How fast is satellite internet?

Since the early days of satellite internet, the technologies used have greatly improved. The latest generation of satellites have made it possible to increase capacity and connection speed. This allows a multitude of daily web uses or work, even in areas not covered by 4G, ADSL or optical fibre. Zoom on the speed of satellite internet.

One of the questions many people ask is whether satellite internet is fast. By opting for Eutelsat's Konnect offer, it is possible to obtain speeds of up to 50 or even 100 Mbps thanks to satellite internet. This means that you can surf the web, chat, consult social networks or work online without any problems. In comparison, the maximum speed of ADSL is usually 20 Mbps. The only faster technologies are fibre optics and 4G, but access to these solutions is limited by the need to be near a network infrastructure. This problem creates great inequalities in terms of access to the web on the African continent, between different countries, but also between cities and rural or remote areas.

Compared to other web access technologies, satellite internet does not require the presence of cable networks or telephone lines nearby. All homes and businesses can therefore be connected by installing an antenna and using satellites placed in orbit around the Earth. Eutelsat's state-of-the-art satellites are more than 36,000 kilometres away, but they still provide excellent quality Internet connections. To optimise broadband speed, Eutelsat recommends that customers use a professional installer, a list of which is available online.

Compared to its competitors, satellite internet is still fast and has no reason to be ashamed of its performance, which continues to improve. Only small delays related to latency should be noted, without any consequences on a classic web browsing, but which can be noticed for certain uses, namely:

• Live-streaming videos ;
• Participating in video conferences;
• Playing online video games.

Downloading movies or watching streaming video is perfectly possible with satellite internet. Online, however, it may take a little longer for the video to start, but once it does, the content will play smoothly. For teleconferences or video conferences, e.g. on Zoom or Teams, short delays between the interventions of the different participants may occur and should be taken into account.

Finally, with regard to video games, it is essential to consider the type of programme the user is playing. For light online games, the speed of satellite internet is sufficient. On the other hand, for heavy games (MMOs, FPSs, etc.) that require a very high speed, latency can become problematic and make the use of these games almost impossible due to a lack of responsiveness.