Satellite Internet access is Internet access provided through communications satellites.
Modern satellite Internet service is typically provided to users through geostationary satellites that can offer high data speeds, with newer satellites achieving downstream data speeds up to 15 Mbps.
Satellite Internet generally relies on three primary components:
– a satellite in geostationary orbit (sometimes referred to as a geosynchronous Earth orbit, or GEO),
– a number of ground stations known as gateways that relay Internet data to and from the satellite via radio waves (microwave), and
– a VSAT (very-small-aperture terminal) dish antenna with a transceiver, located at the subscriber’s premises.
Other components of a satellite Internet system include a modem at the user end which links the user’s network with the transceiver, and a centralized network operations center (NOC) for monitoring the entire system.
Working in concert with a broadband gateway, the satellite operates a Star network topology where all network communication passes through the network’s hub processor, which is at the center of the star.
With this configuration, the number of remote VSATs that can be connected to the hub is virtually limitless.