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Land 15 results

A field worker kneeling beside an open flat BGAN terminal on dry ground, pointing it at the sky, truck in the background

Satellite Internet

Land Mobile Satellite Internet: Portable, Drive-Away and Fixed Site

Terminals you carry to the job, set up in minutes and pack down at the end: BGAN and Thuraya flat panels, Iridium Certus kits, and Global Xpress dishes that travel in a case or on a roof.

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Who land mobile satellite internet is for

A geologist arrives at a survey camp in Nevada with no cell signal and a deadline to upload the day's data. A relief coordinator lands in a flooded town where the towers are underwater. A field producer has a live shot at 6 p.m. from a ridge. None of them needs the terminal to work while driving; they need it to work ten minutes after they stop.

That is what this subcategory covers: portable and transportable satellite internet for people who set up and connect. It ranges from a 3-pound BGAN panel that fits in a laptop bag to a 1 m Global Xpress dish that rides on a truck and auto-points when parked. Fixed remote-site installs use the same hardware, so they live here too.

If your link has to stay up while the vehicle moves, go to Vehicular instead. If the equipment will connect machines rather than people, see M2M. Several roof-mount models appear in both this page and Vehicular because they also work parked.

Portable BGAN terminals

Battery-powered, hand-pointed, in a bag. The core of the category.

Iridium Certus and Thuraya transportable systems

Pole-to-pole Certus kits, and the Thuraya vehicular units that also work parked inside the Thuraya footprint.

Global Xpress and Ku-band transportable systems

For camps, command posts and remote offices that outgrow L-band.

How to choose a portable satellite terminal

Four decisions, in order.

Network first: BGAN, Certus or Thuraya

Inmarsat BGAN runs standard IP up to 492 kbps and covers the globe apart from the poles; it is the default for portable work in the Americas. Iridium Certus works pole to pole and in motion, with Certus 200 rated at 176 kbps each way on Thales hardware and Certus 700 at 704 down and 352 up. Thuraya IP reaches 444 kbps but covers only Europe, Africa, the Middle East and most of Asia, so it is for teams deploying there, not here.

Weight and battery against speed

The EXPLORER 510 weighs under 3 lb and is rated up to 464 kbps. The EXPLORER 710 weighs 7 lb, runs up to 3.5 hours on its hot-swappable battery, and adds HDR streaming at 600 kbps plus the option to bond two channels. The Hughes 9211-HDR streams above 650 kbps in an IP65 body. Pick the lightest unit that meets the speed you need, not the fastest one you can carry.

Hand-pointed or auto-acquire

Flat BGAN and Thuraya panels are pointed by hand using a signal tone; it takes a minute and works for anyone who can read a compass. Drive-away and fly-away Global Xpress systems (EXPLORER 8100GX, 5075GX) and the Kymeta panels acquire the satellite automatically, which matters when the operator is not a satcom technician.

Kilobits or megabits

BGAN, Certus and Thuraya are kilobit services: excellent for email, VPN, cloud forms, voice and standard-definition video. When a camp of twenty people or a live HD feed needs megabits, you move to Ka-band Global Xpress on a 0.75 m or 1 m dish, or Ku-band on a Kymeta flat panel, and accept a heavier kit and a mains or vehicle power supply.

EXPLORER 510 vs EXPLORER 710 vs Hughes 9211-HDR vs Thuraya IP Plus

The four portable panels compete directly. Figures from the satmodo.com product pages and the manufacturers.

