What impact will satellite internet have on you when it really arrives?

Starlink, a satellite internet service that has been under scrutiny since 2015, has provided trial services to some mid- and high-latitude regions since the end of last year. Currently, Starlink is increasing the number of satellites in space with an average of two batches of 60 satellites per month. Ultimately, a total of 42,000 satellites will be used to provide Internet services to the world.

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Satellites that provide Internet access (Image source: Starlink)

Users can now log on to the Starlink official website and apply for a satellite Internet trial kit, which requires a $100 equipment fee. The kit includes a satellite receiver and a dedicated router, which users can install themselves in a few minutes, which is very convenient. According to users who are currently using it to access the Internet, the average downlink rate is between 100 and 130Mbps, and the delay is around 40ms, which is equivalent to the level of 100M fixed-line broadband for households.

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Satellite signal receiving device (Image source: Starlink)

How does satellite internet work?

Starlink hopes to use 42,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit to allow people in remote and densely populated areas to access the Internet without relying on ground-based optical fibers, base stations, and operators. Musk believes that network infrastructure will be set up in low-Earth orbit in the future. These 42,000 satellites will orbit 750 miles from the earth, which is much closer to the ground than traditional communication satellites. The shorter distance of electromagnetic signal transmission will help increase network transmission speed.

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Covering the Earth (Image credit: Starlink)

Moreover, network data no longer needs to go through routers and base stations on the ground, but can be transmitted through satellites as transfer stations. Since the transmission speed of light in a vacuum is 40% faster than that of traditional optical fibers, this greatly improves the network speed. Of course, providing global network coverage only for the earth cannot satisfy Musk's ambition. All this is just for the preliminary exploration of setting up a network on Mars in the future. Don't forget that the ultimate goal of "Iron Man" is to migrate to Mars.

Why do we need satellite internet?

According to United Nations statistics, there are still 3 billion people in the world who do not have Internet connection or high-speed Internet access. Most of these people are in old, remote, poor and remote areas, where mobile base stations are not currently available, resulting in a huge digital divide between the mainstream population and them in the world. It is for this reason that manufacturers such as SpaceX hope to bring high-speed broadband to people in remote and backward areas through satellite Internet. People in remote areas do not have to wait for operators to build broadband, but can directly receive satellite Internet through base stations. Allowing these 3 billion people to access the Internet will bring a large number of users to major Internet companies, thereby improving their performance.

A rocket carrying a satellite is launching (Image source: Starlink)

Does it affect us?

The impact on users needs to be viewed from two aspects: foreign users and domestic users.

Judging from the construction of broadband and 5G, high-speed Internet services abroad seem to be struggling. Especially in some sparsely populated countries, fiber-optic networks are only concentrated in large cities, and there is no fiber-optic broadband even in the suburbs, let alone high-speed Internet access in remote areas. The reason is that operators in Europe and the United States lead the construction of fiber-optic networks. Once the cost is too high, the construction progress will be extremely slow or even shelved. According to relevant practitioners, the construction cost of one user of fiber-optic broadband in Europe and the United States is about 2,000 yuan. Such a high cost of acquiring customers is a big headache for operators. With satellite Internet, users no longer have to wait for fiber to enter their homes. They can directly install satellite Internet receiving equipment to enjoy high-speed Internet.

Home broadband starts at 300M and capped at 1000M

From a domestic perspective, the implementation of the "Broadband China" strategy has greatly improved my country's Internet access speed. Now, families in first-tier cities can enjoy the highest gigabit broadband Internet service. The "Village-to-Village" policy has also provided 4G, 5G and high-speed broadband networks in villages. Therefore, domestic users do not need satellite Internet services.

Summarize:

In summary, satellite Internet has no impact on ordinary domestic users. However, users in remote areas abroad will benefit from it and get high-speed Internet services. Recently, Musk also made it clear that this year Starlink's downlink rate will increase from 100Mbps to 300Mbps, the delay will be reduced to 20ms, and the final downlink rate will reach 10Gbps.