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Best Satellite Internet Plans for Rural Areas

irish satellite broadband

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way modern people live and work. Among many changes, the dependency on the Internet provider is the most remarkable one. Before the pandemic, modern life was all about socializing, working, and learning. The pandemic has made everything online. Be it attending classes, working on office assignments, or watching movies, every sphere of life has become digital. Zoom has become the only platform for conducting health and fitness classes; Teams and Hangouts are ruling classrooms and meeting rooms.  None of these would be possible with an internet connection that keeps stumbling.  To cope with the situations prevailing in human society, you need the best satellite internet plans even in the rural areas. As we are mainly concerned with Republic of Ireland we will talk about Irish satellite broadband in particular.

Role of satellite internet

Satellite internet has a crucial role in enabling new applications and expanding business processes to a global audience. It provides critical communications means to remotely monitor and manage offshore assets in real-time at unmanned sites and foreign locations. Moreover, it plays a pivotal role in transforming the transportation infrastructure with high-speed internet connectivity in the global transportation landscape. 

How satellite internet works

Satellite internet is a kind of connection that deploys a satellite to get an internet signal from a reputed internet service provider. The provider will send a fibre internet signal to a satellite. When the signal will reach your place, your satellite dish will capture the internet. The dish is connected to a modem, which connects computers to an internet signal.  The same process gets back to the provider. This way you can enjoy the high-speed connectivity of satellite internet. It has come a long way. Nowadays, you can find satellite internet plans reaching up to 100 Mbps with Starlink proving to break even this barrier. A high-speed internet helps you watch videos, stream Netflix, and support a bunch of other online activities.  

 In this context, it is important to consider that satellite internet depends on high latency. The speeds may not always be what they seem. Or rather, the experience may be different. In some cases, like when using some VPNs the connection may not be as good as with other providers due to higher latency that VPNs cannot handle, despite having the same kind of speeds.

There are many other types of the internet but they are not available in rural areas. DSL internet is slower than satellite internet. It may vary from one internet provider to another.  Relying on your provider, DSL ranges anywhere from 5 Mbps to 100 Mbps. If you are allowed to access a DSL provider with the help of modern technologies, you would get a better experience. Otherwise, satellite internet’s speed will be far better than the DSL connection. 

What should you consider while choosing the best satellite internet plans? 

When you need to choose trusted rural satellite broadband, you should consider a few things. You should determine what speed you need and the budget you can afford. No doubt it is tempting to run after the fastest plan but overpaying for excessive speeds that you may not require is not a good decision. On the other hand the cheapest satellite plan may not be what you need due to lower speeds and less priority data.

The decision of selecting a satellite internet plan should rely on the activities that you and your family members do regularly. A slower connection would be enough for web browsing and email checking. But if you want to stream online platforms like Netflix, you will need high-speed internet. 

Choosing your Irish Satellite Broadband

Having what we said above in mind the decision needs to be made what to pay for not only now but also in the future. Irish satellite broadband plans come usually with 12 months contract so the decision goes beyond what you pay now.

To make this decision we highly recomment to talk to satellite broadband expert who can ask the approproiate questions and advise on what’s available and what would be the best for you. There might be offers available, better plans, more suitable solutions.

Irish Satellite Broadband Providers

Satellite offer is actually quite limited. Thre is a limited number of satellite providers and speeds available. The biggest Irish Satellite Broadband provider is Konnect (Eutelsat). Their newest satellite was commerically launched only around a year ago so it’s technologically most advanced out of all available technologies. The new one, that is expected for commerical deployment around 2023 will offer even better plans.

Starlink is obviously another option combining high speeds with low latency, something that geostationary satellites cannot give. Although early tests were spectacular we need to remember it’s still not a commerically deployed and properly tested solution and recent reviews seem to be proving the project is much more challenging that Elon Musk initially predicted.

Viasat’s satellite offer is something most Irish satellite broadband users probably never heard of. Viasat is not directly involved in Irish market and currently is being reselled by companies such as Digiweb.

Avail the best satellite internet plans for rural areas 

Satellite internet is a good alternative for rural areas, where setting up the infrastructure for cable or fibre is difficult. Rural satellite broadband plans are available based on bandwidth allocation and data allowance. You can select one of the three price plans from KonnectMe (through Eutelsat’s satellite We Konnect) mentioned below depending on your requirements.  

Best Satellite Broadband Plans

When making decision of what to sign for our recommended action is to talk to an agent who can advise on the plans. Satellite broadband plans can change from time to time so it would be probably counter-productive to list the plans available. Instead, we want to talk about what to consider when making decision:

  • Price – this one is obvious. When signing for any broadband plan we need to consider how much it’s going to cost us now and in the coming weeks (the term of the contract)
  • Term of the contract. Satellite broadband terms can range between 12 and 36 months so it is better to consider for how long are you going to sign your contract. Although longer terms usually come with lower monthly fees but considering how the technology paces nowadays it may be better to go with the basic 12 months contract like that offered by Konnect and reconsider options towards the end
  • Installation. Satellite installation is usually chargeable and we advise to consider this cost especially that sometimes customers prefer to do self-installation to save money. We recommend against suhc a decision, a poorly done installation may make the internet completelly useless.

Pros of rural satellite broadband 

One of the biggest advantages of satellite internet is its availability. As a general rule of thumb, satellite internet infrastructure is well-equipped to keep people from anywhere in the world connected to the internet, irrespective of the current events. We, at KonnectMe, arrange the installation of the satellite dish, configure the high-speed internet router, and set up the connection instantly at extremely competitive prices. 

Rural satellite broadband is generally not affected by natural disasters or other similar events. It is because satellite internet does not need land-based infrastructure running to your home and instead relies on a home satellite dish communicating with a satellite in space. So, people in rural areas can check their emails, browse the internet, and perform other day to day activities even in bad weather conditions. 

The internet of things is another aspect that benefits massively from the integration of satellite internet into the communications mix. Flexible satellite infrastructure and innovative hardware can be to fulfil the needs of the consumers better. 

With the advent of new low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites, satellite internet is going to get even faster with less latency. If you reside in an area where such satellite internet programs are available, talk to your ISP to enquire about the prices for the best satellite internet plans in your locality. 

Earlier, many people believed that satellite internet is too slow, and it takes a long time to receive the signal. In the present situation, these are nothing but myths. Satellite internet is affordable and easily available even in rural areas. That is why most people are looking for a reliable satellite internet provider in rural areas. 

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