Satellite Internet connectivity is becoming more and more popular as the service comes down in price, and increases its available market. Rural areas are traditionally the last to receive services such as Cable Internet or DSL, so it is obvious why satellite internet service is more popular in these areas and why satellite providers have focused more attention on them. In this article, we point out the main points you should consider when choosing a satellite Internet provider.

The Good

Service level agreements offered by satellite Internet services have gotten much better for the customer as the industry has grown. Providers now service their own hardware and rely less on contractors, as well as often include hardware upgrades and installation for free (or built into the monthly rate.). This will be of benefit for a user even if there is no need for tech support as hardware upgrades are inevitable and a good service agreement can mitigate the cost.

Early in the life of satellite internet the only available connection was one-way. This required a proxy server, special software, and an additional phone line. On top of this it was incredibly slow. This type of service is almost completely gone, with a new two-way offering quickly taking its place. The two-way connection is a great deal faster than its one-way counterpart as well as easier to install.

Satellite providers are now working on increasing the number of satellites they have access too in orbit. This will not only increase the market they can sell too, but could also add a level of redundancy that would benefit users as well. This can prevent or at least reduce outages for many customers.

Many satellite internet service providers are increasing the number of tech support as well as contractors they have available in rural areas. This can reduce the amount of time it takes to receive tech support at the users home, as well as speed up market penetration via installers in a given area. This is a big win for the company as well as users.

The Not So Good

The speed of a given Internet connection is of great importance to most users, and this can be somewhat of a disappointment to new satellite customers. While being much faster than dial-up, satellite internet is almost always slower than DSL and cable. This is due to several factors, the primary being inherent latency in the satellite network. By using compression protocols satellite service can increase the speeds offered to customers, but there is nothing that can be done about the lag that is caused by the fact that the signal has to travel to a satellite in Earth's orbit. There is nothing can be done to remove this latency entirely, but through the use of certain protocols and proxy servers the delay can be minimized.

Satellite internet requires additional hardware over other services such as cable and DSL. Early satellite dishes were very large and had to be set up outside a house in the yard. As technology has grown, satellite dishes have gotten smaller. The larger dishes that were used for satellite television cannot be used for Internet service today, and the newer dishes can be installed on a roof or window sill. There is still a cost associated with the hardware as well as the installation but it is a great deal lower than it used to be.