Do you know why Satellite internet is so bad? Well, you are at the perfect place to find the answer to such a question.
With the roll-out of 5G and many people becoming used to the idea of super-fast internet speeds in all kinds of remote and distant places, you might be wondering why satellite internet seems to have so many problems. Why is satellite internet so bad?
Satellite internet is plagued by high latency, limited bandwidth, slow upload speeds, and frustrating caps to service usage.
Read on to discover why satellite internet seems to have fallen behind the other options on the market today.
What Is Satellite Internet?
Before we get into the problems that satellite internet faces, we first need to understand exactly what it is that we’re talking about.
Satellite internet is an alternative to wired internet services like DSL or cable. Rather than reaching your home or device through a series of connected wires that transmit the data, satellite internet is beamed down to you from satellites that are orbiting around the earth.
Although mobile or cellular internet may seem like it is available wirelessly in a similar way, these networks are still reliant on physical, grounded masts that send and receive data.
The benefit of satellite internet is that it can be transmitted to almost any location on the planet without the need for a terrestrial infrastructure to support it.
You can use satellite internet in the middle of the ocean, in a cabin in the woods, or up a mountain.
How Does Satellite Internet Work?
Rather than requiring a wire to be connected to your home, satellite internet uses a dish to get you online.
Usually, you will need to have a dish installed in your home which will send and receive information to and from a satellite that is orbiting above the earth. This satellite will then send/receive that same information to/from a ground station that is connected to the internet as a whole.
In many ways, this is quite similar to how wired internet works, just using a wireless network of satellites rather than a wired network of exchanges.
Is Satellite Internet Really That Bad?
Realistically, there are both positives and negatives to satellite internet. Although it certainly has its downsides, there are some significant upsides to the service as well.
Most importantly, it is available practically anywhere on the planet. That is definitely not the case with any other kind of internet provision, and, for some people, satellite internet may be the only option that you have.
This is particularly significant for transitory and temporary connections, as well as connections in very remote places where a physical infrastructure would be extremely costly, if not impossible to achieve. It can also offer broadband-level speeds without the need for a mobile network mast.
Unfortunately, however, there are many issues with satellite internet as well.
6 Reasons Why Satellite Internet Is So Bad
1. It’s Expensive
You can expect to spend quite a bit of money getting yourself connected via a satellite network.
Satellite internet is relatively expensive to install and costly to pay for compared to other options on the market.
For example the average satellite plan in the US will cost around $110 per month, which is more than double the average cost of fiber or cable (around $50 a month).
On top of this, you can expect to be locked into a very long-term contract that is hard to get out of.
2. Data Caps And Usage Limits
Many people have become used to the idea of unlimited plans and being able to stream/download large amounts of data on a daily basis. Unfortunately, this is not possible with satellite internet.
Because there are only so many satellites within the different networks, there are limitations to the amount of data that can be provided at any given time. Most satellite internet plans have very strict data caps, and the service can suffer when many devices are using the network at once.
3. Slow Upload Speeds
Although download speeds tend to be very reasonable with satellite internet (even better than what you get from wired broadband in some places) the same cannot be said for upload speeds.
All users are sharing the same satellites, which means that data can only be sent in short amounts and access can become congested. Therefore, upload speeds are significantly slower than they are with other internet services.
4. High Latency
Latency is an aspect of internet usage that many people do not know much about, but it is really important for certain purposes. Basically, it refers to the time delay between data being sent from one place and received at another.
The satellites that your device is connected to are thousands of miles away, so there will always be relatively large delays and high latency.
This means that your connection will be behind that of other people you are trying to interact with in real-time, which is a big problem for things like video calls and multiplayer gaming.
5. It Is Affected By Weather
This is a big one that is often forgotten when you think about barriers to being online.
Bad weather can seriously disrupt the ability of a satellite to send and receive data from your location. This means that you can find yourself knocked off the internet for long periods of time due to a storm.
6. It Is Not Quite As Widely Available As It Seems
A slightly more subtle issue with satellite internet is that it doesn’t quite live up to its intended purpose in the way that you might think.
Although satellites can communicate with almost any location on earth, they do still need a direct line of sight to function. Mountains, forests, or even tall buildings can interrupt this communication – and if one satellite fails then you will be disconnected until another one comes into view.
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Summary
So, why is satellite internet so bad? Although satellite internet is certainly technologically impressive, it is still held back by a few issues.
The satellites themselves are limited in number and this means that you will experience data caps and limited bandwidth. It is also expensive to install and run, and you will always be facing slow upload speeds and high latency.
Additionally, you do need to be able to communicate directly with a satellite for it to work, and this capability is not quite as universal and consistent as you might think.
References
https://bigblu.co.uk/how-does-satellite-broadband-work/
https://broadbandnow.com/guides/satellite-internet-pros-and-cons