WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.540 --> 00:00:01.710 The next wireless connection 2 00:00:01.710 --> 00:00:04.080 we need to discuss is satellite connections. 3 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:05.850 Satellite internet access is a method 4 00:00:05.850 --> 00:00:08.670 of using communications satellites located in space 5 00:00:08.670 --> 00:00:10.710 to connect a user to the internet. 6 00:00:10.710 --> 00:00:11.970 Now up until recently, 7 00:00:11.970 --> 00:00:13.680 satellite internet was really reserved 8 00:00:13.680 --> 00:00:15.750 for just a few special use cases. 9 00:00:15.750 --> 00:00:18.330 For example, if you happen to live out in the countryside 10 00:00:18.330 --> 00:00:20.100 or in a remote area where you couldn't get cable 11 00:00:20.100 --> 00:00:22.530 or cellular or fiber or copper connections, 12 00:00:22.530 --> 00:00:25.110 well, you might want to look at using satellite internet. 13 00:00:25.110 --> 00:00:27.150 Now the great thing about satellite connectivity 14 00:00:27.150 --> 00:00:28.500 is that you can get it anywhere 15 00:00:28.500 --> 00:00:30.180 because pretty much the entire Earth 16 00:00:30.180 --> 00:00:32.850 can be covered by satellite internet at this point. 17 00:00:32.850 --> 00:00:34.200 As long as you can mount an antenna 18 00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:35.310 and it has a clear line of sight 19 00:00:35.310 --> 00:00:37.080 up to the satellite overhead in space, 20 00:00:37.080 --> 00:00:38.820 you can get internet service. 21 00:00:38.820 --> 00:00:40.320 For home users who live in a remote area 22 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:41.730 of the United States, for example, 23 00:00:41.730 --> 00:00:44.010 you can use a commercial service like HughesNet, 24 00:00:44.010 --> 00:00:46.050 which puts a small satellite dish on your roof, 25 00:00:46.050 --> 00:00:48.060 much like DirecTV or Dish Network does 26 00:00:48.060 --> 00:00:49.320 for your satellite TV, 27 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:50.469 and then you can use that 28 00:00:50.469 --> 00:00:52.770 to get some decently high speed internet. 29 00:00:52.770 --> 00:00:54.270 Now this is going to cost you more 30 00:00:54.270 --> 00:00:57.600 than an equivalent home fiber, cable or DSL service, though. 31 00:00:57.600 --> 00:00:59.220 But since you're in a remote area, 32 00:00:59.220 --> 00:01:01.290 satellite might be your only option here. 33 00:01:01.290 --> 00:01:03.990 Now remote users are one area that satellite is used, 34 00:01:03.990 --> 00:01:05.550 but the real place where satellite service 35 00:01:05.550 --> 00:01:08.580 really makes its mark is for mobile users on the go. 36 00:01:08.580 --> 00:01:10.290 If you're somebody who's working out of an RV 37 00:01:10.290 --> 00:01:12.780 or a truck in the middle of the oil fields of Texas, 38 00:01:12.780 --> 00:01:15.030 this might be a great place to use satellite. 39 00:01:15.030 --> 00:01:16.890 Or if you're a business traveler like me, 40 00:01:16.890 --> 00:01:19.200 you can be flying around the world on a commercial airplane 41 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:20.760 or taking a cruise across the ocean 42 00:01:20.760 --> 00:01:24.000 and still remain connected to the internet the entire time. 43 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.400 For example, a few years ago, I took a cruise, 44 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:28.680 but I couldn't afford to be offline for 10 days 45 00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:30.690 because I had to ensure I could answer student questions 46 00:01:30.690 --> 00:01:31.770 if they came in. 47 00:01:31.770 --> 00:01:33.690 So while I was on that cruise ship, 48 00:01:33.690 --> 00:01:36.060 I was able to get online for about an hour a day 49 00:01:36.060 --> 00:01:37.200 and answer student questions 50 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:38.940 before I had breakfast in the morning. 51 00:01:38.940 --> 00:01:41.040 This is because the ship had wifi, 52 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:44.190 but that wifi was connected to satellite internet. 53 00:01:44.190 --> 00:01:47.400 Now it was a bit expensive to use this, but it worked well 54 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:49.050 and the speeds were actually pretty darn good 55 00:01:49.050 --> 00:01:51.450 with these newer satellite constellations they're using. 56 00:01:51.450 --> 00:01:53.910 In fact, I was able to stream Netflix and Hulu movies 57 00:01:53.910 --> 00:01:56.010 and television shows and answer student questions 58 00:01:56.010 --> 00:01:57.660 and do all of that with no problem. 59 00:01:57.660 --> 00:01:59.220 It was very much like sitting back at home 60 00:01:59.220 --> 00:02:00.900 and using my cable modem. 61 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:03.630 Now satellite internet does have some drawbacks though. 62 00:02:03.630 --> 00:02:06.720 First, the speed is not going to be as fast as a fiber modem 63 00:02:06.720 --> 00:02:09.030 or a microwave link or even a cable modem. 