Simulating Satellite Internet Performance on a Small Island

Small remote islands often rely on satellites for Internet access, a scenario especially common in the author’s own “backyard,” the South Pacific. In most cases, a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) on the island connects via a narrowband satellite link carrying IP traffic from and to some mainland teleport connected to the wider Internet. The ISP then provides this connectivity to end users via a comparatively low-latency network on the island. Users on such links commonly report problems with downloads even when ISPs report significant spare link capacity. This paper reports on the design of a hardware-based simulator capable of simulating such traffic scenarios and the considerations underpinning its design.