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The difference between wireless internet and satellite internet

Having access to reliable internet has now become one of the essentials of modern life. Most people cannot imagine living their lives without the internet for a while, as almost everything we do is now digitalized. However, there is a stack difference between satellite internet and wireless internet. Satellite internet is one in which you have to tap into the communications satellites network in orbit.

If you need to purchase wireless Internet or any other form of Internet, you will have to subscribe with an Internet Service Provider. To know the best provider to patronize, you should see internet services online reviews on US-Reviews.

You need to have a piece of satellite equipment installed in your home; this equipment is usually installed at the most appropriate place after the signal strength of your property has been measured. Once you are connected, you can receive internet connectivity from the orbit. However, this is the oldest form of internet service and is not completely reliable.

The wireless internet uses a big network of vast towers. You don’t need to target a satellite, all that is needed is to connect your receiver dish with a nearby cell tower. Wireless internet is a lot more beneficial than satellite internet as it is more reliable. Here are the major differences between them:

Bandwidth and latency

This is one of the two measures of internet speed. Satellite internet has a slower bandwidth than wireless internet. You can download up to three times of what you will download with satellite internet at the same time. You can’t always help but notice the significant increase in speed. Latency is the other measure of internet speed.

Satellite internet has a high latency because it requires information to travel through the air to a satellite before it travels from there to the network and back. That takes quite some time! However, wireless internet does not have that much trouble. It travels for a shorter time and as such, has low latency.

Weather

Bad weather is bound to occur but it shouldn’t have to affect your internet connectivity. Satellite internet suffers from bad weather, however. It is not uncommon to experience poor service because the weather affects the orbit. It might not even be raining; even if the ground station of the satellite internet is experiencing a storm, you will get poor internet connectivity.

However, wireless internet is not restricted by the weather. Either it is good or not, it keeps going. This is mostly because the signals don’t need to pass through the air to get to you. The signals travel close to the earth.

Data caps

Many internet subscribers who are still on satellite internet are used to getting data caps monthly. Once you exceed this, you have to spend more money on data or suffer heavy throttling. They have to make do with what their service provider offers. However, wireless internet shook up the market.

There are different packages you can choose from and you don’t have to suffer monthly data caps. You also don’t have to pay heavily for low latency or additional speed as done with satellite internet as these things are basic in wireless internet packages. In light of the differences between wireless internet and satellite internet, wireless internet is the better of the two.

 

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