Our satellite networks are engineered for high-performance Internet access

There are several key differences between the broadband satellite Internet services offered by VSAT Systems and the typical satellite Internet service from other providers. With years of engineering expertise and managed satellite networks built exclusively for broadband Internet, we deliver cohesive, high-end satellite Internet solutions.

Network performance is one of the critical factors that you have to evaluate before choosing your satellite solutions partner. As these networks grow in size and complexity, so do the worries about network performance. High-performance networks using satellite links require the management of numerous factors. The most important factors are speed, latency and jitter.

Speed - How fast is it? Ok, now, how fast is it really?

One of the most misleading statistics in the ISP world today involves connection speeds. Most companies (including VSAT Systems) quote an up-to speed, which is your end users top speed, under the right conditions.

We believe that we have an ethical obligation to our customers to quote a top speed that is not only possible, but realistic. Your end users will actually be able to achieve these speeds (or close to them) a fair percentage of the time. But we go beyond just giving up-to speeds, we back it up with Committed Information Rates (CIRs). Our networks provide multi-megabit speeds which are as high as 4 Mbps download and 1.5 Mbps upload. Our max CIRs are 2.55 Mbps download and 896 kbps upload. We promise your end users will have the ability to receive 110% of their stated CIRs more than 90% of the time.

With these speeds, Internet applications are faster on our networks even when compared to terrestial options.

Latency - How to make a VoIP call feel like a walkie-talkie.

Latency is defined as the amount of delay, measured in milliseconds, that occurs in a round-trip data transmission. This delay is caused by the physical distance that the signal must travel.

Geosynchronous satellites orbit 23,000 miles above the equator, so the round trip communication from the NOC to the satellite and back can take 525 ms (or more, depending on the end user’s latitude). That’s just the physics of travel of RF energy at the speed of light. This is a limitation shared by all companies in the satellite Internet industry.

So what really sets one network operator apart from another? Network induced latency. Although VSAT Systems cannot change the laws of physics, the way we run our network can have a great deal of impact on the total latency experienced by your end users.

We don’t oversubscribe our networks, so packets don’t pile up, waiting their turn. We’ve incorporated core switching technology into our all-Cisco backbone, reducing latency in the NOC. Our dual upstream fiber connections average less than 15% loading.

All to keep total network latency under 700 ms (and often under 600 ms). Why? What’s so special about 700 ms? It's about end user experience. 700 ms is the point where a VoIP call stops sounding like a conversation and starts reminding you of a walkie-talkie. Over 800ms – forget it.

Latency isn’t just about the numbers. It’s about your customers’ real world experience and whether or not they like you enough to stick around for the long term. In the satellite Internet world, low latency is the foundation of customer satisfaction.

Jitter – The perfect way to ruin a red carpet premier.

Jitter, or latency that fluctuates over a relatively short period of time, can be worse in some situations than high latency.

Jitter makes its impact felt at the packet level. Packet A leaves the source with a latency of 1100ms, while the next packet, packet B, has a latency of only 700ms. Although packet A was sent first, packet B arrives first.

Depending on the application, such as video streaming, the results can be bad. The server can reject both out of sequence packets, stopping the whole production cold until the errant packets can be re-sent. This causes the type of herky-jerky motion that makes Skype so endearing, and makes war correspondents seem so valiant. But for professional video streaming (or just smooth, error-free file transfers and accident free SCADA industrial process controls), your end users deserve the lowest jitter possible.

Superior satellite networks

Our No Oversubscription policy and historic latency of under 600ms are key performance parameters we manage well which leads to a rich user experience. Not to forget, we have our engineering team and in-house tech support monitoring the networks 24/7 to make sure that packets of data are not affected by latency or jitter.

There are lots of claims out there, but at VSAT Systems, we are committed to the quality and performance of our network. Our customers agree, when it comes to network performance, VSAT Systems delivers.