What is Satellite?

Satellite Dish Internet

     The satellite system consists of a 24" x 36" satellite dish mounted on or near your residence (1.2 meter satellites dish in Alaska and Hawaii). The dish must have a clear unobstructed view of the southern sky. Two standard coaxial cables connect the satellite dish antenna to the satellites modem.
     The antenna both sends requests to the Internet and receives Internet content via the satellites, which is in orbit approximately 22,300 miles above the equator. The satellite communicates with the hub facility, which has a direct connection to the Internet.
     In addition to the two-way satellites Internet service, the system can also be configured to receive satellite television service from EchoStar's DISH Network (Note: this requires a Dish Network subscription and additional equipment).
     Inside your house, the system consists of a satellite modem that attaches to your home PC through an Ethernet or USB port. No telephone connection, dial-up account or other Internet service providers are needed.
     The Broadband Satellite Service uses a small 'two way' VSAT satellite dish (70cm x 90cm) which transmits and receives data at high speed to and from a satellite with upto 500Kbps downstream and upto 300Kbps upstream, contended. This links to the internet via a gateway.
     The satellite dish is mounted on, or near, your home or office with a clear and unobstructed view of the sky to the south. Inside your premises, the dish is connected by two standard coaxial cables to a VSAT satellites system modem. To connect one PC to the Service you can use a USB or Ethernet port.
     If you want to connect up to four computers on a network for simultaneous use, the satellites modem / router connects to the LAN through an Ethernet port.
     Please note that long distance satellite communications cause a slight delay (or latency) in transmission (minimum delay 750ms). To achieve high speed downloads and mask the effect of delay over the satellites link, the service 'accelerates' certain protocols that control the transmission of internet data.
     Please note however, that such latency

May be worse at busy times
Will affect the behaviour of interactive internet applications such as some games, voice over IP, video conferencing and PC remote control applications (eg PC Anywhere, Virtual Network Computer, Citrix).These types of applications are therefore not recommended
Will affect certain types of internet application that are not able to take advantage of this 'acceleration' feature and will operate at low speed only (eg Secure VPNs).

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