Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

fcc.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 331 posts

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#151

Post by lev99 »

raganesh wrote: post #143

Satellite internet service should provide major operational cash flow for SpaceX. That too on recurring basis. Rocket launches generate revenue once per launch and for the foreseeable future, there will only a limited number launches per year. Very good move by SpaceX.

Can you please explain why recurring revenue is significantly better for a rocket company?

My understanding is Falcon 9 launches are limited by manufacturing and launch pad limitations and not market demand. Launching satellites take away from both of those, so he clearly thinks the direct to consumer business is worth it.

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#152

Post by lev99 »

wongarsu wrote: post #60
clay_the_ripper wrote: post #34

Please tell me that this means Comcast will go out of business. Oh man. The excitement I would feel at watching them go down...

There is only so much spectrum to go around. Even with tight beams, providing high speed to everyone in a densely populated area is much easier to do with fiber than with any radio-based system. In many regions this will be serious competition to comcast, but in cities traditional ISPs won't go away in the next 30 years.

Cities are gaining a higher proportion of the population over time too. It's clearly the better market.

Everywhere on Earth is going to get a big bandwidth increase, expect for cities (and places not allowed for political reasons). It's an advancement that will continue to help fewer and fewer people.

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#153

Post by madushan1000 »

bpd1069 wrote: post #4

This is monumental - I claim every major advance in communication technology immediately precedes a major progress for society. This will make the 'Internet' truly global and ubiquitous. So excited for the developing world.

I'm from a third world country(Sri Lanka) and we already have really cheap LTE access, the connection I'm using right now(on my phone) gives me something like 1GB/1.5USD at average 4MBPS. What sucks is the speed and reliability, speed always fluctuate and even though most of the island is now covered by 3G, LTE is not a given. It has been improving a lot though because we have relatively good competition between mobile ISPs(something like 10 providers all island) and more than a quarter of the population has smartphones and demanding bandwidth.

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#154

Post by lev99 »

shaklee3 wrote: post #139
toomuchtodo wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lower latency and much higher data rates.

You're comparing current satellite technology to something that is scheduled to come out in about 3 to 4 years. That's not very fair considering that there are many other geosynchronous high-bandwidth satellites scheduled to come out before SpaceX is ready.

LOE will always provide faster latency than Geosynchronous orbit.

I suspect that total bandwidth will go to the person with the most satellites, and LEO has much cheaper launches than GeoSync.

Geosynchronous orbit is more than 15 times farther away. That is why the communication will be quicker, and why the launches are cheaper.

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#155

Post by lev99 »

olympus wrote: post #148
lev99 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That really depends on how much bandwidth you need. Several aspects of remote working like video conferencing large file transfers are too demanding for 4G in terms of bandwidth and transfer caps.

Satellite is worse, so if you can't get it done with 4G you won't be doing it with satellite.

This new tech is going to be better than 4G

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#156

Post by briffle »

olympus wrote: post #126
mattsfrey wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. While not as profound as bringing access to the developing world, this will also be a major win for people looking to live alternative lifestyles, i.e. perpetual traveling, van life etc, where keeping a consistent internet connection is the one thing holding many back.

You can get decent 4G internet plans already in most parts of the world. While this will have better coverage of rural areas, mobile internet is very adequate for the van lifestyle.

You should read some RV forums for the hoops they need to jump through to get coverage, and deal with data caps

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#157

Post by mlindner »

walrus01 wrote: post #63
clay_the_ripper wrote: post #34

Please tell me that this means Comcast will go out of business. Oh man. The excitement I would feel at watching them go down...

Satellite can be amazing tech. But it's still not going to be the best viable option for high bandwidth connections in medium to large sized cities. As companies like centurylink build GPON and 10GPON based FTTH networks (example: Capitol, Hill, Seattle) it's quite possible to do 900 x 900 Mbps symmetric, though slightly oversubscribed, residential connections. DOCSIS3.1 over old copper coax cable, with enough RF cha…

Thank you. Someone in this thread finally gets this correct. This is impressive but not in the way people think.

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#158

Post by briffle »

IntelMiner wrote: post #147
lev99 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That really depends on how much bandwidth you need. Several aspects of remote working like video conferencing large file transfers are too demanding for 4G in terms of bandwidth and transfer caps.

Wouldn't the latency of a sat connection interfere with something real-time like video conferencing?

These are very low orbit satellites, not geosynchronous ones. 200 miles, instead of 36,000. Should be much better latency

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#159

Post by lev99 »

IntelMiner wrote: post #147
lev99 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That really depends on how much bandwidth you need. Several aspects of remote working like video conferencing large file transfers are too demanding for 4G in terms of bandwidth and transfer caps.

Wouldn't the latency of a sat connection interfere with something real-time like video conferencing?

Current internet satellites with a geosynchronous orbit are about 35,000km above the surface. These Low Earth Orbit satellites will be less than 2,000km above ground, and as low as 300km above. This difference should have a big impact on the current latency number of satellite communication.

[http://www.vsat-systems.com/satellite-internet-explained/lat...]

Edit: Please note that the data packets make a two way trip from the satellite. Many network communications assume a lot of two way communication from client and server, so this decrease in distance should have a big impact.

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#160

Post by macintux »

wallace_f wrote: post #137
kakarot wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll ask again, what does any of that have to do with launching satellites and distributing radio bandwidth?

I can't think of a better way to explain it. Maybe you should re-read the comment chain to help you understand this conversation.

I can't speak for anyone currently in the chain, but overall the thread is quite confusing.
Post reply on HN