Thursday, August 4, 2011

Amazing Benefits of Wireless Satellite Broadband

The amount of bandwidth a satellite broadband provider can offer is quantified in terms of  megabits per second, equivalent to one million bits per second. The world is surrounded by almost 300 satellites located in the geosynchronous orbits. Beaming signals atop the equator 2-3 degrees apart, these geostationary satellites pass around Earth at the same speed while remaining at their fixed location relative to globe’s equator.

When choosing a satellite broadband plan, the following data should be carefully taken into account: uplink G/T (dBK),  downlink EIRP power (dBW),  transponder bandwidth (MHz) and sensitivity (dBW/^m2) owned by satellite carriers.

The equivalent information data rate of bandwidth (MHz) will depend on the following variables:  

type of FEC (e.g. Low Density Parity Check, Viterbi, Reed Soloman, Turbo Code or combination of these)
Dish size
Modulation method (e.g 8-QAM , BPSK,16-QAM, QPSK )
Forward error correction code
A geostationary satellite can reach almost 33% of the area of the entire world. For instance, the areas reached by a geostationary satellite found above India’s equator encompass Japan, Europe, South Africa and Australia. Spot beams are transmitted at particular regions where they are received by small dishes.

VSAT dishes are usually available in diameters of 60cm - 3.7m. Residential satellite broadband users are provided with indoor transceivers that prepare signals and transmit them in TDMA bursts.

Monthly satellite broadband fees are usually computed in terms of bit rate usage. Under a satellite Internet service with 20:1 user-host ratio and 512k download /64k uplink speed, monthly fee can reach $202. This type of broadband plan is enough for two computer terminals.

Like DSL and cable broadband services, satellite broadband carriers require customers for follow fair usage policy.  Subscribers should keep their bandwidth usage within the prescribed limit or else they would get penalized. Upload and download speeds are usually fast enough to allow for common computer tasks such as browsing, downloading video and playing online games.

Satellite Internet is the most used backup Internet and communication solution for businesses. This broadband technology  is not as fast as traditional DSL broadband, but people in areas with no telephone lines or too far from cell sites cannot communicate wirelessly unless they sign up with a satellite broadband provider.

Various industries like airlines, financial sector and military intelligence units rely on satellite services to ensure that their communication needs are always met. Although latency and other quality issues are preventing wide usage of satellite broadband services, recent developments are making teleports more faster in processing signals. Modern modulation and bandwidth optimization techniques have led to lower satellite Internet costs.