-270.gif){kind=logo} |
The wait is over- High Speed Always-On Fixed |
Motorola Canopy Subscriber Module (SM)
(approx 12" x 18" x 4")
This is an example of the equipment which would be mounted at a customers home or business to receive SmarterBroadband's High Speed Internet Service
SMARTERBROADBAND'S FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ'S)
To use our FAQ page either click on a specific question or, just scroll down the page to read them all.
What is 'Fixed Wireless'?
How does it work?
What is a 'Radio Mapping Survey' and an 'On Site Test'?
What is Accelerated Browsing ('Bursting')?
Why should I use Wireless?
How much does it Cost?
What about Uploads?
Is this like Satellite Service?
What's bad about Fixed Wireless Service?
What equipment is required?
What is included in the Installation?
How can I connect more than one computer?
Does weather or trees affect my connection?
Where does the antenna go?
What does the antenna look like?
Is this service secure?
What is a Public IP address and why would I need one?
Is it safe?
What do I need to get service?
Fixed Wireless Internet access is exactly what it says:
- Wireless - Smarter Broadband is providing high speed solutions for Internet access via advanced wireless radio technology, NO PHONE LINE IS NEEDED! NO CELL PHONE IS NEEDED! There is no need to worry about slow downloads, busy signals or disconnections anymore - with wireless Internet your computer is always on the Internet.
- Fixed - SmarterBroadband installs a radio receiver know as a Subscriber Module (SM) at your home or business (see example on the left). This is not a mobile system like a cell phone, it is a fixed receiver wired into your premises.
We install a small wireless modem (usually around 12” x 18” x 4”) which is known as a Subscriber Module (SM) at our customer's location. This is placed somewhere outside near the top of the building, generally mounted to the eave of the roof or the chimney. The customer’s wireless modem communicates with our access point, which connects the client to the Internet through our high-speed backbone. We run CAT5 cable from the SM outside your house to your computer. If the customer has a network card, no additional equipment is required.
Please see the picture on the left showing a typical SM.
What is a 'Radio Mapping Survey' and an 'On Site Test'?
If you are interested in receiving service from SmarterBroadband. The first thing we do is to check your location on our mapping software to see if you have a line-of-sight to one of our towers. If it looks like you may be able to receive our signal, we will arrange with you to carry out an On Site Test, which is a physical signal check. This means we will come to your location with a Subscriber Module (SM), this will be connected to a laptop computer, we will raise the SM to the same height as it would be if installed at your location and see if we can get an acceptable signal. If we can, you're good to go. We generally arrange the On Site Test and Installation for one visit so if the Test is OK we continue and Install there and then. No re-booking and having to wait for your High Speed Internet.
What is Accelerated Browsing ('Bursting')?
To properly compare SmarterBroadband's service speeds with dial-up, ISDN, DSL, Satellite and other connections you may have used before, it is important to understand SmarterBroadband's Accelerated Browsing technology.
Simply put, SmarterBroadband's Accelerated Browsing technology is a form of Bursting. This means that whichever service plan you choose, you will enjoy FAST (1.5 - 5 Mbps) web browsing, sending/receiving small emails and small uploads/downloads. When you start to download a file, it will initially download at your Burst Speed (1.5 - 5 Mbps). After your Burst allocation has been met, your download speed will be shifted down to your chosen service plan rate.
How does it work? Bursting utilizes a "token bucket". While you are reading a web page, your "bucket" is refilling at your sustained (service plan) data rate. The next web page you select will again download at the network speed. The same will be true for sending and receiving small emails.
So why, you ask, would you choose a faster plan? The faster plans are designed for people:
- who want to work with larger files (data files, photographs, music files, video files etc.), or
- who want to use Audio and/or Video streaming, or
- who want to use VoIP telephone service (Voice Over IP), or
- who want to use online meeting software, or
- who are gamers.
The faster the plan, the larger the Burst allocation, and the longer it will take to shift down to your service plan data rate.
For a more detailed explanation and to see a chart which shows how "Bursting" will effect the different Service Plans. Click Here.
You should use Smarter Broadband’s fixed wireless solution if you want or need a dedicated, always-on, high-speed, broadband Internet connection. With Smarter Broadband you don’t have to settle for slow dial-up internet connections and a second phone line. You no longer need a costly ISDN line that you have to pay per-minute while connected to the Internet or a T1 line which can cost you $600 to $1,000 a month. Smarter Broadband’s service bypasses the phone system by making a direct, dedicated wireless link to our high-speed network. In fact, for our wireless service you don't need to have a phone line at all.
We offer a number of service options to choose from, these cover both Residential, SoHo (Small Office Home Office) and Business. Prices start at only $49 a month!! Compared with the cost of additional phone lines and dial-up internet cost, wireless Broadband through Smarter Broadband is highly affordable. You will be amazed with the increased productivity - no longer waiting for modems to dial and connect, web pages to slowly load, and connections to get dropped. Please see our PRICING page.