	EXPLORER 510	EXPLORER 710	Hughes 9211-HDR	Thuraya IP Plus
Network	Inmarsat BGAN	Inmarsat BGAN (Class 1)	Inmarsat BGAN	Thuraya IP
Standard IP	Up to 464 kbps	Up to 492 kbps	Not stated on the product page	Up to 444 kbps
Streaming	Not stated	32 to 256 kbps; HDR 600 kbps (300 kbps half channel)	HDR streaming above 650 kbps	Up to 384 kbps, asymmetric
Weight	Less than 3 lb	7 lb (3.2 kg)	Not stated	1.4 kg
Battery	Built-in lithium-ion	Hot-swappable lithium-ion, up to 3.5 hours, recharge under 3 hours	Rechargeable lithium-ion pack	Not stated
Ingress rating	Not stated	Antenna IP66, transceiver IP52	IP65	IP55
Coverage	Global except poles	Global except poles	Global except poles	Europe, Africa, Middle East, most of Asia
Best for	One or two users, lightest kit	Media, streaming, small teams	Live video in a rugged body	Teams operating inside the Thuraya footprint

Sources: satmodo.com product pages for each model; viasat.com BGAN service page for network ceilings. Blank cells mean the product page does not state the figure; we do not fill gaps with guesses.

Iridium Certus on land: Thales MissionLINK 200 and the TOC BOX

The Thales MissionLINK 200 runs on Iridium Certus 200, which Thales rates at 176 kbps transmit and receive on the matching VesseLINK 200. It is slower than a BGAN panel but it carries three voice lines, connects up to 12 devices over Wi-Fi, and its omnidirectional antenna needs no pointing at all, so it works parked, in motion or on a fixed mount. It covers the poles, which BGAN does not.

The MissionLINK TOC BOX packages a full-rate MissionLINK, its antenna, a 24 V power supply and charger, a 12 V DC cable and an 8 Ah LiFePO4 battery in an MCOM1 M2 ruggedised case that ships as checked luggage. It exists because agencies kept asking us to build exactly that. If you want the Certus 700 speeds of the full MissionLINK on a vehicle roof instead, that model is on the Vehicular page.

Ruggedised transport case open on the ground with a Certus terminal and small omnidirectional antenna inside, battery visible

Drive-away and fly-away Global Xpress: megabits at a remote site

When a site needs real bandwidth, the answer is a Ka-band dish on Inmarsat Global Xpress. The EXPLORER 8100GX is a 1 m drive-away system: it rides on a vehicle roof, and once parked it typically points in less than four minutes with a swappable feed for GX, Ku or KA-SAT. The EXPLORER 5075GX is the fly-away version, a 0.75 m four-piece carbon reflector that packs into two airline-checkable cases and auto-acquires with no manual pointing.

The Kymeta systems take a different route: a flat electronically steered Ku-band panel with no moving parts. The Kyway U7 pairs the panel with an 8 W BUC and modem for vehicle or fixed installs, receiving 11.85 to 12.75 GHz; the KyWay Go puts the same u7 antenna and an interface unit in two transportable cases and is on air in under four minutes from opening the lid. Both also track while moving, which is why they appear on the Vehicular page too. The Global Xpress SWARM is a portable GX terminal with a PIM controller for tool-free acquisition; ask us for its datasheet before specifying it.

The NJRC NJT5127F 6 W Ku-band block upconverter listed here is a component for VSAT antennas transmitting in 14.0 to 14.5 GHz, not a terminal on its own.

A 1 m drive-away satellite dish deployed on the roof of a parked truck at a remote camp, tents behind

What you need alongside a portable terminal

Plan for these before the first trip.

An airtime plan: BGAN standard and streaming plans, Certus plans by tier, or Thuraya IP plans. We activate before shipping.

Spare power. The EXPLORER 710 battery is rated up to 3.5 hours; the 510 runs from its built-in pack and a 100 to 240 V supply. For multi-day work add a power station from /off-grid-power.

A 12 or 24 V vehicle supply for drive-away and Kymeta systems; the EXPLORER 323 runs from a 12 or 24 V vehicle port.

A satellite router if you will share the link with a team or need to block background updates. See /buy/satellite-routers.

The coverage map for your destination. Thuraya does not reach the Americas; BGAN does not reach the poles; Certus reaches both.

Renting for a project?

Portable BGAN and Certus kits ship activated for short-term jobs. Tell us the dates and the location and we will send the right one.

Call (800) 279-2366

Keep reading

Frequently asked questions

What is the best portable satellite internet terminal?

