StarBand Questions: About Satellite

What is a VSAT?
How Does it Work?
Are there any applications that will work differently over satellite delivered Internet service?
Will StarBand® service be disrupted if the satellite dish antenna is accidentally knocked out of alignment?
Is the StarBand service affected by rain?

What is a VSAT?
A Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) is a device that is used to communicate by bouncing signals off a satellite in geosynchronous (stationary) orbit above the earth. "VSAT terminals" are the satellite modem/router and small (generally between .75 meter and 1.2 meters) dishes that operate at a customer's location. "VSAT hubs" are the large (often 9 meters or larger) dishes and sophisticated network control/send and receive equipment that the network provider operates for the terminals to communicate with.

How Does it Work?
The StarBand!" system consists of a 24" x 36" satellite dish mounted on or near your home or office (1.2 meter satellite dish in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands). The dish must have a clear unobstructed view of one our satellites located 22,300 miles up over the Equator in the southern sky. Two standard coaxial cables connect the satellite dish antenna to the StarBand satellite modem connected to your computer via an Ethernet connection. StarBand sends requests to the Internet and receives Internet content via satellite. The satellite communicates with the StarBand hub facility, which has a direct connection to the Internet. No telephone connection, dial-up account or other Internet service providers are needed. StarBand does it all for you.

Are there any applications that will work differently over satellite delivered Internet service?
Yes. Certain applications do not perform efficiently in a satellite-delivered environment, such as voice/video over IP, VPN and remote access applications, certain online interactive games (particularly "shooter" games that depend on split-second responsiveness for the "survival" of the player), and applications that use non-TCP/IP protocols (such as IPX/SPX).

VPN client software bypasses TCP Acceleration and Web Page Acceleration and as a result speeds are similar to that of a dial-up connection. Real-time gaming applications rely on instantaneous feedback and even when using the accelerator software performance the remaining latency is still often too much for satisfactory performance.

Will StarBand® service be disrupted if the satellite dish antenna is accidentally knocked out of alignment?
Yes, your service will be disrupted. An improperly aligned antenna may cause significant interference with other satellite transmissions, resulting in reduced performance for you and/or other customers using the same satellite. It is possible you may not notice a change in performance, but may be causing significant interference for other customers. Your StarBand satellite dish antenna may be knocked out of alignment due to acts of nature (such as high winds or earthquakes) or individuals moving the dish by accident. If this occurs, StarBand may have to temporarily shut down your service to stop the interference. You will need a maintenance technician to visit your home to re-align the dish and will be charged for the site visit.

Is the StarBand service affected by rain?
StarBand service usually will be up and running greater than 99.5% of the time. However, like satellite television services, your StarBand service can be affected by rain. During a very heavy downpour, you may notice degraded performance, and occasionally the service may even stop altogether for a few minutes as the peak of the downpour passes over.