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In order to understand if Ka-Band Internet via Satellite is for you, let's go over the 5 most common ways to access the Internet from home or any area that is not served by a high speed corporate Local Area Network (LAN):
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1 - Traditional Internet Access
With traditional internet access, you use a telephone line to connect to the internet. If the line is not digital (DSL or ISDN), you will not be able to connect at more the 56Kpbs.
The telephone line is used to download from the internet and to upload (send requests, files and emails) to the internet. Downloads and uploads work at more or less the same speed: up to 56Kbps, which means about 5 Kbytes per second.
- Pros: Cheap (under $20/month).
- Cons: Slow, busy signals, long distance charges may apply, takes up the phone line, must have access to a phone line.
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2 - Cable High Speed Internet Access
If you live in the city, one of the best ways to get high speed internet is to find out if cable internet is available in your area.
Cable internet is offered by cable companies across the country (Rogers in Ontario, Videotron in Québec, Shaw in BC, etc.), but only in select areas. This service can offer downloads speeds of up to 4Mbps (about 400 Kbytes per second) and uploads speeds of up to 1Mbps (about 100 Kbytes per second).
- Pros: Extremely fast (most of the time), always online (24hr/day connection), affordable (around $50/month), does not tie up your phone line.
- Cons: You must subscribe to cable television in order to get a reasonable subscription rate, speeds and availability depend on your location, speeds will vary depending on the time of the day (based on network usage), download quotas are imposed in certain areas.
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3 - DSL High Speed Internet Access
If you live in, or near the city, DSL may be your best bet for high speed internet access, but the availability of this type of service is limited. Telephone companies (Bell, BCTel, etc.) and a select number of internet service providers (Cyberus, etc.) offer DSL.
To find out if DSL is available in your area, visit your telephone company’s website or give them a call.
For residential customers, this service generally offers download speeds of 1Mbps (100Kbytes per second) and upload speeds of 128Kbps (12Kbytes per second). For business customers, it can also offer much higher speeds; depending on the type of subscription (ADSL, SDSL, etc.).
- Pros: Extremely fast, constant speeds throughout the day, always online (24hr/day connection), affordable (around $50/month), does not tie up your phone line.
- Cons: Limited availability (depends on your location).
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4 - One-way high speed internet via satellite
This service has been mostly discontinued since the introduction of 2-way internet via satellite.
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5 - Two-way high speed internet via satellite
If you do not live in an area served by cable or DSL and if you do not want to settle for turtle-slow internet (dial-up) or partial solutions (one-way internet via satellite), two-way high speed internet via satellite is probably for you!
Or in other words…
- If you are running a business
- If you work from home
- If you are an executive on retreat at the cottage
Two-way high speed internet via satellite is the best solution for fast, reliable and always online internet access.
The download speeds for residential and business users range from 512Kbps to 2Mbps and the upload speed starts at 128Kbps in burst mode (this value can be higher based on your service level).
- Pros: Fast download and upload speeds, works anywhere (all you need is electricity), always online (24hr/day connection).
- Cons: More expensive than Cable or DSL, ping time of 800ms due to the distance that must be covered by the signal (140,000km for a round trip), may not work on certain types of VPN and proprietary IP services (contact us for more details prior to making your buying decision).
Note: This service also works in the city, but it is more expensive than most DSL or Cable plans, due to the nature of internet via satellite. However, as long as you have a clear line of sight to the Southern sky, two-way high speed internet via satellite will also work for you!
If you are not convinced of the benefits of two-way high speed internet via satellite, please contact us with your question(s).
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