Patent ID: 8787246

Claim:
A satellite-based, wireless network system comprising: an earth-station server configured to transmit data packets to a secondary network; a first satellite client of a plurality of satellite clients; a terrestrial client configured to maintain a table of known satellites, wherein the table is operable to store an address for each satellite client known to the terrestrial client; at least one processor associated with at least one of the earth-station server, the first satellite client, and the terrestrial client, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: establish a temporary route between the terrestrial client and the earth-station server via the first satellite client; ping a second satellite client; measure a response latency of the second satellite client; determine, based on the measured response latency, whether the second satellite client has a reliable time-to-live, wherein, if the second satellite client is determined to have the reliable time-to-live, initiate a normal-mode handoff to the second satellite client; and wherein, if the second satellite client is determined not to have the reliable time-to-live, initiate a survival-mode handoff.