64 00:02:09.030 --> 00:02:10.950 Now second, it's pretty expensive 65 00:02:10.950 --> 00:02:12.750 for most satellite internet providers 66 00:02:12.750 --> 00:02:14.970 compared to these other options you have. 67 00:02:14.970 --> 00:02:17.190 And third, there's a good amount of latency 68 00:02:17.190 --> 00:02:19.710 in the internet connection when you're using satellite. 69 00:02:19.710 --> 00:02:22.470 This is because communication satellites for the most part 70 00:02:22.470 --> 00:02:24.420 are using geosynchronous satellites located 71 00:02:24.420 --> 00:02:26.850 about 22,000 miles away from the Earth. 72 00:02:26.850 --> 00:02:28.950 Now what happens is you're going to send the signal up 73 00:02:28.950 --> 00:02:31.710 really, really high and that takes one-eighth of a second 74 00:02:31.710 --> 00:02:33.210 to go all the way up to space. 75 00:02:33.210 --> 00:02:35.790 Then, it takes another eighth of a second to go down 76 00:02:35.790 --> 00:02:37.890 to your internet service provider's ground station. 77 00:02:37.890 --> 00:02:40.020 Then it connects to the internet and gets your data 78 00:02:40.020 --> 00:02:41.820 and it goes back up to the satellite, 79 00:02:41.820 --> 00:02:43.110 another eighth of a second, 80 00:02:43.110 --> 00:02:45.600 and then down to you, another eighth of a second. 81 00:02:45.600 --> 00:02:49.860 So that round trip is going to take about 500 milliseconds 82 00:02:49.860 --> 00:02:52.140 or half a second to complete. 83 00:02:52.140 --> 00:02:54.540 For comparison's sake, my microwave length 84 00:02:54.540 --> 00:02:57.210 only has a latency of about five milliseconds, 85 00:02:57.210 --> 00:02:58.950 100 times faster. 86 00:02:58.950 --> 00:03:00.810 So if you're a big video gamer, 87 00:03:00.810 --> 00:03:02.520 that 500 millisecond latency 88 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:05.430 will simply kill you time and time again. 89 00:03:05.430 --> 00:03:06.780 Now when it comes to satellite, 90 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:10.290 things are rapidly changing from 2020 to 2025. 91 00:03:10.290 --> 00:03:11.520 Many companies are racing 92 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:12.900 into the satellite internet market, 93 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:15.317 especially in the direct to consumer space. 94 00:03:15.317 --> 00:03:17.760 SpaceX with their Starlink is a major player, 95 00:03:17.760 --> 00:03:20.310 having already launched over 1,700 satellites 96 00:03:20.310 --> 00:03:21.930 and gaining regulatory approval to launch 97 00:03:21.930 --> 00:03:25.050 up to 12,000 satellites in total. 98 00:03:25.050 --> 00:03:28.260 Now Starlink is a low-cost option for many consumers as well 99 00:03:28.260 --> 00:03:29.190 with their monthly service 100 00:03:29.190 --> 00:03:31.800 being only about 100 to $200 per month. 101 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:34.530 But the best part is they've gotten their latency down 102 00:03:34.530 --> 00:03:36.930 to about 30 to 35 milliseconds. 103 00:03:36.930 --> 00:03:38.700 So how did they do this? 104 00:03:38.700 --> 00:03:41.670 Well, they chose not to use geosynchronous orbits. 105 00:03:41.670 --> 00:03:43.770 You see, when you're in geosynchronous orbit, 106 00:03:43.770 --> 00:03:45.600 you only need about three to six satellites 107 00:03:45.600 --> 00:03:48.000 to fully cover about 90% of the Earth, 108 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:49.200 which is really good, 109 00:03:49.200 --> 00:03:51.090 but you have to be further out from the Earth 110 00:03:51.090 --> 00:03:53.520 to be able to maintain line of sight with all those areas. 111 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:55.170 From 22,000 miles away, 112 00:03:55.170 --> 00:03:56.670 you can see about a third of the Earth 113 00:03:56.670 --> 00:03:58.290 with a single satellite. 114 00:03:58.290 --> 00:03:59.700 Now Starlink, on the other hand, 115 00:03:59.700 --> 00:04:01.560 has opted to use low Earth orbits, 116 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:04.350 which is only about 340 miles from Earth. 117 00:04:04.350 --> 00:04:06.450 This is much, much closer 118 00:04:06.450 --> 00:04:07.950 and this is how the latency is reduced 119 00:04:07.950 --> 00:04:10.260 because it has to travel less distance. 120 00:04:10.260 --> 00:04:13.620 So the trade-off here is they now have a much smaller area 121 00:04:13.620 --> 00:04:15.510 with each individual satellite. 122 00:04:15.510 --> 00:04:17.310 For Starlink, each individual satellite 123 00:04:17.310 --> 00:04:20.730 can only cover an area of about 350 miles on the ground 124 00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:23.700 or around 563 kilometers. 125 00:04:23.700 --> 00:04:26.370 This is why Starlink needs to have a lot of satellites 126 00:04:26.370 --> 00:04:28.650 to fully cover the world and provide service. 127 00:04:28.650 --> 00:04:31.380 And that's why they're launching about one satellite a day 128 00:04:31.380 --> 00:04:32.930 to be able to meet this demand.