Anyone ever use a wireless internet provider?

[amdskip]

here's what is available to me

Any pros/cons? I like the faster upload speed compared to my cable 128.

 

[wirelessenabled]

I have been on wireless Internet here in Spokane for about a year with two different providers, both local. The service is good.

We get about 250K up and 650K down. Service can slow when there is heavy precip it seems but other than that it has been fine.

 

[amdskip]

Does the weather have any affect on the speeds or anything?

 

[randal]

We have a small wireless network going on at HPI, a bit over 100 radios deployed, and we've seen some varying bandwidths. We have very, very little connection loss or connectivity issues, but bandwidth does fluctuate depending on usage (as it's all a big LAN on the wireless media side). Our fastest customer gets a bit over 2.5mbps down, 1.8 up, and the lowest that we allow on our network is 256/192.

I used to have a huge bend against going wireless, but since our wireless network has been so stable, I have plenty of faith in it. Especially in Alvarion brand gear and their top-notch support. We are testing out the Motorola Canopy equipment, and it also seems to be of very high quality.

$.02
randal

 

[Soybomb]

Originally posted by: amdskip
Does the weather have any affect on the speeds or anything?

It depends on what frequency the equipment uses but as a rule if you have good signal strength your connection should stay up through nasty weather.

 

[Carrot44]

I also have Wireless in Spokane and at first it was Great but now it is a crawl. They say it is becouse of the interference with another provider.
Right now I am getting 400k down and 48k up. And that is good for now
Without the interference I was getting 800k down and 450k + up

Ken

 

[Paulson]

I'm on a wireless provider in southwestern minnesota...

so far, wind/rain/snow/extreme heat/ice and whatever else you can think of haven't effected my connection...

hell, my reciever even withstood the tornado we had in our town in the summer of 2000... (it had a pine tree branch stuck in it but still worked)

The service is 256k up and down (slow, but pretty stable)

this has been around for about 4 years maybe... yeah something like that

 

[Carrot44]

And for those who thought I posted a Dismel review of wireless.
Without interference I get
808K Down
552K up



Ken

 

[ktwebb]

"They say it is becouse of the interference with another provider"

And there it is. The reason fixed wireless, especially providers using 2.4 equipment, is a crap shoot. Even if it works today it just takes one maverick who won't play nicey nicey with the other RF providers to muck it up. At 2.4 and 5 Ghz it is "gentleman's agreement" diplomacy when conflicts arise. Unlicensed band. Fixed wireless will continue to exist and will serve a niche market but until something is worked out technologically to deal with same band area interference, it will ultimately turn into RF cat fighting.

 

[Soybomb]

Originally posted by: ktwebb
"They say it is becouse of the interference with another provider"

And there it is. The reason fixed wireless, especially providers using 2.4 equipment, is a crap shoot. Even if it works today it just takes one maverick who won't play nicey nicey with the other RF providers to muck it up. At 2.4 and 5 Ghz it is "gentleman's agreement" diplomacy when conflicts arise. Unlicensed band. Fixed wireless will continue to exist and will serve a niche market but until something is worked out technologically to deal with same band area interference, it will ultimately turn into RF cat fighting.

I really don't think other providers are causing as many problems as induhviduals running too much power, and other devices that operate on these frequencies are. I'd like to see a larger spectrum available, especially at lower frequencies (unused broadcast tv stations perhaps). I think most wisps are smart enough to realize if they don't play well with others both of their services will suffer and isn't advantageous. I'd rather see spectrum set aside for general consumer use and then spectrum set aside for wisp use. I think its most important for the spectrum to be kept unlicensed though otherwise it will kill the competition, cause prices to get into the business to rise, service prices will go up, equipment sales will fall, and equipment prices will go up. In short being in unlicensed spectrum can cause problems, but overall it works pretty well and been the reason for the success of wisps.

 

[ktwebb]

Switched wireless solutions, UWB. There will be emerging technologies that will counter the problems with standard unlicensed band equipment but DSSS and OFDM wireless solutions have problems that won't be overcome outside of John Doe's two bedroom apartment. When two's a crowd trouble ensues. Not sure how you define success. Their have been alot of startup Wireless POP's. Mostly community WISP's from what I can tell. Niche market..and I'm a "wireless guy" but it has major limitations where large scale deployment is concerned. But wtf, we're still in the infancy of electromagnetic wave technologies for data transfer. Who knows what'll be the next big wave.