The Problem

Bandwidth. All of the current consumer-grade satellite broadband providers simply do not have the network capacity to accommodate much more than conventional usage - basic web page surfing and email without large attachments, for example. There are some practical and economic reasons for this. Satellite transponder leases are expensive, and bandwidth rationing is one way for a provider to avoid the additional costs associated with providing unlimited access for their customers. Even business- and enterprise-class providers like Spacenet need a way to deal with those who abuse their bandwidth. When you sign up for any broadband service, whether it's satellite, cable or DSL, your expectation is that you can use that service as much as you like anytime you want. The reality is that all providers - even cable, DSL and terrestrial wireless - use and enforce some sort of 'Fair Access Policy' in order to ration their resources and to deal with abusers. And they don't always do so in a customer-friendly manner.

What Constitutes 'Abuse?'

Abuse of bandwidth can occur in a number of ways. Here's some of the most common examples:

• Web site hosting. No ISP will allow you to host your own website on their connection. The pipe isn't not big enough, the network isn't optimized for type of traffic and it's competition for what the ISP provides to others. In any case, it's better and actually cheaper in the long run to host your website with an outfit with a good rep, good service and good security.
• Acting as an ISP. ISPs don't like small-time competition, mainly because of the way it impacts their bandwidth. In other words, don't farm out your internet connection to others. But those of you with unsecured wireless access points may be giving your neighbors a free ride on your subscription and at your expense. MAKE SURE YOUR WIRELESS ACCESS POINT IS PROTECTED BY A PASSWORD! Hide the SSID and use strong encryption.
• Uploading streaming audio, video and software titles on demand. Selling something? Selling something you perhaps shouldn't? Think about it - that's a good way to use a LOT of bandwidth.
• Downloading streaming audio. That's listening to the radio over the Internet. Do it long enough and often enough and you'll trigger a FAP event.
• Downloading entire movies and shows. That will use up bandwidth in a hurry. Don't do it. Use NetFlix or your local Movie Rental store instead.
• 'Oversubscribing' your network. You can't squeeze a medium-sized business network with, say, 20 or 30 workstations or more through a satellite-based internet connection - unless, of course, you're willing to pay for the requisite bandwidth. Larger operations usually 'load balance' their workstations through two or three or more separate satellite broadband connections. This approach to load balancing is not uncommon, either. It's also not reasonable to expect a residential-class service level to handle business class data flow.
• Spyware, viruses and other malware. This stuff is insidious because it sneaks around behind the scenes and tries to use your systems as open relays, private spam email servers, porn servers and such. 'Zombied' machines are used to participate in denial of service attacks and other nasty things. The point here is that you must keep your workstations squeaky clean AND secure the edge of your network with a business-class firewall/router (like SonicWALL) to prevent malwarefrom using up all your bandwidth and triggering a FAP event. Important clue: is your satellite modem transmit light on solid, or does it just flicker from time to time? If it's the former, you've got big trouble.
• Peer-to peer networking.  A peer-to-peer (or P2P) computer network is a network that relies primarily on the computing power and bandwidth of the participants in the network rather than concentrating it in a relatively low number of servers. P2P networks are typically used for connecting nodes via largely ad hoc connections. Sharing content files containing audio, video, data or anything in digital format is very common. When such networks connect across the Internet, they can consume inordinate amounts of bandwidth. This covers file sharing systems such as Napster, LimeWire, BitTorrent, XBox live gaming sessions, and so forth.

FAP - Who's Doing What

All of the providers in the satellite broadband marketplace - StarBand, HughesNet, and WildBlue - 'throttle' or otherwise restrict your service when you exceed a certain download limit - as little as 200 MB per day in HughesNet's case. That's about the size of a product manual in PDF format and it's far less than some Windows Service Pack updates. Satellite broadband providers call this their 'Fair Access Policy.'

Here's how each of these services handles their respective 'Fair Access Policies.'

StarBand

Starband's clusters on the new Nova series are not as full as other vendors that have to serve a lot of users therefore speed is very good.

