7 Common Myths About Satellite Communications

Most people are familiar with the debate between consumer satellite providers and the cable industry. There is a similar disparity in the commercial world against satellite from proponents of land-based communication systems. As the Director of Sales for X2nSat, my team and I have heard just about every misconception about satellite communications and why it might be considered a less reliable option for mission-critical communications. Today we will take a look at and dispel seven of the most common misbeliefs about satellite communications.

Myth # 1: Satellite is expensive.

For disaster recovery, VSAT is comparable, and often times less expensive, than wireline redundancy, and is competitive to traditional cellular. The very nuanced differences in cost are nothing in comparison to how much even one hour of unexpected downtime can cost an enterprise.

Myth # 2: Satellite is “slow”.

While slightly slower than other telecommunications disaster recovery tools, VSAT is not impacted by others sharing cellular or wireline voice and data resources. We provide dedicated bandwidth to our customers to ensure that in a business continuity scenario, path diversity will keep your vital communications from competing with shared cellular or wireline resources.

Myth # 3: Implementing a satellite solution is complicated.

Commercial VSAT solutions can either be “out of the box” (simple) or customized. Today some VSAT systems are so simple to setup and configure that they can be compared to the “plug and play” nature of today’s home speakers. When a more complex situation calls for a more sophisticated engineering solution, satellite communications are robust enough to meet any challenge.

Myth # 4: VSAT performs poorly in adverse weather conditions.

Unlike satellite TV, commercial VSAT solutions are designed to function in worst case scenario conditions (e.g.hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.). The rain fade (signal degradation) that someone might experience in a heavy downpour at their house while watching a football game on satellite will not happen with a properly configured VSAT solution. Our VSAT systems are deployed in some of the harshest climates around the world.

Myth # 5: VSAT solutions do not offer Voice AND Data services concurrently.

Voice and data solutions can be utilized concurrently or individually. Hospital systems and other critical infrastructure mobilized in emergency scenarios rely on satellite communications for voice and data communications due to their unique ability to not be impacted by terrestrial disasters. They simply cannot do with one or the other.

Myth #6: VSAT solutions are not as reliable as other telecommunications solutions.

Service Level Agreements ensuring 99.9%+ network uptime are provided for all of our VSAT Solutions. We have two geographically unique teleports in California and Georgia and have just broken ground on our third in New Mexico. Triple redundancy will only further enhance our ability to strive for 100% uptime for every customer.

Myth # 7: VSAT solutions are not secure.

The same types of security tools available with wireline and cellular services are available with VSAT Solutions. The fact that satellite provides a completely diverse path from these traditional connections further enhances the ability to apply industry-leading security measures.

So as our consumer satellite provider cousins like to say: “cut the cord” and come on over to satellite. All these rumors and misconceptions about satellite communications simply are not true. Just like other technologies, the SatCom industry continues to make leaps forward in performance and reliability. When it comes to the most demanding environments, and situations when lives and livelihoods are on the line, satellite has proven again and again that it is always up to the challenge.