5 ms·

If it's satellite based internet, there's no way to shut it off, especially if gateway is not in the same country. Of course, the government could always patrol

by umvi 6y ago

If it's satellite based internet, there's no way to shut it off, especially if gateway is not in the same country. Of course, the government could always patrol around looking for antennas...

helios_invictus 6y ago
It's quite easy to jam satellite comes, as well as locate them. The Tatmadaw has some US company built direction finding equipment.
- squarefoot 6y ago
  "It's quite easy to jam satellite comes" That would literally require a man in the middle attack; the jammer should be kept between the antenna and the satellite, or very close to that position. I mean, it should be in the air. "as well as locate them" Possible, but not easy. A satellite dish can be buried, hidden under a camouflaging roof etc It's not like earth antennas that need the space around them free for pointing them; all they need is to see their satellite which is in the sky. One can dig a hole in the ground, put the dish down there pointed to the satellite, then when not in use park their truck above it, and good luck to the government helicopter passing above to track it. And btw, there are ways to build antennas that don't appear as such; they may offer worse performance but they do work, and satellite reflectors can be built that way too.
  - tbihl 6y ago
    The location finding would be by RF emissions, not visually.
    - squarefoot 6y ago
      That's my point. A dish antenna is highly directional, so an tx/rx antenna pointed towards the sky can be detected/jammed effectively only by standing in between the antenna and the target it's pointed to, ie the satellite. It's not a thin line, but it's still a limited area, and the minor lobes of its radiation pattern produce a very faint signal which can become negligible by burying or covering most of the dish in all directions except the one it's aimed to.
- mycall 6y ago
  It is also easy to detect the jamming stations and fire missiles from black-ops.
ForHackernews 6y ago
You can easily jam or overpower a faint satellite signal with a local ground-based antenna. Or you can shoot down your enemy's satellites and screw up the orbit so he can't launch any more.
- AnimalMuppet 6y ago
  > Or you can shoot down your enemy's satellites and screw up the orbit so he can't launch any more. Pretty sure Myanmar can't do that.
  - ForHackernews 6y ago
    Maybe not yet. Rockets keep getting cheaper and more accessible. Eventually you'll be able to buy a used SpaceX booster second hand for a few million.
    - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
      Targeting a satellite in orbit might be a bit harder than just reaching orbit, though...
    - srg0 6y ago
      Eventually you'll be able to buy a used rocket scientist for a few million. Seriously, though, if the tech needs to be actively camouflaged and there's death penalty only for its possession, there's no way many people will use it. So it will be useless to inform and organize people, it will be useless to broadcast what's really happening inside.
- squarefoot 6y ago
  "You can easily jam or overpower a faint satellite signal with a local ground-based antenna." Not doable unless either you are in between the dish and the satellite, or have an extremely powerful transmitter with its directional antenna pointed to the dish, where all that power is needed to cope with the fact that the maximum sensitivity of the dish is towards the satellite, not your jammer. Which also means that they need one jammer and its antenna for every dish they want to silence. That would not scale well.
packet_nerd 6y ago
I believe in practice the Tatmada keeps a tight grip on satellite Internet, and don't allow services that they don't control. Remember, this is the country where one of the charges they brought against Aung San Su Kyi during the Feb coup was importing analog two-way radios. And more broadly, people are regularly arrested and imprisoned or sometimes executed for mere possession of radio equipment.

by umvi 6y ago

If it's satellite based internet, there's no way to shut it off, especially if gateway is not in the same country. Of course, the government could always patrol around looking for antennas...

helios_invictus 6y ago

It's quite easy to jam satellite comes, as well as locate them. The Tatmadaw has some US company built direction finding equipment.

squarefoot 6y ago
"It's quite easy to jam satellite comes" That would literally require a man in the middle attack; the jammer should be kept between the antenna and the satellite, or very close to that position. I mean, it should be in the air. "as well as locate them" Possible, but not easy. A satellite dish can be buried, hidden under a camouflaging roof etc It's not like earth antennas that need the space around them free for pointing them; all they need is to see their satellite which is in the sky. One can dig a hole in the ground, put the dish down there pointed to the satellite, then when not in use park their truck above it, and good luck to the government helicopter passing above to track it. And btw, there are ways to build antennas that don't appear as such; they may offer worse performance but they do work, and satellite reflectors can be built that way too.
- tbihl 6y ago
  The location finding would be by RF emissions, not visually.
  - squarefoot 6y ago
    That's my point. A dish antenna is highly directional, so an tx/rx antenna pointed towards the sky can be detected/jammed effectively only by standing in between the antenna and the target it's pointed to, ie the satellite. It's not a thin line, but it's still a limited area, and the minor lobes of its radiation pattern produce a very faint signal which can become negligible by burying or covering most of the dish in all directions except the one it's aimed to.
mycall 6y ago
It is also easy to detect the jamming stations and fire missiles from black-ops.

ForHackernews 6y ago

You can easily jam or overpower a faint satellite signal with a local ground-based antenna. Or you can shoot down your enemy's satellites and screw up the orbit so he can't launch any more.

AnimalMuppet 6y ago
> Or you can shoot down your enemy's satellites and screw up the orbit so he can't launch any more. Pretty sure Myanmar can't do that.
- ForHackernews 6y ago
  Maybe not yet. Rockets keep getting cheaper and more accessible. Eventually you'll be able to buy a used SpaceX booster second hand for a few million.
  - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
    Targeting a satellite in orbit might be a bit harder than just reaching orbit, though...
  - srg0 6y ago
    Eventually you'll be able to buy a used rocket scientist for a few million. Seriously, though, if the tech needs to be actively camouflaged and there's death penalty only for its possession, there's no way many people will use it. So it will be useless to inform and organize people, it will be useless to broadcast what's really happening inside.
squarefoot 6y ago
"You can easily jam or overpower a faint satellite signal with a local ground-based antenna." Not doable unless either you are in between the dish and the satellite, or have an extremely powerful transmitter with its directional antenna pointed to the dish, where all that power is needed to cope with the fact that the maximum sensitivity of the dish is towards the satellite, not your jammer. Which also means that they need one jammer and its antenna for every dish they want to silence. That would not scale well.

packet_nerd 6y ago

I believe in practice the Tatmada keeps a tight grip on satellite Internet, and don't allow services that they don't control. Remember, this is the country where one of the charges they brought against Aung San Su Kyi during the Feb coup was importing analog two-way radios. And more broadly, people are regularly arrested and imprisoned or sometimes executed for mere possession of radio equipment.