Disclosure: this article contains our referral link. With a qualifying activation in Italy, you receive €45 and La Capra Engineering receives €45. This is an independent guide; we do not represent Starlink.
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A Starlink terminal stays on your roof while the satellites move across the sky. Yet you can keep a video call or download running. The explanation sits in two different layers: steering a radio connection, and carrying an internet conversation over a changing route.
A flat antenna that steers electronically
Starlink describes its Standard terminals as electronic phased-array antennas. Instead of physically turning the whole panel to follow each satellite, an array controls how signals from many antenna elements combine. Adjusting their relative phase steers the strongest part of the beam towards the intended direction.
Initial positioning still matters. Some terminal designs use motorised alignment, while others require manual alignment guided by the app. Electronic steering does not let a signal pass through a building or remove the need for an unobstructed sky. The hardware’s view of the sky defines where useful links can be established.
From your laptop to the wider internet
A useful simplified path is: laptop → home router → Starlink terminal → satellite → ground network → internet service. Optical links between equipped satellites can also carry traffic through space before it reaches the ground. Not every packet must follow the same physical path.
Low Earth orbit brings the satellites much closer than a traditional geostationary system, reducing the distance the radio signal must travel. Total latency still includes routing, processing, congestion and the destination network. Orbit altitude alone does not determine how quickly a website responds.
What happens when a satellite moves away?
The serving satellite eventually leaves a useful position. The network then needs to move the terminal’s radio connectivity to another suitable satellite. This is a handover: changing the link that carries packets while the wider service continues to route traffic.
This is a conceptual explanation, not a description of Starlink’s proprietary scheduling algorithm. It would be misleading to invent a fixed handover interval, promise simultaneous links on every terminal or claim a particular packet-buffering design without documentation. What matters to the user is whether the transition keeps packet loss and interruption small enough for the application.
Why your session does not live on one satellite
A website login, a TCP connection and a radio link are different things. As a general internet networking principle, a transport connection can continue when its underlying route changes, provided endpoint addressing and connectivity remain suitable. Satellites forward traffic; they do not need to store and copy your browser login to the next satellite.
A brief packet gap may be hidden by retransmission or an application’s buffer. A longer loss can freeze a call or cause a timeout. If a move between regions changes your external IP address, a TCP connection or VPN may reconnect. Starlink’s own address documentation distinguishes address allocation from the changing radio path.
What this means for developers and home users
- Measure loss and interruptions as well as headline bandwidth.
- Expect travel and obstruction changes to affect real-time applications.
- Use reconnection and resumable transfers for important workflows.
- Check inbound networking needs: default IPv4 uses CGNAT, which affects direct access to a home server.
The engineering is impressive because several layers cooperate to make a moving network usable. Understanding those layers also helps you choose a sensible installation and recognise the limits before depending on it for work.
Frequently asked questions
Does the dish rotate to follow every satellite?
Phased-array tracking steers the radio beam electronically. Initial alignment and physical mounting depend on the terminal model.
Are my sessions copied from satellite to satellite?
Internet sessions are maintained by the relevant endpoints and network state, rather than a browser session being stored on one satellite. A route change can be transparent, but outages or address changes can still disrupt connections.
How do I receive the €45 reward?
Order in Italy using our link, activate an eligible Residential or Roam plan and stay subscribed for at least two months. You receive €45 as a bank-account payment or service credit; we receive €45 too. Payouts start from 60 days after activation under Starlink’s programme terms.
Sources and verification
Information checked on 15 October 2026. Offers, availability and features can change; the provider’s terms displayed when you order apply.