How To Make Satellite Internet Performance Better?

Satellite internet is a great way to get internet services especially when you are living in a remote area. Since it uses a satellite dish to transfer signals rather than a wired connection, customers can get internet despite their location.

Moreover, satellite internet providers generally offer a good download speed depending upon the customer’s location. For instance, HughesNet, which is America’s top satellite internet provider, offers a download speed of up to 25 Mbps with all its plans while there are soft data limits. You can find out further details about HughesNet internet plans by contacting customer service.

However, many customers complain about slower speeds with the satellite internet. Though this is frustrating, solving this problem isn’t impossible. If you are facing the same issue, here are a few things you should do right away to improve the performance of your satellite internet.

  1. See if you have Sufficient Data

One of the biggest reasons why satellite internet slows down is because of its soft data limits. Satellite internet offers limited high-speed data as per the customer’s plan. Once they go over this limit, their ISP manages the internet speed as per its fair usage policy. Customers then have the option to add more high-speed data by purchasing data coupons or can enjoy free data at a slower speed.

For those who don’t know about this, this seems like a huge problem because one day your internet is working fine and the next day it’s not even playing an online video.

To make sure, whether you’re facing the same problem or not, check your data usage by logging into your service portal or contact customer service. If you find out the data limit is causing slow speed, you can add more data to your plan or upgrade it. Otherwise, you will have to wait until the next billing cycle starts.

  1. Check the Position of Your Satellite Dish

Since satellite internet uses a satellite dish that further connects with the satellite in space, the connection between the dish and the satellite should be strong. Moreover, to maintain this connection strength, the dish antenna must point toward the southern sky. If the position of the dish antenna changes, that weakens the connection. Resultantly, the speed drops down.

In case your connection speed has dropped down instantly, you should also check the position of the dish antenna. If it is not pointing toward the southern sky, contact your service provider and let them know.

  1. Look for Damage on Dish Antenna or Cables

Another reason why the performance of your satellite internet can drop is the damage to the wires or the dish antenna. If your dish antenna or cables have any chips, cracks, or damage, get them replaced.

Also, make sure the cables are not loose where they connect to the dish antenna or the modem.

  1. Restart Your Modem/Router

At times, the reason behind your slow internet connection can be some bug in the router or modem. To make sure that is not what’s slowing down your internet, restart the modem/router and wait for a few minutes. It will refresh the connection, disconnect unnecessary devices, and speed things up.

In case restarting is not working for you, try resetting it and see if anything changed.

  1. Connect via Ethernet When Possible

Although Wi-Fi is great, it is not always the best solution when you need a stable connection. That is because Wi-Fi signals travel through the air and lose strength while passing through mediums such as appliances, furniture, or walls.

On the other hand, if you use an Ethernet connection, the signals only have to travel through the Ethernet cable to your computer. That makes it much more reliable and faster than Wi-Fi.

However, if you necessarily have to use Wi-Fi, consider switching the frequency of your router from 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz. That will also improve the speed and connection performance.

  1. Reposition Your Router

If your satellite internet works fine in some parts of the house while slows down in others, that means the signal strength is not good around the house. Moreover, hiding your router behind appliances also affects the signal strength and results in a slow connection.

In such a scenario, consider changing the position of your router. Put it in the area where you and your family spend the most time and observe the difference in speed. I hope that it will be better than before.

In case the router is at a good place but you have a big house with a complicated structure, the solution to that would be installing a mesh system.

A mesh Wi-Fi system can deliver strong signals to every area of the house. If you think, a mesh Wi-Fi system is much more than what you need, get a Wi-Fi extender. It will solve the problem of signal strength.

Rishabh Rajvanshi
Technical writer with relevant experience of one year, Rishabh has co-founded TeCake.com. He has written several reviews, latest technology news articles and high-level documentation. You can contact Rishabh at rishabh[at]tecake.com