For one or two users who value weight, the EXPLORER 510 at under 3 lb and up to 464 kbps. For streaming and small teams, the EXPLORER 710 with HDR at 600 kbps and 3.5 hours of battery. If you need a link that works at the poles or without pointing, the Thales MissionLINK 200 on Iridium Certus. There is no single best; the right one depends on what you send and how far you carry it.

How do I point a BGAN terminal?

Open the terminal, face it roughly south (from North America), and adjust until the signal tone or on-screen bar peaks; it takes about a minute. The EXPLORER units and the Hughes 9211 both provide an audio tone and a compass, and the EXPLORER Connect app shows signal on your phone. The satellite is geostationary, so once pointed the terminal stays connected until you move it.

Can I use a portable BGAN terminal while driving?

No. Hand-pointed panels such as the EXPLORER 510, 710, Hughes 9211 and Thuraya IP Plus lose the satellite as soon as the vehicle turns. For in-motion use you need a tracking antenna (EXPLORER 323, 325, 727, Hughes 9450-C11) or an omnidirectional Certus terminal such as the Thales MissionLINK. Those are on the Vehicular page.

What speed will I really get on BGAN?

Expect less than the rated ceiling. BGAN standard IP is a shared, best-effort service rated up to 492 kbps; a busy beam or a low satellite elevation brings that down. Streaming IP is different: it reserves a fixed rate (32 to 256 kbps on the EXPLORER 710, or HDR at 600 kbps) and bills by the minute, which is why broadcasters use it for live shots.

Is Thuraya IP a good choice in the United States?

No. Thuraya covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East and most of Asia only; it has no coverage in the Americas or anywhere outside that footprint. We stock the IP Plus, IP Voyager and IP Commander for customers deploying into that footprint. For work in the Americas, choose BGAN or Iridium Certus.

When do I need a Global Xpress dish instead of a BGAN panel?

When kilobits stop being enough: a camp with many users, HD video, large file sync or cloud applications. Global Xpress moves you into megabits (the Intellian GX60 maritime unit is rated up to 50 Mbps), but the EXPLORER 8100GX and 5075GX are heavier, need vehicle or mains power, and are affected by heavy rain in a way L-band is not.

Can I rent a portable satellite internet terminal?

Yes. We rent BGAN and Certus kits with airtime for short-term projects, seasonal standby and trials before purchase. See /rental/satellite-internet or call (800) 279-2366.

Choosing the Right In-Motion Satellite Terminal

Land mobility systems utilize advanced technology to track satellites automatically as your vehicle changes direction and speed. To select the best hardware for your vehicle, consider these key operational factors:

Comms-on-the-Move (COTM) Technology

The core of any land mobility system is its antenna. We offer flat-panel electronic phased arrays, like the Starlink Flat High Performance and Kymeta terminals, which use software to steer the signal beam without moving parts. We also stock omni-directional L-band antennas for the Iridium Certus and Inmarsat networks. These robust systems are designed to maintain a consistent handshake with the satellite constellation, ensuring seamless voice and data connectivity even at highway speeds or over rough, uneven terrain.

Speed vs. Reliability: LEO and L-Band

Your choice of network depends on your data needs. For high-bandwidth applications like video conferencing and streaming, Low Earth Orbit (LEO) systems provide the speed and low latency required for a "home office" experience on the road. However, for mission-critical operations where weather capability and 100% uptime are non-negotiable, L-band systems (like Iridium or Inmarsat BGAN) offer unmatched reliability and global coverage, making them the preferred choice for emergency services and remote industrial fleets.

Rugged Installation and Vehicle Integration

Installing satellite hardware on a vehicle introduces challenges like vibration, wind resistance, and height clearance. Our inventory includes vehicular mounting kits designed to secure your terminal safely to roof racks, headache racks, or magnetic mounts. These systems are built to withstand the constant vibration of off-road driving and the aerodynamic forces of highway travel, ensuring your investment remains secure and operational mile after mile.