HARRIS ELECTRONICS of Washington and Chocowinity, NC Authorized Dish Network Dealer, Wild Blue and TV Sales

The Sky Vista satellite network relies upon the SurfBeam system developed by ViaSat Communications located in Silicon Valley in California. Unlike any of the other popular consumer satellite providers such as StarBand, DirecWay and WildBlue, this data-grade, DOCSIS-compliant network is capable of supporting voice over IP (VoIP), VPN at wire rate, VLANs, Citrix Metaframe clients and other mature network technologies and protocols. The Satellite Modem Termination System (SMTS) used to support Sky Vista systems is built on blade server technology, a strategy that allows the company to easily and affordably scale their capacity as demand increases. The blade server approach also allows for a more reliable, high-availability network.

The bottom line: Sky Vista's technology and network infrastructure is geared towards the needs of business and enterprise:

The SurfBeam satmodem is the interface between your computer or network and the Sky Vista dish. Sky Vista uses one satmodem - the ViaSat SurfBeam for all of its available services. In other words, the same satmodem supports all service levels from 128 kbps up/512kbps down to 768 kbps up/5 mbps down. The SurfBeam satmodem currently supports 10/100 Ethernet connectivity without the need for PC-based software. Thus, this unit can be plugged directly into a router/firewall combination. Other connectivity options - USB and V.92 modem capability are already in hardware, requiring only a software update to become functional.

Even though the SurfBeam satmodems do not offer in-built firewall protection, the entire Sky Vista networks is itself behind Cisco-based enterprise-class firewalls. This affords your internal network or computing assets a layer of protection that is simply not available from any other satellite broadband service provider. Nevertheless, Harris Electronics strongly recommends that you defend the edge of your network with a suitable firewall/router combination for the sake of the safety and security of your private personal and business data.

Sky Vista offers two antenna systems: 1.0 meters (39.32 inches) and 1.2 meters (47.18 inches). The Andrew Corporation Type 100TX 1.0 m Class and 120TX 1.2 m Class I RxTx Antennas used by Sky Vista are rugged commercial grade products suitable for the most demanding applications. The reflector is thermoset-molded for strength and surface accuracy. Molded into the rear of the reflector is a network of support ribs which not only strengthens the antenna, but also helps to sustain the critical parabolic shape necessary for optimal transmit performance. The Az/El (azimuth/elevation) mount is constructed from heavy-gauge steel to provide a rigid support to the reflector. The Az/El mount secures the antenna to any 2.88”-3.00” (73-76 mm) O.D. mast and prevents slippage in high winds. A specially formulated powder paint process offers excellent protection from weather related corrosion.

Sky Vista 1.0 and 1.2 meter Antenna Systems

Sky Vista 1.0 meter antenna	Sky Vista 1.2 meter antenna

The bottom line: Sky Vista hardware and the network behind it is serious, commercial grade stuff.