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In today's wired world, everything on the information superhighway is just a few clicks away. And as technology advances, more and more people are able to access the Internet and contribute to this virtual community. Many of us have a whole slew of options when it comes to accessing the Internet, including DSL, cable Internet and dial-up. In urban and suburban areas of the developed world, DSL and cable Internet access are popular because the connections are so fast. Traditional dial-up access is often a viable alternative because it can be less expensive or more accessible. For instance, in rural and remote areas, DSL and cable Internet may not available. That's because the terrestrial connections required for such services aren't installed everywhere. On the other hand, all that's required for dial-up is access to telephone lines. Although both DSL and dial-up use telephone lines, the DSL technology is dependent on distance. If you're too far from the telephone company's central office, a DSL connection won't work as well -- if at all.
As a result, many people living in rural areas settle for dial-up in order to connect to the virtual community. But this isn't their only remaining option. A lesser known type of access is satellite Internet. Because this connection relies on space instead of terrestrial wires on Earth, this alternative is more accessible than even dial-up. A satellite connection offers Internet to those who live in locations so remote that there are no telephone lines, or even to those who travel in mobile vehicles and boats. However, these Internet users still need the right equipment. When you think of helpful travel gadgets, satellite Internet receivers might not be the first thing that comes to mind, but they certainly come in handy when nothing else will get you connected. Most Internet connections rely on terrestrial communications. Even when you take your laptop to a coffee shop and use wireless, the weak signals aren't strong enough to extend the access out of a very limited range (perhaps a few hundred feet), let alone out of the Earth's atmosphere.
For satellite Internet, signals are stronger and able to carry all the necessary data from the provider hub up to the satellite and back down (in a downlink) to your computer. With only downlink capability, you need a way (such as dial-up connection) to send back any information, such as a request for a Web page. This isn't helpful for those who travel and have no access to telephone lines. However, two-way satellite Internet allows you to send Internet signals back up (in an uplink). The dish that receives the signals must have a clear view toward the direction of the satellites, which are located over the equator. That means that in the United States, your dish would need an unobstructed path to the southern sky. While these analog wave signals make the transfer of data through air and space possible, computers only understand digital language (combinations of 1s and 0s). In order to get computers communicating with each other, there needs to be a translator.
This is where satellite Internet receivers come in. They're really just modems. The word "modem" is short for modulator-demodulator, and these gadgets basically translate analog signals into digital data and vice versa. For a downlink in satellite Internet, the dish would get analog information from the satellite and send it along to the receiver, which converts it to digital data (bit streams) before sending it to the computer. During an uplink, the process is reversed. You may have two modems to accomplish this task -- one for an uplink and one for a downlink -- but many receiver gadgets can do both jobs. The receiver connects to the satellite dish through coaxial cables. Otherwise, the mechanics of satellite Internet receivers are similar to that of other modems. As handy as these receivers can be as travel gadgets, there are some problems with them. The same isn't usually true of satellite Internet. Often, rules and regulations governing satellite communications prohibit nonprofessionals from installing it.
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