i have built a small LAN (about 30 clients for now) in my hometown and i would like to connect it to the internet. in my town there is only 1 ISP that has huge prices for small connections so i thought to get a Satelite connection. the deals are seem great but there are a few questions.

i don't know almost anything about internet connections via satelite so i would like to hear an oppinion from someone that has used or uses such a connection.

does it really work? what external enviroment factors affect the connection? please let me know anything that is to know about this kind of connection before making the step and purchasing one.

thank you!

Satellite Internet connections work, but they are slower than their bandwidth would lead you to believe. That's because communication satellites are in geosynchronous orbit, at about 22,000 miles above the Earth. The speed of light limits transmission time to about 22ms. each way. It takes four transmissions (from you to satellite, from satellite to ISP, from ISP to satellite, from satellite to you) for a round trip. This adds about 100ms with queuing delays, as a best case (it's typically worse, because satellites have long transmission queues).

As a result, satellites cannot be used for certain types of Internet communication: online gaming, VoIP. Both of these have timing dependencies that cannot be met with this type of connection.

Weather tends to be more of a problem for satellites too (though it does effect above ground cables as well). Heavy rains and snow can reduce signal level below what small dish transcievers can deal with.

If you are just planning on having folks browse the web, it will be fine. Much more than that (including large downloads), will be a problem. Also, be sure that your satellite contract allows connection sharing, and doesn't have bandwidth throttles if caps are exceeded. Otherwise, the connection will be fine for a while, then drop to barely usable.

There's a reason cable charges more...

thank you for your answer!