Spacenet Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. of Israel. Gilat is one of the world's leading providers of two-way, satellite-based communications networks based on Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) technology.

Spacenet Inc., located in McLean, Virginia, provides Connexstar™ enterprise services to more than 40,000 business and government locations and StarBand™ residential satellite services to more than 30,000 customers.

StarBand™ makes it possible for mobile customers to study some materials and take an installer certification exam. This means that customers with their certification are authorized to move their systems.

Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES/HNS) is the global leader in providing broadband satellite networks and services for large enterprises, governments, small businesses, and consumers. HNS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hughes Communications, Inc. HughesNet encompasses all broadband solutions and managed services from HNS.

HughesNet™ is headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland. HughesNet™ offers different service levels, for different monthly rates.

In 2008, HughesNet launched their own satellite. Like Wild Blue, it uses a Ka-band spot-beamed technology, which makes it impossible to move and get back online, without assistance from HughesNet.

Charges are typically about $1200-$1800, for equipment, installation, and training for a standard installation. This is for a complete mobile satellite setup, including satellite system, tripod for mounting and adjusting the dish, cables, satellite meter, and full training.

For about $4000 to $7000, you can purchase the hardware and software needed for an RV roof-mounted, automatically pointing two-way satellite system.

Monthly charges vary from about $50 to $150, depending on several things including available bandwidth, a dedicated public IP address versus a dynamic IP address, whether subscribed to directly or through a third-party service provider, such as Earthlink, and the length of the contract period. There are frequently specials for new customers or for current customers who pay several months in advance. Specials might offer reduced monthly rates and/or reduced equipment costs.

*Charges and costs are estimates and are subject to change

Figure 1 shows a typical satellite setup, which includes a small wireless LAN (WLAN).

Shown in the figure is the StarBand Nova modem and a tripod-mounted StarBand dish. The user interface to the Nova modem is browser based. Notice that the WAN (wide-area network) port of a wireless router (wireless access point, router, and Ethernet switch) is plugged directly into the Nova. The Nova and the wireless router are the only two devices on this point-to-point IP subnet, 148.x.x.0.

A router's primary job is to forward packets between adjoining networks or subnets, as they are also called. The wireless router forwards packets between the 192.168.2.0 subnet (which is on your premises) and the 148.x.x.0 subnet (Nova to router), which, in turn, connects to the Network Operations Center (NOC) via the satellite.

The wireless router connects to the 192.168.2.0 subnet and provides computers IP addresses on this subnet. A PC and a network-enabled printer are shown plugged into Ethernet ports, on the wireless router. A wireless-enabled handheld is accessing the Internet via the Wi-Fi access point. This makes four devices, counting the wireless router, on the 192.168.2.0 subnet.

Once data reaches the NOC, it is forwarded to the Internet over a wired broadband connection. Before the data is actually transmitted on the Internet, it will pass through a firewall and. often, a Network Address Translation (NAT) server, as well. The IP addresses used on your LAN and often on the NOC's uses what is called Private IP Addressing. This means that the addresses cannot be routed on the Internet. The NAT server will map the private IP addresses to public IP addresses, which can be sent through the Internet.

The reverse path is taken, when the response from the Internet comes back. When the response reaches the wireless router on your LAN, it will be forwarded on the LAN and received by the device to which it is addressed.