All About Satellite TV

Did you know that there are more than 50 communications satellites orbiting the earth at any given time? Each of these satellites is placed at a sufficient elevation above the earth so that they do not move in relation to a fixed point on the earth's surface.

These satellites are spaced about two to three degrees apart, so that almost the entire earth is covered by communications satellite signals.

Approximately one third of the earth's surface is covered by any one satellite, since this is the only area visible from the staellite's fixed location. In order for certain broadband satellite TV to receive signals, “spot beams” from the satellite are pointed directly down at certain areas.

Satellites are the province of large multi-national companies, such as NewSkies, Eutelsat and Intelsat which own the satellites used for relaying broadband satellite TV to you. You can also subscribe with certain national companies and regional operators providing this service.

Features of a Broadband Satellite TV

Typically, service providers for broadband satellite TV provide their customers with with free equipment and monthly subscriptions of pre-determined satellite capacities.

Your subscription with a broadband satellite TV provider will include a small satellite dish to be installed on your property, usually attached to your home, along with a receiver module or a “low noise block down-converter” and a suitable transit module (or block up-converter). These pieces of equipment are important in receiving signals from the satellite broadband and extracting data from your computer or other local area networks. Having this equipment inside your home can prepare your system for data transmission, whenever you click the mouse over the Internet.

Subscribing for a monthly broadband satellite TV means you will be renting a specific bit rate, such as 512k down. This means that when you download a file, the maximum speed can be up to 512k bits. Most broadband satellite TV providers offer “shared bit rates”, which are limited or lower bit rates that offer a specified capacity that you will be sharing.

Be aware that if you include sharing arrangements in your subscription, you will be given a monthly upload and download limit. This is done to ensure that other users can block you from receiving broadcasts. These policies of fairness can be complicated and may vary from one broadband provider to another.

You can also subscribe to a plan with no limits called a CIR (or a continuous information rate) service that enables you to upload and download unlimited broadcasts. THis service, as you might expect does not come with a small price tag since services at this level are primarily used in the commercial realm by businesses requiring large bit rates for larger amounts of traffic.