Historically, satellites have been used to relay messages over long distances. Radio signals travel in straight lines, so it is impossible to send one the other side of our round earth. Instead what we do is send a straight signal to a satellite far above us in the sky, and that satellite bounces the signal off and sends it, again in a straight line, to some other place in the earth. In some cases a signal may be passed from one satellite to another before it is sent back down again.
All of this happens with amazing speed. In the case of satellite internet service, this technology is used to relay a broadband signal to some part of the earth that is not able to receive it through the usual means of cable wires and DSL. Most often it is to a rural area within an already developed country. These are people who have telephone lines and so can get dial-up service, but who may wish for faster internet. In satellite internet, the signal travels from your computer to the satellite, and from there to the provider’s operations center, which replies with the information requested, and then that is sent back to satellite and thence to your home. This enormously long journey is accomplished in a very short time—anywhere from half to a full second. Nevertheless, that does mean that there is a bit of lapse between you needing the information and getting it. Most satellites are parked about 22,000 miles from the earth’s surface. They appear to be stationary because they are orbiting at the same speed earth is. If a satellite internet provider oversubscribes their service, the signal response time may become slower because both the satellite and operations center are becoming overloaded. Furthermore, signals can be adversely affected by bad weather. However, satellite internet is available in far more locations than any other type of internet service but dial-up, and for that reason alone it will always be used a great deal.