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FAQ about satellite TV

How does satellite TV work?

Satellite TV is broadcast from communications satellites in orbit around the earth to your receiver (satellite dish) on your home. Since it doesn’t require any cables or other ground-based infrastructure other than a satellite dish, you can get satellite TV pretty much anywhere. This makes it a particularly attractive option in rural areas that aren’t wired for cable TV or high-speed internet connections.

What’s the difference between satellite TV and cable TV?

Both satellite TV and cable TV have pros and cons. Satellite is available anywhere in the US and customers can choose any provider. Cable is available only in areas where providers have built out their network infrastructures, and you’re limited to providers that are available in your area.

Satellite TV is also usually more of a long-term investment than cable TV. Satellite TV plans typically have longer contracts, usually requiring you to sign up for two years up front. As with internet service, it’s often possible to transfer your service to a new address if you move, as long as your new home allows you to have a satellite dish installed. Still, if you’re a renter or are considering moving in the next year or two, you might want to avoid satellite TV simply because of the early cancellation fees.

What service disruptions does satellite TV deal with?

Generally, satellite TV is pretty reliable; however, unlike cable, satellite TV signals can be disrupted by bad weather. Snow can be particularly disruptive. It can block your signal if it piles up on the dish, causing alignment problems. If you have snow on your dish, gently sweep it away or wait for it to melt if it’s too high on your house. Never scrape your dish or pour water on it—that might damage the dish.

Storms can also be a problem for satellite dishes, depending on where your dish is installed. Strong winds can topple satellite dishes that have been improperly installed, and even properly installed dishes can become misaligned in strong winds. If your connection is still spotty after a storm ends, you might want to have your dish alignment checked. If your dish is high on your roof or on a pole, you might want to call a professional to deal with this problem.

Lightning strikes are also a problem for satellite dishes, although if your dish is struck by lightning, there’s not much you can do. You’ll have to just replace it.

Satellites can also suffer from “sun outages” when the sun lines up directly behind the satellite in orbit. Since communication satellites are placed in geostationary orbit and, thus, are always found in the same point in the sky, you will experience sun outages twice a year: once before the spring equinox (usually in February or March) and once after the fall equinox (usually in September or October).

What’s the difference between satellite TV and satellite internet?

Both satellite internet and satellite TV transmit information to the dish on your house from an orbiting satellite. The main difference has to do with your provider and how your plan works.

With a satellite internet plan, you’re basically paying for data from either Viasat or HughesNet. More expensive plans offer you more data each month, and few things eat through data like streaming video. If you sit down every day after work and turn on Netflix on a satellite internet connection, you’re going to burn through your data in no time.

By contrast, when you sign up for satellite TV, you’re paying for channels. More expensive plans have more channels, and it could cost you quite a bit to get premium channels like HBO. But once you’ve paid for your top-tier package, you can watch HBO as much as you want. There aren’t any data restrictions.

If you connect to the internet via satellite, we highly recommend that you sign up for satellite TV rather than streaming over your internet connection. Paying for a separate service isn’t ideal, but it will save you massive amounts of data.

What’s the future of satellite TV?

Although it’s been around for almost 40 years, satellite TV has seen a sharp decline in customers over the last few years. Satellite TV providers have lost hundreds of thousands of customers every year as people have switched to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. Most premium channels these days have their own streaming services that don’t require an entire cable or satellite TV package.

Although satellite TV is certainly past the peak of its popularity, it’s not going away anytime soon. For many people living in rural areas, it’s still the only option. Still, there could be major changes. AT&T has hinted at the possibility of dropping NFL SUNDAY TICKET from DIRECTV to save costs. There’s also talk of a merger between DISH and DIRECTV, which would eliminate any choice for satellite TV customers. In any case, these developments aren’t great news for people who depend on satellite TV to stay connected to news and entertainment.

Looking further toward the horizon, there could be an even bigger disruption to satellite TV: 5G.

What does 5G mean for satellite TV service?

One hopeful development on the horizon is the rollout of 5G wireless networks. While current cell phones are no replacement for home internet, 5G networks will be capable of surpassing many other kinds of connections, including satellite, in terms of speed, reliability, and latency. This could be especially impactful in rural areas.

While 5G networks would technically replace satellite internet services, not satellite TV, the two fates are deeply intertwined. AT&T has admitted that it is no longer marketing DIRECTV, and it’s instead pivoting to focus on livestreaming packages. AT&T won’t be pulling the plug anytime soon, but it will continue to sell DIRECTV to “more rural or less dense suburban areas” where streaming services are less practical. Rural 5G would kill two birds with one stone.

Of course, there are a lot of barriers to rural 5G. 5G has faster speeds and higher capacity than 4G networks, but it travels only half as far, which means you need a lot more transmitters to reach the same area. There are still large areas of the US without 4G coverage, so 5G coverage won’t happen without significant government investment. Even in a best-case scenario, 5G isn’t an imminent solution. It will be at least several years before 5G is a practical replacement for other forms of broadband in urban areas, and rural areas will have to wait even longer.

Although the US doesn’t have the greatest track record for investing in rural infrastructure, there are still reasons to be optimistic. The FCC has already suggested plans for establishing funds for 5G development in rural areas. Additionally, the White House put out a briefing which stated that “The President is committed to ensure that rural Americans are not left behind and that their communities have access to safe and reliable high-speed broadband” and that the President “is committed to the development of reliable 5G and ensuring the United States remains the global leader in technology and innovation.”

This certainly doesn’t make any of the barriers to reliable 5G less daunting, but it is a significant shift in the way that we think about telecommunications. So, this is certainly something satellite TV and internet customers should be keeping an eye on in the future.