Viasat Satellite internet is internet brought to your home via satellites in space. It’s not cable broadband service. Cable broadband is an internet signal brought to you via cables buried underground.

To receive the internet via a satellite internet connection you will need a dish transceiver with base (also known as a tiny dish, disk, or transceiver unit), modem-router, and two types of cable. The modem-router may be one combined device or it may be separate devices. The modem functions as an internet signal translator that renders words and images to your screen rather than the raw signal code elements. The router is a device that shares the satellite signal you’re getting from your dish transceiver to other devices in your home.

The dish has a coaxial cable running from the outside of your home where the dish is installed to the inside of your home where your modem-router sits near your main computer. Another cable runs from the modem-router to the AC power on your wall or strip so it has power. The modem-router shares the signal to your device via the air, or, you can hard-wire the modem-router directly into your desktop or laptop device using a basic LAN cable that either came with your computer or one you can pick up elsewhere easily. There are variations of this setup depending on your needs. Some people who use a VPN for work, which you can do with satellite internet service as you can with broadband cable internet, find that their work VPN tends to disconnect less often when they use an ethernet cable (included) to connect the router into their laptop. It depends on your work, computer build and programming. Your employer will have provided steps to connect you to the secure network for your company if applicable.

You can definitely use a satellite internet connection for work purposes but be advised that any time you are online for work you are using a portion of your monthly satellite internet high-speed data allotment. After that amount is gone you still have the internet but considerably slower.

It's recommended to place your modem-Wi-Fi router near your main computer. The router will send the signal through your home but it will be strongest at the base unit. Depending on the size and setup of your home you may want to purchase a router mesh kit of two or three routers and place them strategically to intercept the Wi-Fi signal. Trial and error will be required here. Wi-Fi units can be counted on for about three years of useful life so if you got five or more years out of yours and are being disconnected frequently from the internet when the modem shows no issues you may need a new router.