Should you get 4G or satellite broadband for your home or business?

With 4G broadband, we always quote the average speeds that you can expect. These have been independently audited as averaging 25+ Mbps download and 9+ Mbps upload - as you can see by clicking here.

The theoretical maximum speed of a 4G broadband connection is actually well in excess of 120 Mbps - and we've got hundreds of customers whose speeds are considerably above the averages we quote - but we think it's fairest only to highlight the average performance that can be expected over 4G broadband.

With satellite broadband, it’s only the first very limited amount of your monthly data allowance that is sent at full speed – the so-called “priority data allowance”. After that’s been used up, your satellite broadband connection will automatically be choked back to a mere fraction of that initial speed for the entire rest of the month.

These days, both 4G and satellite broadband offer a range of monthly plans including unlimited data options. However, with 4G broadband your entire data allowance is delivered at the maximum speed available all the time.

In contrast, with satellite broadband, only your small and expensive "priority" monthly data allowance is delivered at full speed. After that’s used up, the speed of your satellite broadband connection will immediately and automatically be throttled right back to near-unusable fractions of that speed.

So how much does one GB of full-speed data delivered over 4G broadband cost? Hard to say, because our top-end plans offer unlimited full-speed data, but let’s say as little as 7.5p.

And how much would that the same GB of priority data delivered at usable unthrottled speeds over satellite broadband cost? At least 70p, so over 8 times as much.

Click here to see just how cost-effective our range of monthly 4G broadband plans truly are.

Latency is usually measured by a ping test in milliseconds. Latency with traditional landline broadband (like ADSL or fibre) is typically around 10-20ms.

With 4G broadband, latency is a little higher - usually around 30-40ms - because you're communicating wirelessly via a mast that may be up to 8km away - but that small extra delay is not going to affect anything you want to do online.

However with satellite broadband, latency is much higher - at least 10 times higher, running at around 400ms. This is perhaps unsurprising, given that you're connected to the wider Internet via a satellite that's 36,000km away, so the round trip for any communication is going to cause very noticeable and frustrating delays with the vast majority of Internet-based activities.

Although 4G broadband already covers all but one or perhaps two percent of all UK home and business properties, very rarely there may be a very few locations where a strong enough 4G signal simply isn't available yet.

In those circumstances, the only other option to a slow landline-based service would be satellite delivered broadband, because the entire UK already falls under satellite broadband coverage. So, provided that a clear line of sight to the relevant satellite is available from a suitable dish mounting point at your property, you should be able to get a satellite broadband connection.

However, please make sure that you think very carefully about whether satellite broadband would suit you, because of its unavoidable disadvantages as detailed here. Satellite broadband should only be viewed as the option of last resort.

Any technology that doesn't use wires to transmit and receive is going to be more subject to interference from external factors, such as high winds, heavy rainfall or snow.

However, with 4G broadband, your property will be connected to a mast that's typically only around 8km away, so your service will be robust and weather conditions would have to be remarkably severe to cause any noticeable degradation in performance.

With satellite broadband, things are a lot more fragile, because you'll be connected to a satellite that's a massive 36,000km away. This means that it's far more likely for a satellite-based connection to be adversely affected by factors such as weather, tree growth or any minute movement in dish alignment.

Finally there's a major difference in the external equipment needed to receive 4G and satellite broadband.

To be able to receive 4G broadband, we'll fit a small and unobtrusive 11.5 inch by 7 inch high gain directional 4G antenna to the outside of your property, pointed at the appropriate 4G mast. This latches onto the available 4G signal and amplifies it, before piping it down to the 4G router installed inside your property. It’s our antenna that allows us to provide fast and stable 4G broadband at locations where smartphones only show a very flaky 4G signal – or even no signal at all.

However, to be able to receive satellite broadband, you'll need a large 30 inch round metal dish with protruding arm fitted to the outside of your property. This is much larger than a Sky TV satellite dish and is also solid metal, rather than mesh, so it will be very conspicuous.