There are a lot of myths surrounding satellite broadband, its capabilities and its restrictions. But we’re here to bust those myths and bring you the truth! So here are ten things you probably thought you knew about satellite broadband but didn’t…

1) Almost 1 in 10 UK households can’t get access to a traditional landline 2Mbps broadband connection.
Unlike conventional broadband providers restricted by existing cables and phone lines, the new Tooway service works via satellite and is available to every household and business in the UK

2) With the latest generation Tooway broadband satellite service – every home in the UK can access up to 10Mbps broadband.
It may sound like the stuff rumours are made of but we promise you – it’s true! Tooway Satellite broadband reaches every last home in the UK and offers each and every one of them 10mbps broadband speeds.

3) There are four new generation Tooway packages:
Tooway offers a range of different packages to suit your needs depending on how often you use the internet and what you use it for – whether it’s downloading movies, catching up with friends via Skype or just browsing and checking emails. The range includes Tooway 6 (6Mbps download and 1Mbps upload), Tooway 8 (8Mbps download and 2Mbps upload), Tooway 10 (10Mbps download and 2Mbps upload) and Tooway 10+ (10Mbps download and 4Mbps upload)

4) There are also Tooway professional services for businesses
We offer businesses faster speeds at up to 40Mbps, and soon to be 50Mbps, so rural businesses can be just as speedy and efficient as those in the city. The Tooway™ professional services portfolio offers a wide range of business communication solutions for data networks (e.g. private networks, internet access, back-up), professional video services (eg. satellite news gathering) and for television broadcasting.

5) You just plug and play!
Access to the Tooway satellite broadband service couldn’t be easier. A 77cm satellite dish is attached to the outside of your home facing South and you just pop the modem in your house (wherever fits in best with the décor, of course), plug it into your PC or connect it to your wi-fi network and off you go!

6 )  We’re here to help, but only if you want us to
We can come and install the dish for you but, if you’re feeling handy with a hammer, you can do it yourself. Just don’t blame us if you mount it upside down…

7) We’re very good at multi-tasking
The Tooway satellite dish is able to receive UK and European television channels and Voice over IP telephone services (that’s Skype to you and me )

8 ) Tooway can handle the elements
Historically, satellite has suffered from the impact of adverse weather conditions. Not anymore! We’ve installed lots of clever bits to prevent the unpredictable British weather from impacting on your broadband connection. Specifically, ViaSat, the technology supplier of the Tooway™ system has included features that mitigate the impact of rain fade on the satellite link. The system responds automatically to rain fade with uplink power control and adaptive data coding techniques that overcome potential outages, while optimising the use of satellite transponder bandwidth to ensure we significantly increase reliability and quality of the service you receive.

9) A satellite to make NASA jealous
The new Tooway™ service is provided by KA-SAT, the first all-Ka-band High Throughput Satellite (HTS) in Europe. With 82 spotbeams and more than 70 Gbps throughput, it is the world’s most powerful satellite. Launched on Boxing Day 2010, KA-SAT is operated by Eutelsat, Europe’s leading satellite operator with services provided by its Skylogic affiliate

10) Going down in history.
For all you history buffs out there who love to know the dates and statistics of prominent events, the satellite arrived in January 2011 at its definitive location in geostationary orbit at 9° East and is integrated with a network of ground stations connected to the Internet backbone to create a new pan-European broadband infrastructure. The Satellite went live on May 31st, 2011. Phew!