FAQs About Satellite Internet

What is Satellite Internet?

Satellite broadband internet is a type of wireless broadband. Internet gets beamed from an orbiting satellite to a specialised satellite dish. The dish connects to a specialised modem, giving you wireless internet access.

Who is Satellite Internet For?

  • People living in areas where other internet connections are too slow.
  • People whose location means they’ll be waiting years for Fibre or decent cellular.
  • Businesses and organisations needing a backup internet connection.
  • People finding it hard to get consent for cable internet installation.

Who is it not for?

  • People who already have VDSL or Fibre. Satellite Broadband won’t improve your experience.
  • Gamers who love using online ‘twitch gameplay’ for first-person shooting games, action sports, etc.
  • Real-time equity traders. If you don’t know what that is, you don’t have to worry!

"We spent 18 years living with dial-up and other terrible internet connections, but now with Gravity we can pretty much do whatever we want"

— Valerie Bambury, Gravity customer

FAQs about Gravity Satellite Internet

Nearly every corner of New Zealand is covered by our satellite services. Sometimes though, depending on your precise location, there may be obstacles like a mountain or building obstructing the line of sight between you and our satellite. To find out if Satellite is the best option for you, use our free address checker tool here 

You can expect speeds of between 5 Mbps to 30 Mbps down, depending on your plan. To put this in context, Netflix recommends a down speed of 5 Mbps to be able to stream HD videos.

Like all internet connections, there are factors that may from time to time affect the speed of your connection. One of the biggest factors is the time of day you use the internet.

Yes Satellite internet provides you enough speed to easily stream Netflix and Movies. You can also use satellite connection to connect your smart tv to the internet. Our satellite broadband can even help you convert your old tv into a Smart TV.

Typically, between 2-4 weeks from the date you place your order with us. However, this greatly depends on how quickly we can get to you, based on your location and how busy we are. Our team will work with you to schedule the earliest date possible, which will also work for everyone. See our satellite internet install guide to find out more about what's involved in the process.

Yes, you can use your satellite connection for a phone as well. We give you a local number (or port your existing one for an extra $35) with free unlimited calling to NZ and Oz landlines. Just plug a normal phone into the box we’ll provide you. All this for $29 a month with a $59 set up fee. Mobile & International calling rates apply. Look here for all our calling rates. 

All of our currently advertised plans come with unlimited data. Your data speed may just be slowed down according to the specifications of your chosen plan. 

If you are on one of our capped plans and you run out of data, you can purchase additional data for 20GB/$49 or 60GB/$99. Alternatively, you may want to consider changing to a new plan - talk with us about how that might be possible, even if you're under contract. 

Don't forget, our team is based right here in New Zealand, so call us on 0800 112 027.

If you are on a month to month agreement, then you can cancel your account at any time, with no worries. You just need to give us 30 days notice and return any required equipment to us.

If you are on a fixed term contract, then depending on how far into the contract term that you are, you may be required to pay some fees for the early termination of the contract. Please check the terms and conditions to be sure.

Network latency is the term used to indicate any kind of delay that happens in data communication over a network.

Because there is a distance of about 39,000 kilometres between the dish on your roof and the satellite, it takes a fraction of a second for information to take a round trip from start to finish. This adds around half of a second to the response times of requests, which goes unnoticed for most service needs. The only activities we do not recommend our satellite service for include action gaming and equities trading.

Network latency is not to be confused with the speed of your connection. The speed can be affected for many reasons, but often it's because the Internet Service Provider adds too many customers to their network. At Gravity, we don't oversubscribe customers to our service.

The Laws of Gravity.

We think it’s always important to look before you leap, so we’ve highlighted some key points from our full agreement policy that we think it’s good to be aware of. Oh, just a reminder that by us highlighting these points, in no way limits our terms & conditions.

Full terms & policies:

We’re all about making satellite internet more affordable. That’s why our plans are so cheap. Find a cheaper, comparable service and we’ll beat it. That’s our best price guarantee.

Unless otherwise specified, all pricing and fees are GST inclusive. Yay.

All our plans offer open term contracts so you can upgrade, downgrade or cancel with just 30 days notice. Open term contracts do require you to pay for the full installation cost (non Gravity subsidies), paying the full rate for your own installation makes that dishy thing belong to you. Alternatively reduce your setup costs by going with our 12 or 24 month contract option, details below.

We have a 24 month and 12 month contract options which reduces the upfront installation fee. Under this arrangement, all the equipment we install at your location remains our property. Standard credit criteria applies.

If your installation is not deemed to be standard, we may have to charge you a bit extra. Let’s talk about this beforehand so there are no surprises.

We make significant efforts not to over-subscribe customers to our network. This makes a faster more reliable service for you with speeds that match your needs. Please remember that no internet connection is perfect and there will be times when you won’t always experience the maximum speeds available.

If you are on a month to month agreement, then you can cancel your account at any time, with no penalties. You just need to give us 30 days notice and return any required equipment to us that you haven't paid for.

If you are on a fixed term contract, then depending on how far into the contract term that you are, you may be required to pay some fees for the early termination of the contract. Please check the terms and conditions to be sure.

We take certain activities rather seriously, in particular - activities that put minors at risk. Please take a look at what we and/or the law deem acceptable in our Acceptable Use Policy. Make good choices!

If you fail to pay our invoices before or on the due date, we will have to charge a $15 late fee. Please pay on time, there are better things to spend $15 on.