Subspace radio

Subspace communications were pioneered by the theodarans, this technology was first built into the tachyon gates. After galactic society grew, so did the desire to communicate in real time. The theodarans built subspace communication buoys, which linked into the tachyon gate subspace network.

In order to send FTL communications, the sender sends a standard radio signal to the buoy, which the buoy then relays through subspace to the recipient's nearest buoy, which then sends a standard radio signal to the recipient. The FTL component is instantaneous, but the standard radio signal is limited by the speed of light, which can cause short delays. Most buoys are located in orbit of inhabited planets, but in a system with no permanently inhabited planets, there may be no buoys in the system, so all communications would need to be routed through the system's tachyon gate. This would result in a time lag, the exact lag would depend on the distance between sender and their local t-gate, and the distance between the recipient and their local t-gate.

Subspace radio in itself is only used by the military and government officials. But subspace communication systems are used by civilians in the form of the Nexus. The Nexus is the only way for civilians to use subspace communications.