A GPS NTP server can receive a timing signal from literally anywhere in the world using relatively low cost components. They are also incredibly easy to install.

The only difficulties ever encountered in installing a GPS NTP server is that they require an antenna with a good view of the sky, this is because the signals are broadcast by the satellites by line-of-sight so a clear view of the sky is a necessity (although some people have had success receiving a signal from a window).

The maximum length of cable from the antenna to the GPS NTP server is normally only 20 to 30 metres but using a signal amplifier and high quality coax cable can allow in excess of 100 metres.

The GPS NTP server decodes the time signal from the satellite and converts it to a computer readable format. NTP (Network Time Protocol) then checks all the clocks on a network and synchronises them by adding or subtracting time so it matches the GPS time signal.

A GPS NTP server is ideal in providing networks or stand-alone computers with a highly accurate reference for synchronisation. Even with relatively inexpensive equipment, accuracy to within a few hundred nanoseconds (a nanosecond = a billionth of a second) can reasonably be achieved.

GPS has already revolutionised the way the world works by allowing precise global positioning but it has also revolutionise4d the Internet and the way entire globe communicates.