Satellite Internet News

August 6, 2007

We always think of various options that have available when we plan to change our Internet connection or take a new one. There are many options which include broadband connectivity, leased lines, DSL, or through the cable network. What happens when you are in a far off place and devoid of such facility? Satellite Internet is the best option for such areas and ideal for the rural internet aficionados. The technology of Satellite Internet does not use a phone line or a network cable, but it depends on a satellite dish for both download and upload. The speed of Satellite Internet is definitely much faster than the dial-up modem connections. So how does Satellite Internet work? Let us first check out the equipments used. The equipments used are two-foot by two and half-foot dish for receiving and transmitting data. A modem is used for both, upload and download connections. The satellite dish needs to be connected through two coaxial cables, which also provide power to the dish.
The installation when done must ensure that the dish has a southern view, since most satellites orbiting the Earth are at the equator. The data gets transferred from the orbiting satellites and transmits to your dish, which then transfers the data to your computer via the coaxial cables. The Satellite Internet uses the technology of Internet Protocol (IP) multicasting. This provides the option of communicating 5,000 channels at the same time through a single satellite frequency. The data is transferred from a single point to multiple points in a compressed format. The advantage of compression is that it reduces the data size and also reduces the bandwidth requirements substantially.

Here, one needs to understand the functioning of TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol). TCP actually controls and manages the transmission through IP. TCP sends the data for the receipts. If the same is not received within a specific time frame, then the TCP sends back the data and it slows the data transfer rate. This factor must be considers when using Satellite Internet, because a delay of few milliseconds can affect the speed of the Internet. The problem needs to be corrected immediately when it is detected which only HughesNet does.

The notable companies that offer this service of Satellite Internet on a two-way basis are HughesNet aka Direcway, WildBlue, and StarBand. HughesNet is the only provider which designed and uses a complex but efficient technology to transmit data over satellite. This Protocol is “IPOS” Internet Protocol Over Satellite. This technology is years ahead of the competition.

HughesNet was formerly known as Direcway. The Hughes Corp. (Hughes Network Systems) bought the remaining shares of Direcway making the world’s largest leader to offer Internet via Satellite. The earlier Direcway service was known as DirecPC which was the world’s first satellite internet provider. DirecPC offered a dial-up modem or connection to send data to the internet. Only data received or downloaded was via satellite, which offered a much slower speed and performance.

One of the new comers to the market is WildBlue. WildBlue currently has two only satellites in operation. When compared to HughesNet’s twelve satellites it’s a small slice of the market. WildBlue uses a cable modem technology for their protocol. This technology is not optimized for satellite internet usages, which limits the bandwidth and availability of their satellites.

An old-timer in the satellite internet business is StarBand. StarBand is not seen or heard of much anymore. The few thousand, or maybe only hundreds of customers that StarBand has left, have been jumping ship. The company is no longer investing money into research and development and they are no longer offering upgrades.

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