This article is intended for Satellite Internet subscribers.
Latency is the response time of computer data.
With a satellite connection, you’ll notice that web pages are displayed a little more slowly than with a fibre or ADSL connection, as illustrated in the animation below.
When you browse the Internet using a wired connection (fibre, ADSL), the information travels a round trip distance equivalent to the length of cable you are using: your request is sent from your computer to the server hosting the site you want to visit, and the server then sends you back the information you want (page content, images, videos, etc.).
With a satellite connection, this distance is even greater, as two return trips to the satellite are required in addition to a terrestrial journey!
At the same bit rate (100 Mb/s in our illustration below), the response time is therefore slightly longer via a satellite connection than with a terrestrial link. This may give an impression of "slowness", but this phenomenon is not linked to the speed of your Internet connection.
Our advice: don’t click several times in a row on a link that doesn’t seem to be responding “quickly enough” – you’ll just start downloading the page you’re waiting for again, totally pointlessly!
Conclusion: The phenomenon is not caused by throughput.
