you use up the monthly allowance of data from your satellite ISP? Beware of their advertising claims about " unlimited data." Your speed can be " throttled" down to 1-3 Mbps until the plan's cap on data resets the following month. (HughesNet offers 50GB of additional data each month from 2 and 8 am, but unless the type of person is vampire-like, this allowance will not be of any practical use.)
What can you do online using just 3 Mbps? As per the FCC, they recommend these speeds to use for "general browsing and email," "streaming online radio," "social media," "'standard' video calls, e.g., Skype," and "VoIP calls." That's all.
However, the FCC does not take into account latency in evaluating broadband. Remember that every Skype or VoIP call is slowed down by 3-4 seconds of delay. As this remains Ajit Pai's FCC and not his, you should take note of this FCC statement: "These numbers are rough guidelines and are not based on surveys or experiments conducted by the FCC."
Coda
Look, we get it. Many millions of North Americans still only have two choices for accessing the Internet: dial-up ( Egad!) or satellite ISP. Certain those who rely on dial-ups will find the satellite ISP an incredible leap ahead after having experienced the speeds of data that satellite Internet provides. They may think of the satellite Internet as "good and reliable."
However, considering the price for the services it provides and the fact that it is prone to latency, satellite ISP is a viable option that should be considered after a thorough review of dial-up or (maybe) older DSL. Be careful when deciding whether to financially commit your time for two consecutive years with the satellite ISP.