Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Internet?

What can I do on the internet?

What is E-mail?

How much does it all cost?

How do I choose an account name?

How do I change my password?

What is VSAT?

What is the difference between VSATs used for data communications and those used for televison reception?

What are Rx/Tx VSAT used for?

What are the advantages of VSAT links over other types of data links?

What are the limitations of of VSAT links?

Where are VSAT solutions suitable?

What does an organisation need to have in place to deploy VSAT technology?

What is the Internet?
The Internet is a vast network that connects many independent networks spanning over 170 countries in the World. It links computers of many different types, sizes, and operating systems, and, of course, the many people of those countries that use the Internet to communicate.

What can I do on the Internet?
The Internet Protocol makes it possible for you to communicate in various ways, find things that interest you, and exchange information and files.
The most common things you can do are:

Send and receive e-mail from people all over the world. Almost as fast as the telephone, there is never a busy signal.

Join discussion groups about a common subject.
Get or exchange software and files with the other users.
Log into and use many computers around the world. Telnet lets you use the resources on a remote computer such as games, databases, library catalogs, and many more interesting things.
Connect to thousands of different computers using menu systems, which make navigation from one site to another easy.
Explore the WWW, which can use all of the above, and adds easy links to other resources, adds multimedia--graphics, sound, and video capabilities.
Talk by keyboard, which lets small groups of users meet in conference to "talk" to each other by typing on their keyboardsThe World Wide Web is one of the protocols that lets you link to many sites on the Internet.

The basic unit is the page, such as the page you are now reading. A page can be one or many screens as it displays on your monitor. Within the page are links to related pages and other web sites. This system of embedding links in the text on a page is called hypertext. The links are distinctive, and vary depending on your browser.

With most graphical browsers, links are underlined and appear in a contrasting colour. Text browsers may number the links or show them in bold text to contrast them or in reverse colours when selected. You can select a link in a text browser either by typing the number of the link or by moving the up and down arrow keys to select the link. Once selected, either press Enter or the right arrow to connect to the link.

What is E-mail?
An e-mail address enables you to collect messages from anywhere in the world at any time almost instantly, that is to say, an electronic form of a physical postal box. Your email address can reflect your name or service.

How much does it all cost?
Contact us for details

How do I choose an account name?
You can choose your own account name. This is the name which appears before the address of the server your account resides for example yourname@afsat.com This will determine account name or email address. If you want to check that the account name you want has not already been taken by another customer or have any queries regarding a name then please contact our sales and marketing department or call us to discuss your requirements. Account names are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

How do I change my password?
If you have forgotten your password or need to change it contact our customer service department.

What is a VSAT?
VSAT is an abreviation for Very Small Aperture Terminal. It is a terminal for receiving and transmitting radio signals between two locations via satellite.

What is the difference between VSATs used for data communications and those used for television reception?
The terminals used for TV reception are receive only terminals while the ones for two way data communication are Receive and Transmit Terminals (Rx/Tx). The TV terminals require no special license, while for the Rx/Tx terminals the user is required to be licenced by the regulatory body in their country, in Uganda, Uganda Communications Commission, in Kenya, Telekom Kenya and in Tanzania, Tanzania Communications Commission.

What are Rx/Tx VSAT used for?
They are used to connect data centres to of an organisation that are located by distances apart, into one network distributed over a large area. The centres could be in different towns, different centres or even different continents. Such a network is called a Wide Area Network (WAN).

What are the advantages of VSAT links over other types of data links?

Immune to distances between sites to be connected
Immune to topological obstacles (such as tall buildings, hills and mountains)
Very fast set up time. A link between two sites on different continents can be established in a matter of weeks.
Very high reliability (Typical annual availability = 99.95)
Very reliable technology.
Create very secure links – almost immune to unauthorised access and tampering.

What are the limitations of VSAT Links?

Radicated satellite capacity is substantially expensive
The turn round time is long due to the long distance between satellites and earth locations and this can affect the operations of some programs.
Some VSAT equipment is relatively expensive.
Some types of VSAT links are affected by heavy rain, and may result in a weaker signal reception between the ground stations.

Where are VSAT solutions suitable?
Any situation where information (data, voice or picture) must be exchanged between locations that are far apart to be reliably linked using other communication networks or where the remote sites are too isolated from existing communication networks.

What does an organisation need to have in place to deploy VSAT technology?

Economically viable need for information exchange
Software and networks which are optimised for satellite operation
Reliable power source
Perform a site survey to establish suitable location for VSAT terminals.