I thought the limiting factor for a satellite ISP was power on the satellite side as much as latency?
With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
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Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#22Compared to my connection Webpass with sub-1ms latencies this seems like ages. But of course not the same can be said about majority of ISPs so this is a big win.
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#23This may help explain why Verizon is cutting FiOS prices and increasing speeds: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/04/veriz...
Well, they are cutting options.
The price for 50/50mbps is staying the same in my area, however they have dropped the 75/75, 100/100, 150/150, and 300/300 options entirely and now offer 50/50 or 1000/1000 (which is actually 940/880 which is around the limits of "normal" ethernet).
And while they advertise $69.99 on the site, clicking through to "more info" shows it as $79.99 and calling in to ask about it they are telling me it will be $89.99 for the first year, then $99.99 for the next year with a 2 year contract as a new customer only. And when I told them I am already a verizon customer, they had to re-run it and found that it will actually be $119.99 for the first year, $129.99 for the second year on a 2 year contract.
And that's before I even get the bill which in my experience with verizon is often 10% larger than the quoted price with internet only (and when I had phone+internet+tv it was almost double the quoted price after taxes, fees, expired discounts, required equipment rentals, and other bullshit).
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
They'll probably just end up turning off service over certain geographic areas.
Why would they do this? EDIT: Data customers would pay for access on an individual basis. Helicopter-parent countries might cry foul, but what leverage do they have? It's not like they were going to launch things with SpaceX and they can threaten to stop.
I think they need licenses to use the radio spectrum. I believe Iridium set up a system in China so that all calls are routed through Chinese systems, so there is some historical precedent. The government of China also has anti-satellite weapons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Chinese_anti-satellite_mi... .
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#25I thought the limiting factor for a satellite ISP was power on the satellite side as much as latency?
I'm not an electrical or signals engineer, but IIUC the low orbits would also help there, since shorter distances mean much less power requirements for transmission.
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
They'll probably just end up turning off service over certain geographic areas.
Why would they do this? EDIT: Data customers would pay for access on an individual basis. Helicopter-parent countries might cry foul, but what leverage do they have? It's not like they were going to launch things with SpaceX and they can threaten to stop.
They can jam whatever frequency the networks operates on. Or embargo any receiver/tramistter that could be used to connect to the network. Yes, some people would be able to work around any attempt at blockage, but that wouldn't scale to providing non-technical people with cheap/unrestricted internet.
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#27Oh how I wish I could buy SpaceX stock...
I'm seriously considering getting a job there someday for this this reason. (but mostly because Mars)
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
They'll probably just end up turning off service over certain geographic areas.
Why would they do this? EDIT: Data customers would pay for access on an individual basis. Helicopter-parent countries might cry foul, but what leverage do they have? It's not like they were going to launch things with SpaceX and they can threaten to stop.
> Data customers would pay for access on an individual basis.
At a subscriber level, monthly billing to 'SpaceX Broadband, Redmond' might be cause for inquisitive State Police to visit.
At a state level, the legality of jamming / interfering with satellites over national territory has never been definitively established. So SpaceX might find it easier to just turn-off over hostile nations than have them upset the network.
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#29Do we have space in orbit for this? This is a lot of satellites and I also don't get how the latency can be so much lower than current satellite ISPs?
Yes, until some of the thousands of small satellites about to be launched (not just by SpaceX) star breaking down and creating space junk that will become a serious problem to the launch of new satellites and spacecraft http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/20/mega-constellatio...
The SpaceX sats at least are planned to be in very LEO. Their orbit will degrade very quickly if left to their own devices. Heck, that might even be the plan. If sats are cheap enough to launch and produce, then each sat can crash into earth after say 2 years.
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#30Do this means that it'll be possible to play with folks from another continent with a good latency?