Data Limits again

Hi gaines_wright,

I would think at least a partial explanation would be that TV is a simple one-way communication, whereas internet is a complex back-and-forth two-way communication with each of millions of customers.

For DISH network, their broadcast hub receives signals from content providers, i.e. ESPN, HGTV, Disney, HBO, etc. It then sends those signals to geosynchronous satellites, which rebroadcast them to Earth. Back here on earth, your dish (and everybody else's) pick up the SAME signal and passes it to your receiver and then to your TV.

For Hughesnet, when you access a webpage, a signal is sent from your computer to the satellite, which beams your request to your service hub (i.e. gateway). There, the webpage is located and beamed back up to the geostationary satellite, whereupon it is then beamed back down to your satellite and appears on your computer screen via your modem.

These are the processes, basically, in a nutshell. You can see that the two things, TV and Internet, are very different processes. The internet communication process is not one way, and it has to handle millions of requests from individual users at the same time.

More people using more data obviously clogs the system because the system can only handle "x" number of requests at any given time. The long range solutions probably include more satellites, more gateways, and advances in technology. All extremely expensive. The short term solution is either limit the number of users, the amount of data per user, or both.

Other folks on here may have other knowledge about the difference between satellite TV and satellite internet.

Hope this helps!
Sincerely,
Debbie