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Home > Satellite Internet > Fair Access Policy

Fair Access Policies For Satellite Internet

The term "Fair Access Policy" originated with HughesNet and has since been adopted by all major satellite Internet providers. Sometimes included within their "Acceptable Use" guidelines, what these policies do is limit the total megabytes of data that a single account can download in a 24-hour period. If you exceed the threshold, your download speeds are reduced for some period of time -- a day, a week, or even longer.

How much does it slow down? Almost down to dialup speeds, in most cases. The purpose of the policy is to deter the small percentage of "heavy users" that use excessive amounts of the provider's bandwidth -- thus slowing down data transfer rates for the vast majority of average-bandwidth users. The good news is that if you keep yourself aware of your satellite provider's daily threshold, you'll probably not exceed it and be able to completely avoid any reductions in speed.

Are You A "Heavy-Bandwidth User"?

There are a few Internet activities that use up a lot of bandwidth. Users that engage in such activities are the ones that typically run afoul of their provider's Fair Access Policy. The usual suspects for high-bandwidth consumption include:

• Large file-sharing applications (LimeWire, BitTorrent, etc.)
• Online gaming MMORPG's (Warcraft, Guild Wars, etc.)
• Streaming media applications (YouTube, NetFlix, video sites, etc.)
• Application hosting - Using your account to host FTP or Web servers

If the activities listed above are what you intend to use the Internet for, then the best thing to do is get a plan that has the highest threshold. Since HughesNet is the biggest satellite provider in the U.S., we'll use their thresholds* as an example:

• Home Plan - 200 MB / day
• Pro Plan - 300 MB / day
• ProPlus Plan - 425 MB / day
• Elite Plan - 500 MB / day
• ElitePlus Plan - 500 MB / day
• ElitePremium Plan - 500 MB / day
• Small Office Plan - 500 MB / day
• Business Internet - 1,250 MB / day

*HughesNet thresholds listed effective as of 1/1/2009. Subject to change.

As you can see, subscribers who know that they will use a lot of bandwidth might want to choose at least the Elite Plan to give themselves a higher threshold.

Tips For Avoiding The Threshold

Another option for avoiding the F.A.P. is to see if your satellite provider offers any kind of limitation-free time periods, often called a "Download Period". These are periods of time when your bandwidth usage doesn't apply toward your daily total. In general, such time periods would be during the very early morning hours, prior to 6 AM. Check your provider's FAQ's and see if / when they have have such periods. At present, HughesNet and Starband are the only two we know of that still offer download periods.

Satellite ISP's don't you guessing as to how much bandwidth you use. Most of them will have a page on their Web portal where users can monitor their daily bandwidth. One good example of this is Starband. Their customers can log into the account management page at Starband.net so subscribers can monitor their own bandwidth. Satellite ISP's will also email you at your contact email address when you are getting close to your limit.

Of course, if your typical Web-based activities are simply browsing websites and checking email, then you will probably never come close to hitting the F.A.P. daily threshold. Truth is, the limits of the Fair Access Policies usually affect less than 5% of satellite Internet customers who consume far more bandwidth than average users.

We suggest using a program like NetMeter to monitor your own speeds and bandwidth consumption so that you can avoid exceeding your FAP limit.

All Major Satellite Providers Have Such Policies

Switching providers to avoid such thresholds is not really an option. All of the big satellite Internet providers have one, including HughesNet, Wildblue, Starband and Skyway USA. Each provider's policy will differ from the examples given above, so make sure you read through the FAQ's pages to get an understanding of their F.A.P. thresholds prior to picking a provider or choosing a monthly plan.

Fair Access Policies are not going away. Even cable, DSL and wireless providers have begun imposing daily bandwidth limitations in order to ensure the best experience for the majority of their subscribers. However, if you keep yourself aware of your daily threshold and moderate your daily Internet usage just a little bit, you'll probably never have to worry about such penalties.

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	Fair Access Policy		Walmart Internet / HughesNet
	Satellite Connection Issues		Business Satellite Internet

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