Why is that? I assume you mean a server so far away that the number of hops (switches, etc) is higher on land than over the air? Without a large hop count diffe

Why is that? I assume you mean a server so far away that the number of hops (switches, etc) is higher on land than over the air? Without a large hop count difference, I don't see why air vs ground fiber would be terribly different. Air takes a direct path but with LEO satellite there's some height, and fiber takes a slightly less direct path but without height and with switches.