How will weather affect my Viasat Internet service?
Satellite equipment is open to satellite signals and all the unpredictable forces of Mother Nature.
Cloud cover and light snow or rain shouldn't interrupt your Viasat Internet service connection, but a very severe thundershower or heavy snowstorm may cause a temporary connection loss.
- If you do lose connectivity, your internet service will come back online without any action.
- Typically, these outages don't last more than 20 minutes, even if it continues to rain or snow for longer than that.
- If you don't lose connectivity during severe weather, you may find your service runs slower during that time.
This diagram shows how the ground station/gateway transmits a signal to the satellite and back to your home:
- Satellite service relies on dishes and antennas positioned on or around your home at ground level.
Our equipment is built to withstand exposure to the elements.
- Snow, ice, or rain have minimal impact on our equipment's performance.
- Our equipment is put through extensive testing before it's approved for use.
- It is installed on simulated building structure roofs, walls, and ground poles, and then we subject it to wind load testing, with a wind machine that produces gusts up to 120 mph, and a laser mounted to the antenna to measure the effects.
We also measure signal integrity, including performing several tests to ensure customers stay online without signal disruption.
- Despite all our in-house testing, reception quality can sometimes be affected by snow and ice accumulation during severe winter storms.
- If you notice performance diminishes and the antenna is easily accessible, you can wipe off the build-up to ensure peak performance.
Your service may have a "weather outage" under clear skies on rare occasions.
- Your service may have a weather outage even though you see clear skies. This is because your service is also associated with a large hub - or gateway - that is typically located far from your house. In many cases, it can be in another state.
- Weather outages are rarer at gateways due to the larger antenna used. However, it is possible. If this happens, the outage would likely be brief.
Related articles you may be interested in: