Frequently Asked Questions

Rain or snow can interfere with signal strength. If the interference is strong enough, the modem may stop receiving signals from the satellite and stop transmitting. If this happens, the Transmit and Receive LEDs will both turn off and may have an effect on your broadband performance.
Antenna reception may be degraded by heavy rain or snow or by a build-up of moisture, snow, or ice on the antenna. Similar conditions at the satellite ground station can interfere with signals for brief periods of time. The signal strength is usually restored when rain or snow subsides.
In weather conditions such as these, please wait to see if normal operation resumes when the weather returns to normal

Every time a satellite broadband subscriber sends a command to fetch a Web page, the request must travel 22,300 miles (35,738 km) to a satellite in geostationary orbit. From there, the signal travels another 22,300 miles back to earth, to the satellite service provider, where it is routed to the internet, data is exchanged, and is then sent 22,300 miles back to the satellite. Once the satellite receives the information, the page data must travel the final 22,300 miles back to the user. The average latency is 500-700 ms and this unavoidable 'delay' can affect performance on some multiplayer online games.

Avanti broadband is a satellite broadband service and therefore is supplied by a signal from a satellite. The latency (refer to latency FAQ) of a satellite connection will decrease the speed of browsing on this technology, whereas normal ADSL connections are cabled directly to your home and therefore have minimal latency.

The average browsing speed for a satellite broadband service is 10 seconds for a low content site like www.google.com. But for larger websites with high content, for example www.bbc.co.uk, it can take up to 10-20 seconds to load completely.
You can make a couple of changes on your PC settings to assist your browsing ability:

• Remove all proxy settings
• Try a different browser – some browsers perform better with certain websites than others. We recommend Google Chrome and Firefox.

No, any equipment that isn't supplied by Avanti is not supported. We will not troubleshoot or supply configuration for your internal network. Please note that you will be required to remove this additional equipment when calling our Customer Support Team for any testing in relation to your broadband service.

Anyone can set up a wireless network in their home so that they can go online from more than one PC or use their broadband in different rooms. You will need to purchase your own wireless router and these devices are available from most high street computer stores. Please note that Avanti Communications does not offer customer support for these devices, and all technical queries must be directed to the device manufacturer or the point of purchase.

Avanti Communications will take the necessary precautions to avoid interference with your wireless network.

No.

You will receive a dynamic IP address. We recommend that you install firewall software on your PC to ensure that your data remains safe. If you require a static IP address, please email Broadband Support for assistance.

Yes, upon request but we strongly advise that a webmail address is obtained eg hotmail, googlemail, yahoo etc. The advantages of using this type of email account is the freedom to access mail from any ISP connection worldwide. Business customers would also benefit from the increased mailbox size and storage capacity that these providers offer.

Avanti Communications' service can support multiple email addresses. However, you will need to check with your existing ISP that you can access your current email address from a different network than your dial up.

VoIP products such as Skype are not currently promoted or supported by Avanti. As such, you are welcome to use VoIP but there is no guarantee that it will be successful. To maximise your ability to use this software you can connect directly to the terminal and use the software in non-peak times.

No, website hosting is not offered by Avanti.

It is strongly recommended that you purchase and install firewall and anti-virus utilities for all computers which are connected to the Internet. Correctly maintained, this should ensure that your Internet experience is safe and secure.

The broadband we provide is satellite broadband and does incur a higher latency than other broadband technologies. Therefore, like many other ISPs we implement web acceleration software to improve the browsing abilities for our customers. This software compresses data on the network so that browsing is faster but this can degrade the quality of photos you upload or download on the Internet. You can choose to be removed from using this software but this can impact the speed of your browsing to websites.

Under normal circumstances, maintenance of all Avanti Communications supplied equipment is provided free of charge, in line with the terms and conditions of your standard contract (one year warranty).

Yes, you can upgrade your package to the next service level at any time during your contract period. Downgrades are also available but only after completion of the minimum contract period.

We do not recommend the service for serious online gamers specifically "live streaming" games eg World of Warcraft. This is due to the latency of satellite broadband.

Each contract with Avanti has a term of 12 months. For the period of this contract, the rates will be guaranteed.

There are many speed test services available on the Internet. However, less than 1% of Internet access is performed using satellite networks and as a consequence the vast majority of speed test services are tuned for terrestrial wired services such as ADSL. They will give a result but it will simply be incorrect.

For an accurate speed test, we will ask you to download from our server to eliminate all other possible causes that are outside Avanti's control.

The key point is that we can be sure of the speed tests when we deliver a file from "our side" of the internet connection. This gives a true and accurate reading of the network performance. As you know, we cannot have the same technical assurance once the signal enters the Internet as to its speed as so many factors beyond our control can affect the speeds.

You can monitor your broadband speed at any time of the day, by going to http://mystats.avantiplc.com/speedtest.

Direct debits are collected on the 15th of each month; or the closest business day to this date.

Avanti operate a Customer Support helpdesk which is manned Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm on telephone number 020 7749 1673. Enquiries can also be sent via email to Broadband Support or by fax to 020 7749 1633.