Broadband Satellite Internet Benefits and Limitations

What Is Broadband Satellite?

Broadband satellite is a wireless high-speed Internet connection provided by satellites. Satellite broadband offers two-way high-speed Internet access via satellites. Your computer, through a special satellite modem, broadcasts high-speed requests to a satellite dish that sits on top of your home or business. The dish then sends and receives signals from satellites that orbit some 22,000 miles above the equator.  Broadband satellite primarily serves consumers in rural and other hard-to-reach areas that do not have DSL or cable service. Typical download is 700 Kbps with 128 Kbps upload speeds.

Satellite broadband fits into a small business environment in the same way as conventional broadband. With a router, you can network satellite broadband as you would any other type of broadband.

Unlike DSL or cable, satellite dishes need clear views of the southern sky. Also, because the Internet signal has to travel from your dish to a satellite, there's a built-in latency or delay - typically a quarter of a second. The latency isn't usually a problem when you're viewing Web pages, but can affect applications such as VoIP and real-time interactive gaming.

Like DSL and cable, satellite broadband won't monopolize the phone line the way dial-up access does, but if DSL or cable is available, that's the way to go.

Satellite broadband Internet access provides a solution for those with no other high-speed means available and dial-up access is too slow.