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FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

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Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#181

Post by user5994461 »

dawnerd wrote: post #74
spullara wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds a lot like you could get it installed when you are putting in your solar panels......

Makes me curious, would a larger panel make for better service? Would be interesting if they made their solar roofs all in one.

Nope. It usually makes it worse.

The shape and the size of the antenna determines the narrow frequencies that can be received. An antenna is designed for a specific usage. If you pick a random antenna or change the size randomly, you are likely to get no reception.

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#182

Post by Robotbeat »

banachtarski wrote: post #39
wongarsu wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both is kind of correct. I can't find the interview right now, but to paraphrase Elon's math: you have ~2 ms from earth to satellite + ~2 ms from satellite to earth + travel time throught the satellite network (which happens at speed of light in vacuum + routing delays). Normal fiber travels at the speed of light in fiber (which is significantly lower than speed of light in vacuum), and usually takes a route signifia…

Does the math account for packet loss though... satellite internet has historically been awful for this reason.

LEO satellites will have the ability to adjust faster to changing conditions than GSO will. Packet loss need not be any worse than any other wireless system.

There will be some rain fade, but can power through that by increasing power and/or temporarily reducing bandwidth to prevent packet loss.

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#183

Post by fastball »

madushan1000 wrote: post #153
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 mobi…

Sri Lanka is only the 51st "best country in the world" according to US News[1]. That's really not bad and not really 3rd world at this point.

[1] https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/sri-lanka

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#184

Post by olympus »

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?

The best you can physically do is about 2 ms more lag than the fastest ground based system, and that's assuming you're only adding in the transit time from ground station -> satellite -> user.

So it possibly won't be a killer for video conferencing, but keep in mind that the USAF's current system for drone video has 2 seconds of one-way lag. There's three orders of magnitude between what we're currently doing and the physical limit.

SpaceX's system will undoubtedly be better than what is in use today, but even with two orders of magnitude improvement (a HUGE improvement) you're looking at adding 20 ms of lag on top of what you'd already have.

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#185

Post by raganesh »

lev99 wrote: post #151
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.

Recurring revenue - launch the satellite constellation once and generate monthly subscription revenue potentially running into billions of dollars a month.

Manufacturing limitations & launch pad availability, once they are resolved (along with launcher reuse) will lead to a point where there is not enough demand to fill the launch roster. This internal demand will help them fill it up.

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#186

Post by Numberwang »

fastball wrote: post #183
madushan1000 wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 mobi…

Sri Lanka is only the 51st "best country in the world" according to US News[1]. That's really not bad and not really 3rd world at this point. [1] https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/sri-lanka

That list is a bit weird though (looking at the top 10 overall)

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#187

Post by sandaru1 »

madushan1000 wrote: post #153
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 mobi…

It has gotten considerably faster in last few years. I'm using SLT 4G with an average speed of 30Mbps.

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#188

Post by wallace_f »

macintux wrote: post #160
wallace_f wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Can you help me understand where the confusion arises?

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#189

Post by walrus01 »

Retric wrote: post #177
walrus01 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is twofold from a China perspective: a) the rooftop CPE needs to be reasonably large and have high gain to be used effectively, and needs clear unobstructed line of sight to as much of the sky and horizon as possible. and b) It needs to transmit, it will transmit in very known frequency ranges, and the chinese authorities have plenty of budget to buy portable spectrum analyzers, horn antennas and to reach…

A) A thin tarp or pant etc could obscure the shape without blocking radio waves. B) These things need to transmit up, so you can reasonably block most signals in other directions. Aircraft would work, but again not cheap. The real issue is more on the human side and network monitoring. Lots of encrypted network traffic to a ransom location would be suspect. PS: For once tinfoil might actually be useful vs government…

A) all radome materials have some degree of loss. Ideally you want no loss at all. The path loss in higher than 10GHz frequencies to LEO is already extreme.

B) not just up but to the sides and toward the horizon as well. This will be a non moving phased array antenna that can talk to two LEO satellites moving across the sky at the same time. I predict that any reasonable amount of blockage to the sides will not be a good idea for their network architecture.

C) all Tx have some sort of sidelobes and nothing has a perfect f/b ratio. Will still be detectable by spectrum analyzers from the side.

Re: FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Provide Broadband Satellite Services

#190

Post by IAmGraydon »

madushan1000 wrote: post #153
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 mobi…

I don’t know if I would call that cheap. Right now I consume 300GB per month on aversge, and that’s just my home use. I get 150Mbps for $98 per month. St your rates, that 300GB would cost $450 per month, though I do realize I would consume less on a slower connection.
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