Satellite Broadband (Virgin) - High ping times

Soldato
Joined
1 Dec 2004
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S.Wales
Hi all,

We have just sold a "test" solution for a customer which is a Virgin Satallite Broadband test package, however on installation, we have picked up the signal and its aligned, however the ping times are in the 800ms ranges, now this has been aligned as much as possible, is there anything possible that could be causing the high pings? its so bad that we can't even run speed tests.

If it is a very very fine adjustment that is needed, how do we do this as from the conversation I have heard, as much as possible has been done to align this properly. The location is down in Bournemouth on the coast where it can be quite windy.
 
Well that sounds about right because of the time it takes for the BroadBand signal to be processed, transmitted to the SAT from the uplink station on earth then relayed back from the Sat IN SPACE to your Receiver on Earth. That round trip is approching a delay time of 1sec!!!

And as Scotty used to say in Star Trek "U canni change the laws of physics Captin"!!!!

Just to add, round trip distance to the GEOSTATIONARY SAT'S IN ORBIT approx 80,000km give or take a few km's and there is also jitter on the signal as the sat's move in space so this has to be compensated for.

What is the size of the dish you are using?

When we do a UpLINK for Sat coverage on OB units they use a 2.4m dish with approximately 100w on the transmitter in the Ku Band (14Ghz!!)
 
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Considering the satellite is some ~35,000km away, it's going to take time! That's why there's always a delay on Satellite TV compared to terrestrial.
 
If so then it's quite an odd choice of name :) considering the definition of satellite is an object orbiting the earth/moon/any other celestial body, but not Uma Thurman mind you! :D
 
Benftl,
Satellite Broadband is as its name suggests. You connect to the internet via the Astra D Satellites which are orbiting the earth at a distance of 35,000Km approx.

It works by the ISP having a Node on the Satellite which they hire, this is then part of the loop. The ISP Sends Data to the Sat which then RE-TRANSMITS this to your dish and to the MODEM. The same thing happens when you send data. Your MODEM sends the info to the LNA/LNB (THE THING ON THE DISH) which is in the case of TV its just for receiving info (LOW NOISE BLOCK) or for transmitting LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER

Hence the 800ms or more delay

Basically the Satellite in space is just a big repeater for the signals

The main difference is the set-ups for receiving and transmitting the data streams

The ISP will use a 2.4m diameter dish with a fully motorised mount and a 100w transmitter unit the gain on the dish will be getting upto 32dBi with ultralow loss feeder cables from the LNA's on the dish to the gear.

Much more than the 0.75m dish and possibly at most 1 watt from the LNA. AND pretty poor cable from the MODEM to the LNA this is where most of your losses are.

I know as this is what I DO for a living!!
 
Benftl,
Satellite Broadband is as its name suggests. You connect to the internet via the Astra D Satellites which are orbiting the earth at a distance of 35,000Km approx.

It works by the ISP having a Node on the Satellite which they hire, this is then part of the loop. The ISP Sends Data to the Sat which then RE-TRANSMITS this to your dish and to the MODEM. The same thing happens when you send data. Your MODEM sends the info to the LNA/LNB (THE THING ON THE DISH) which is in the case of TV its just for receiving info (LOW NOISE BLOCK) or for transmitting LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER

Hence the 800ms or more delay

Basically the Satellite in space is just a big repeater for the signals

The main difference is the set-ups for receiving and transmitting the data streams

The ISP will use a 2.4m diameter dish with a fully motorised mount and a 100w transmitter unit the gain on the dish will be getting upto 32dBi with ultralow loss feeder cables from the LNA's on the dish to the gear.

Much more than the 0.75m dish and possibly at most 1 watt from the LNA. AND pretty poor cable from the MODEM to the LNA this is where most of your losses are.

I know as this is what I DO for a living!!


OK so basically the delay is to be expected, but the download speed, you think this could be caused by the poor cable? its that bad it can't even load web pages, speed test pages, surely there must be something other than the 800ms ping time's causing this.
 
Sounds like quite a good ping for sat based broadband to me!

My experience of it was that your computer made the request, lag lag lag and then a big splash of data with what you want in it.
 
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