Is Satellite Internet Right for Your Vacation Home?

Imagine you’re on a vacation and the internet connection on your mobile is spotty.

13:37 29 January 2021

You check the signal bar on your mobile phone anxiously and it isn’t quite there. You keep wandering around clutching your handheld device looking for that elusive spike in the signal bar, but it doesn’t come. You can curse the service provider all you want but your mobile phone won’t work. All your mobile needs is some reasonably decent reception but the strength of the signal on your mobile doesn’t seem to get a boost at all, no matter where you go. Maybe your vacation home is in a ‘notspot’. That’s a hopeless situation to find yourself in, isn’t it?

 

Sadly, that’s the state of internet for several vacationers, especially those going to rural areas with minimal network coverage and those wanting to stay in vacation homes in a sparsely populated neighbourhood far removed from the hustle and bustle of the city.

 

Thankfully, there is help if you know where to look. The only reasonable solution to this problem is the promise of satellite internet. With solid internet connection delivered from satellites flying thousands of kilometres above, you can get reasonable speed in your vacation home- whether it is for yourself for your online zoom meetings, your work from home partner, or your kids for their online classes. Yes, working from your vacation home is possible when you have satellite internet, and that too, without the fear of the internet disconnecting frequently.

 

For starters, satellite internet is not about a whole new form of internet. It is just a fairly new way to establish connection with the current networks as opposed to using fibre optic cables and copper wires, which are predominantly used currently. Think of it like the satellite tv dishes that brought tv signal down to your homes, except that satellite internet works both upstream and downstream. Although ‘satellite broadband’ as a sector is very much in its infancy, the concept seems to be catching on fast and everyone is suddenly starting to take notice.

 

Many developed countries have already started looking up to the constellation of low-orbiting satellites to bring reliable and steady internet delivery service to people and institutions located in rural areas where cell coverage is far from good. As a result, more and more satellites are launched into the orbit, promising to offer a steady, high-speed internet connection with low latency, irrespective of the weather conditions. Now that’s special. Companies like Starlink- part of the California based rocket company SpaceX-, Amazon and OneWeb in the UK have been regularly putting satellites into space and are also beefing up the infrastructure of their ground stations at a brisk pace. Starlink, in particular, has launched more than thousand satellites and is looking good for some more. With technopreneurs like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos putting their weight behind this idea, it is safe to say that the future is already here-- as far as satellite internet is concerned.

 

But for those who want an equally robust solution right now, there are satellite phones though. They work similarly and are designed to bring voice and data capabilities to their customers in remote areas. Simply put, they are communication devices that talk to and receive signal beamed to them from low-flying satellites. These phones literally work anywhere in the world and come with all the basic set of features that you’d expect in a phone - place calls, send SMS. Some are built with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities as well so you can use a remote headset or connect your laptop for wireless data access. They may not give you blazing fast speeds to be able to stream your favourite movies but I guess streaming something at high definition would be the last thing on your mind especially when you’re in an isolated cabin somewhere in the woods where mobile connectivity is nothing short of poor.

 

If you’re considering staying at a vacation home in a remote place, take a satellite phone with you. There are several good satellite phones on the market right now and the companies selling them provide a range of options in terms of plans, pricing and coverage so you can rest assured that you will find one matching your requirements. Regardless of what phone you end up buying, it is going to be your lifesaver in places where mobile networks are pretty much non-existent or fragile. With a satellite phone you can be 100% sure that you can be in touch with your friends and family or call up the emergency services at once if the situation demands, no matter how strong or weak the mobile reception is. It would be really worth it to have a phone that works anywhere and everywhere, no matter what.

 

If you are looking to get a sat phone for yourself and don’t know where to begin, head on over to https://www.canadasatellite.ca/ to check out some of the most popular sat phones and providers right now. Renowned for offering global connectivity solutions to their customers, they boast of the largest selection of equipment in the country and provide a comprehensive amount of information on several brands and phones including the Iridium 9555 more.