How Does Satellite Internet Work

Satellite Internet technology, as the name suggests, uses satellites for its working. High speed Internet is provided with an 'always-connected' feature, without using telephone or cable lines. The satellite dish provides a two-way data communication for both transmission and reception of data.

The download speed for the system can reach as much as 25 Mbps upload speed with 3 Mbps download speed, on par with the FCC's standards. The satellite connection is way more faster than normal dial-up modems.

Satellites orbiting the Earth are located over the equatorial region, so the satellite dish (1.2m diameter or two-foot by three-foot dish) at the user's location must be pointed precisely towards the south to avoid interference with other satellites. The satellite modem converts digital signals into analog form.

The dish at the user's end sends radio frequency waves or data (received from the transceiver that connects to the computer) to the transponder (satellite). At the other end, the transponder sends the relay frequencies to a hub teleport at a ground station.

The teleport then forwards the data through the terrestrial Internet. For receiving the requested information, the same process is followed in a reverse order to direct the data back to the user's dish, and the installed modem delivers the desired webpage to the computer.

The two-way technology uses Internet Protocol (IP) multi-casting feature. This feature allows a communication of around 5000 channels, through one single satellite. This is achieved by transmitting compressed data with a smaller bandwidth. This is not in case of terrestrial Internet systems, as their bandwidth optimization is limited.

There are, however, some limitations to the working of satellite Internet. The entire process of sending and receiving data should ideally take about half a second, however due to latency the process gets delayed.

Latency is defined as the sum of time taken by the requested data to get from one point to another and the round-trip time (RTT) in getting the response. The latency in satellite Internet access is higher than normal land-based terrestrial Internet, due to the location of the geostationary satellites.

Satellite Internet is not suitable for applications requiring real-time response. Online games, real time flight tracking or any other live programs cannot be accessed using this technology because they require low latency (500 to 900 ms). However, the latency can be countered by the TCP acceleration process which decreases the RTT (round-trip time).

The communication is also affected by weather, such as rain or moisture in the air, that can affect the transmission. This signal interference can be avoided or limited by use of a satellite dish with a larger surface area, so as to increase the downlink (download) signal and strengthen the uplink (upload) signal.

Web surfing can be achieved at a higher speed and unlike dial-up Internet services, there is no wastage of time of the Internet user. This Internet technology allows the user to surf the Internet even during peak usage times. And, the 'always-connected' feature, keeps your computer connected to the Internet, no matter in which corner of the world you are!