Satellite distributed high speed internet access

A method for providing satellite-distributed high-speed Internet access, comprising the steps of:

• providing a router to which a web-ready device may be connected via at least one of a cable or a wireless data link;
• assigning a dynamic IP address to the web-ready device that has been connected to the router;
• forwarding by the router of the user's connection to a subscriber access unit;
• retrieving from memory by the subscriber access unit of the static IP address of a remote server;
• forwarding the user's connection to a satellite dish;
• establishing communication by the satellite dish with a satellite, which is enabled to send and receive data over the Internet;
• establishing a connection over the Internet with the remote server, whose interface is viewed by the user as a webpage on the web-ready device;
• prompting by the remote server of the user for a username and password;
• accessing a database by the remote server to verify the username and password;
• prompting the user to create a new account, if the username and password are invalid or the user's account has zero time remaining;
• allowing the user to access other websites, until the user's account has zero time remaining or the user logs off the network;
• and
• updating the user's account in the database by the remote server to subtract the amount of time used during the just-completed session, when the user logs off the network.

An Internet Hotspot comprising:

• a satellite dish communicating with the Internet via one or more data links with a satellite;
• at least one router operatively coupled to the satellite dish;
• a subscriber access unit operatively coupled between the satellite dish and the at least one router, the subscriber access unit being capable of authenticating a subscription account associated with a user prior to allowing the user access to the Internet;
• and
• a web-ready device operatively coupled to the at least one router, the web-read device having a browser application operating thereon for accessing the Internet;
• wherein the satellite dish, at least one router and the subscriber access unit are located in a remote location a experiencing a relatively high volume of transient traffic;
• wherein the user may authenticate the subscription account and access the Internet at the remote location by establishing a data connection between the web-ready device and the router.