High Speed Internet Providers

Something resembling a definition of a satellite Internet connection would be: receiving and sending information from and to your computer using a satellite. In order to do that the first thing you need is a satellite dish. In addition to the satellite dish you also need a transceiver. The transceiver is used to transmit and receive data coming from the satellite. A satellite Internet connection is asymmetric, meaning that the downstream is bigger than upstream.

The speeds at which satellite Internet connection operates vary, though it can go up to 1Gbps for downstream and 20Mbps for upstream, the speed for home users is considerably lower. The average speed you can expect if you have a satellite Internet connection is 1Mbps for downstream and 256Kbps for upstream, which is not slow at all. All that depends on various factors like traffic, server capacity, position of the satellite, size of files, weather etc.

Satellite Internet is mainly used for downloading and browsing. As we already mentioned, various factors determine the speed, so things like online gaming are out of the question. The time it takes for the signal sent from the computer to come back can sometimes be very long and this is why a satellite connection is not very good for any interactive use.

Satellite Internet, Pros and Cons

Let’s first look at the good aspects of satellite Internet. The first is something questionable, and that is the speed. This type of connection is great for downloading of files; no matter the size of the files, your download speed will be much higher than with other types of connections. It can however lack consistency.

The other benefit of satellite Internet connection is the all-around availability. This is generally the biggest reason why people use satellite Internet. No matter where you are located and no matter what utilities you are lacking, you can have satellite Internet using only a secondary power supply like a generator. You can be in the middle of the desert, but if you have a dish, a transceiver and a power supply that will power your computer, you can have high speed Internet. So if you live in a city satellite Internet may not be the best option for you, but if you live someplace far away from an urban area, this type of connection is perfect.

On the other hand there are a lot of flaws, or cons against satellite connection, the first being latency. Your connection cannot be used for interactive use like we already said, and due to weather conditions and other conditions already mentioned, you may not even have a connection.
All in all the biggest flaw is that satellite Internet depends too much on conditions. All of that makes it very unreliable, and that is a big flaw for an Internet connection. People who need Internet access for business or other important things can’t allow themselves to be out of a connection, and that can often happen with satellite Internet.

Another thing that can influence the speed of your connection or the existence of your connection is the positioning of your satellite dish. If the antenna is not properly positioned you may be out of connection or your speed may be several times slower than it should be.

The last setback is the price. Considering other forms of high speed Internet, satellite Internet connection is pretty expensive. Satellite Internet is great for certain occasions and certain people but the fact that can’t be denied is that there are also a few bad sides to satellite Internet.

For people that want high speed Internet there are a lot of options but if you live in a rural area you may not have the luxury of choice. In that situation the only form of high speed Internet is a satellite connection. This connection may be the best connection of all but only when the weather is great and all conditions fall into place. If a few of those conditions get out of line, you might lose the connection or have a great latency, which can be very frustrating. What is satellite Internet, how it works and what are the benefits and flaws of this type of connection.