TWO-WAY SATELLITE-ONLY COMMUNICATION

Two-way satellite Internet service involves both sending and receiving data from the remote VSAT site via satellite to a hub teleport, which then sends relays data via the terrestrial Internet. The satellite dish at each location must be precisely pointed to avoid interference with other satellites. Some providers oblige the customer to pay for a member of the provider's staff to install the system and correctly align the dish — although the European ASTRA2Connect system encourages user-installation and provides detailed instructions for this.
Many customers in the Middle East and Africa are also encouraged to do self installs. At each VSAT site the uplink frequency, bit rate and power must be accurately set, under control of the service provider hub.There are several types of two way satellite Internet services, including time division multiple access (TDMA) and single channel per carrier (SCPC). Two-way systems can be simple VSAT terminals with a 60–100cm dish and output power of only a few watts intended for consumers and small business or larger systems which provide more bandwidth.
Such systems are frequently marketed as "satellite broadband" and can cost two to three times as much per month as land-based systems such as ADSL. The modems required for this service are often proprietary, but some are compatible with several different providers. They are also expensive, costing in the range of US$600 to $2000.the two-way "iLNB" used on the ASTRA2Connect terminal dish has a 500mW transmitter and single-polarity receive LNB, both operating in the Ku band.
Pricing for Astra2Connect modems range from 299 to 350€. These types of system are generally unsuitable for use on moving vehicles, although some dishes may be fitted to an automatic pan and tilt mechanism to continuously re-align the dish—but these are cumbersome and very expensive. The technology for ASTRA2Connect was delivered by a Belgian company called Newtec.Satellite internet customers range from individual home users with one PC to large remote business sites with several hundred PCs.