Satellite internet is great IF you're in an area where cable can't reach. You'll get exceptionally faster speeds on satellite than you will with dial-up. The ONLY problem with satelite, ping wise and signal strength wise, is natural occurances. A thunderstorm can degrade the signal, and of course, the signal has to go through the atmosphere. Any natural situations, mainly clouds, going either from you to the satelite or the satellite to the ISP location, can degrade the signal. That's just me rambling about the ups and downs of satellite. Ping wise...I found this on a google search. "High ping times (1000 ms or more) are normal for satellite connections." Give it a try, if that's the only high-speed service available to you. If you can get either DSL or cable, though, go for one of those.