Note that the FAP thresholds are only monitored by StarBand between the hours of 6:00am and 12:00am Eastern Time

StarBand's AUP (Acceptable Use Policy):
Starband Nova 1000 bandwidth is 1.6 GB in a 7 day rolling period (around 7 gigabytes per month). The Nova 1500 is 4 GB in a 7 day rolling period (around 17.3 GB per month). Bandwidth is based on upload & download data streams for 7 day rolling period. Starband is better than HughesNet or Wildblue for bandwidth. If you go over bandwidth, then it will throttle back to 450Kb/sec (Nova 1500) - 150Kb/sec (Nova Pro). They throttle down your connection speed until you are within the allotted download limit for the past 7 days. If you go over bandwidth, Starband will give you a free pass for the first time bandwidth offense.

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HughesNet

From HughesNet's website (July 2008)

Fair Access Policy:
To ensure fair Internet access for all HughesNet® subscribers, HUGHES maintains a Fair Access Policy (FAP). This policy establishes an equitable balance in Internet access for HughesNet subscribers. Hughes assigns a download threshold to each service plan that limits the amount of data that may be downloaded during a typical day. A small percentage of subscribers who exceed this limit will experience a temporary reduction of speed.

Explanation:
The Fair Access Policy is straightforward. Based on an analysis of customer usage data, Hughes has established a download threshold for each of the HughesNet service plans that is well above the typical usage rates. Subscribers who exceed that threshold will experience reduced download speeds for approximately 24 hours.

During this recovery period, the HughesNet service may still be used, but speeds will be slower. Web browsing, for example, will be significantly slower than subscribers’ normal browsing experience. Subscribers will return to normal download speeds after the recovery period as long as they minimize their bandwidth-intensive activities. If they continue these activities during this recovery period, reduced download speeds may continue beyond 24 hours.

This is for a 24 hour period.....

It doesn't take long to exceed HughesNet's 'Fair Access Policy' limit and find yourself throttled or even shut down if you persist. HughesNet's 'recovery time,' or the time it takes to return to your former speeds is approximately 24 hours.. Limits such as these are unacceptably low if you are running a home office or home-based business.

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WildBlue

from WildBlue's Fair Access Policy (Version 1.4. Last Updated: February 28, 2008):

To ensure that all WildBlue customers have equitable access to the WildBlue network, WildBlue has implemented a Fair Access Policy (or “FAP”)... WildBlue sets usage thresholds on the amount of data that you can uplaod and download within stated time periods. If you exceed these thresholds, WIld Blue will temporarily limit the speed at which you can send and receive data over the WildBlue access network. access speeds,............

Based on an analysis of typical customers, we have set a rolling 30-day limit on data usage per customer, called a Usage Threshold. ...This threshold varies based on the service plan you selected..

.....If at any time your Usage Total is above the Usage Threshold, your usage has violated the FAP and we will reduce your WildBlue access speeds, typically to 128 kbps in the downstream (from the Internet to you) and 28 kbps in the upstream (from you to the Internet), and you may experience a loss of connectivity during peak usage periods (collectively, “Reduced Access”). Once your speeds have been reduced, you must decrease your usage to bring your Usage Total to 70% or less of the Usage Threshold. Once your Usage Total reaches this level, your access speeds will be restored to the original speed levels by
the next day.

...You are likely to avoid any limitations imposed by the FAP if your use is typical of the majority of Internet users and consists primarily of Web surfing and a reasonable amount of downloading.The table below shows the monthly Usage Thresholds for each plan. These limits specify the amount of data that you can upload and download before your access speed is reduced. Please note that your Usage Total is far more likely to exceed the FAP limits if you use peer-to-peer file sharing programs, you use a webcam or you download full length movies, large quantities of music files, full software applications or similar high-bandwidth activities.

WildBlue's plans:
This is for a rolling 30-day period.....

	WildBlue Monthly Usage Thresholds
		Value Pak	Select Pak	Pro Pak
	Upload Threshold 1	2,300	3,000	5,000
	Download Threshold 2	7,500	12,000	17,000

¹ Upload Threshold is the volume of data that can be uploaded during the previous 30 days before the Fair Access Policy may restrict the user’s speeds.
² Download Threshold is the volume of data that can be downloaded during the previous 30 days before the Fair Access Policy may restrict the user’s speeds.