Satellite internet solves a problem that cable and fibre have not: how to reach a house that no network operator wants to dig a trench to. It does that by replacing the last stretch of cable with a radio link to a spacecraft, and almost every characteristic of the service, good and bad, follows from how high that spacecraft is flying. This article covers the orbital arithmetic, what the published speed and latency figures actually promise, why regulators treat the technology as a separate category, and the practical constraints that show up on installation day.
Updated October 2026.
Orbit height decides almost everything about satellite internet
There are two families of system and the gap between them is physical. The European Space Agency describes geostationary orbit as an altitude of 35,786 km, where a satellite travels at about 3 km per second and takes 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds to complete one orbit, which is why it appears fixed above one point on the equator. Low Earth orbit it defines as relatively close to the surface, under 2000 km, where satellites move at roughly 7.8 km per second and complete an orbit in about 90 minutes.
The geostationary approach needs very few spacecraft. Hughes places its JUPITER satellites 22,300 miles above the equator, operating in Ka band, with JUPITER 1 at 120 Gbps of capacity, JUPITER 2 at 200 Gbps and JUPITER 3 at more than 500 Gbps, taking the fleet past 1 Tbps across North and South America. The low orbit approach needs thousands, but the signal has far less distance to cover. Starlink’s own engineering note puts the speed-of-light propagation from user to satellite and back to the ground at 1.8 to 3.6 ms per leg and usually under 10 ms for the round trip.
That difference is the whole story of satellite internet latency. Starlink reported reducing median latency in the United States during peak hours from 48.5 ms to 33 ms, and worst case peak hour latency at the 99th percentile from over 150 ms to less than 65 ms, while stating a goal of a stable 20 ms median. A geostationary system cannot approach those figures because the distance will not allow it, which is why providers have paired satellite with ground wireless to improve latency for the traffic that needs it.
What a published speed actually promises
Read the service documentation rather than the marketing page. Starlink’s critical information summary for its roaming plans gives download of 30 to 100 Mbps, upload of 10 to 30 Mbps and latency under 99 ms, with availability expected at 99 percent or better, and states clearly that those speeds and uninterrupted use of the service are not promised.
The same document lists what can degrade performance, and the list is instructive: the installation environment, the angle and field of view of the dish, weather, the quality of your own devices, interference from other devices, proximity of other units, the condition and positioning of cables, the reliability of mains power, improper tower grounding and too many active or parallel network connections. It also notes that the service may not be used while the dish is in motion, although the kit is portable between fixed locations. Connectivity on a moving vehicle or aircraft is a different product with different hardware, which is why we treat how in-flight wifi works as a separate subject.
Why regulators treat it as a separate category
In its 2024 broadband deployment report the United States Federal Communications Commission raised the fixed broadband benchmark from 25/3 Mbps to 100/20 Mbps, meaning a download speed of 100 Mbps and an upload speed of 20 Mbps. It found that service at that level had not been physically deployed to approximately 7 percent of Americans, with roughly 28 percent of people in rural areas and 23 percent on Tribal lands lacking access.
Those are exactly the places satellite serves, yet the Commission excluded satellite from its main fixed analysis. Its reasoning was that availability data for satellite broadband may overstate how available the service really is: coverage data showed service at 25/3 Mbps reaching close to the whole population, while subscription data showed a take rate just under 1 percent, and the Commission noted that satellite capacity limits the number of subscribers that can be served without service degradation. It also recognised that non-geostationary constellations in low and medium Earth orbit may provide broadband with lower latency and wider coverage than previously available by satellite. Capacity, in other words, is the real constraint, and it is shared.
6 facts worth knowing before you order
- Your view of the sky is part of the product. The angle and field of view of the dish is listed as a performance factor, so an obstructed roof line is a technical problem, not a cosmetic one.
- Latency and speed are separate questions. A low orbit system can be good at both; a geostationary one is limited by distance whatever its throughput.
- Published speeds are ranges, not commitments. The service summary states plainly that the stated speeds and uninterrupted use of the service are not promised.
- Weather is on the official list. It appears alongside installation environment and interference as something that may affect performance.
- Capacity is shared. The FCC found that satellite capacity limits how many subscribers can be served without degradation, which is why speeds vary with local demand.
- The home service is not a mobile service. The dish may not be used while in motion, though it can be moved between fixed locations.
Who it is actually for
Satellite internet is the right answer when there is no wired alternative, when a wired alternative exists but is slower than the satellite service, or when you need a second path that does not share a cable with the first. It is rarely the right answer where fibre is available at a comparable price. If your current connection is the problem rather than its absence, start with our guides to why your wifi is slow and why national internet slowdowns happen, because a lot of what people blame on their line is happening inside the house or well upstream of it.
Common questions
Why is geostationary satellite internet slow to respond? Because of distance. Geostationary orbit is 35,786 km up, so each signal has a long way to travel. Low Earth orbit systems operate under 2000 km, and Starlink puts propagation at 1.8 to 3.6 ms per leg.
What speeds can I actually expect? Starlink publishes 30 to 100 Mbps download and 10 to 30 Mbps upload with latency under 99 ms for its roaming plans, and states that those figures are not promised. Geostationary providers publish capacity per satellite rather than per household.
Does weather stop it working? Weather is listed in the service documentation as one of the circumstances that may affect performance, alongside the installation environment, the field of view of the dish and interference from other devices.
Is satellite counted as broadband by regulators? Not in the FCC main fixed analysis. The Commission excluded satellite because availability data may overstate real availability, noting a take rate just under 1 percent and that capacity limits how many subscribers can be served without degradation.
Can I use a home satellite dish in a vehicle? Not the fixed home service. The documentation states the service may not be used while the dish is in motion, although the kit is portable between different fixed locations where service is available.
Sources and further reading
Where the figures and rules above come from, so you can check them:
- Geostationary and low Earth orbit altitudes, speeds and periods: European Space Agency
- JUPITER satellite altitude, Ka band and per-satellite capacity: Hughes
- Propagation per leg, median and 99th percentile latency and the 20 ms goal: Starlink, Improving Starlink Latency
- Published speed and latency ranges, availability and performance factors: Starlink critical information summary
- 100/20 Mbps benchmark, deployment gaps and the treatment of satellite service: FCC 2024 Section 706 Report
Photo credit: Kashira Morgunova 2 33 by NVO, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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