> Hmm. Yes, my first thought was this article is twenty years old.


We need a comment from somebody who knows, but right away, I see the
difference is the fact that it will not just be a relay to an earth
backbone, but will BE a backbone or at least a node on the internet.

As I understand it now, the HughesNet satellites, for example, simply
act as ar elay from our dish to a dish at the Hughes Network
Operations Center. From there, it is routed onto the internet. No
matter where you are in the world, on Hughesnet, your packets enter
the internet in Germantown Maryland or Las Vegas Nevada. Even if you
are in Peru, checking out a website hosted in the sametown, or
chatting with you neighbor by VOIP (to the degree that it works).

Basically, the satellite acts as a very, very long extension of our
local network.

So, if it's a node on the internet and not just a relay, then it will
route a package more directly, not through a NOC. Something like
that ?

I'm guessing that this generally will cut the lag time and
considerably shorten the route to any given site over today's
satellite relays.

Steve