The Smarter Broadband wireless service has many service options for upload speeds. This means that customers who need to upload photos, transfer files, send audio or video can select the right speed for your needs. Our Business class services run at higher upload speeds so for business customers, uploads will transfer at speeds close to your download speed. This is a big deal. We offer upload speeds all the way up to 768Kb/s!
Is this like Satellite service?
NO! Satellite service suffers from several inherent technical problems that are not an issue for our wireless service:
- With Satellite service, you have to bounce your signal out of the atmosphere to an orbiting satellite and then back to a central location. These huge hops add hundreds of milliseconds of latency that ruin interactive applications and even make some Web sites look slow. Our wireless signal travels from a few hundred feet to a few miles to our nearest access point location. These short distances allow for low latency and high throughput in both directions.
- Very slow upload speeds, can be as slow as 17kpbs, slower than a poor dial-up connection!
- Speed throttling when downloads exceed 169Mb. Many Satellite providers have a policy known as FAP (Fair Use Policy); under this policy they will throttle your downloads to Dial-Up speeds if you download more than 169Mb in a short period of time.
- VoIP Phones do not work with Satellite.
- VPN does not work with Satellite.
- Games work very poorly with Satellite if at all.
But don't take our word for it, take a look at our Satellite Users Comments from DSL Reports page, and see what current owners of broadband Satellite say. (What they say is that Satellite broadband is better than dial-up, but if you have any other alternatives, go with them.)
What's bad about fixed wireless service?
The disadvantage of our wireless service is that it requires line-of-sight or near line-of-sight between the client's premises and our access point. Near line-of-sight means there may be some trees between you and our Access Point, but not rocks, buildings, hills or mountains. If you do not have good near line-of-sight to one of our access points then there is a very low probability that you will be able to get service. The shorter the distance between the client and an access point, the less direct line-of-sight is needed. The only way to be sure if you will get a signal is to have us come to your location and perform a site survey to check the signal strength. Unfortunately, if we can't get a signal then we can't provide Smarter Broadband wireless service at this time. However, we are continually growing our network and adding additional access point locations, so service may become available in the future.
The equipment provided by SmarterBroadband includes:
- Radio Modem (sends wireless signal)
- Antenna (often in the same outdoor weather proof box as the radio, mounted outdoors for long range).
- Mounting Hardware.
- CAT5 cable (connects radio to your computer).
- Power Supply.
- Surge Suppressor (needed on some installs, we will advise at the time of install).
Note: Included CAT5 cable is up to 100 feet.
All that is required from you is a computer with an Ethernet card. If you don't have one or don't know, we can offer Ethernet cards and extra cable for a small fee.
What is included in the Installation?
External mounting of the Radio and Antenna using either a standard mounting bracket or an eve mount with a maximum pole size of 10 foot. If another method of mounting is required to receive signal, this will be at extra cost.
Running CAT5 cable from the equipment to one location in the premises. Up to 100 feet of CAT5 is included in the installation price. Cabling will be run on the exterior of the building, stapled to the walls. Access to the inside will be via a hole drilled through the wall. Internal wiring distance is up to10 feet from the point of entry, the cable will be stapled if required (along x boards when possible).
Any additional work will be charged at our standard rate of $60 per hour.
How can I connect more than one computer?
To do this you will need a Switch or Router. You can provide your own. SmarterBroadband will configure customer supplied equipment for $20.
Switches or Routers can be provided by SmarterBroadband. A Switch will generally cost $30-$50 (no configuration is required). A wired router will generally cost $50-$80 configured. A wireless router 802.11B/G will generally cost $60-$100. A high power wireless router 802.11B/G will generally cost $150-$180.
Any additional wiring will be charged at our standard rate of $60 per hour.
Does weather or trees affect my connection?
Generally the advanced equipment we use is not affected by precipitation. The signal can penetrate a certain number of trees, how many and how dense the trees are will effect to signal. A site survey is necessary to determine whether you will be able to receive signal. When shooting though trees the signal is more vulnerable to service fluctuations due to violent storms and/or very wet weather.
The higher the better. Typically we install the antenna at roof peaks or on TV antenna towers. The elevation, immediate surrounding trees, and distance from our access point will determine how high we have to mount the antenna. The antenna requires a line-of-sight or near line-of-sight to one of our tower sites.
What does the antenna look like?
There are many different types of antennas, and each is selected for the best performance. Generally we will use integrated antenna units as shown at the top of this page.
The service is protected by authentication, proprietary signal processing techniques, and directional antennas which makes it very difficult for anyone to gain unauthorized access. While no communications network is absolutely secure, the difficulty required to exploit data sent over the SmarterBroadband network is at least as high as that for wired and satellite telecommunications networks. If security is a major concern, we can work with you to setup a VPN connection which is accepted as the securest method of connecting over the internet. Remember, there is nothing secure about being on the internet. We make every effort to secure our network and meet our customer's needs.
What is a public IP Address and why would I need one?
A public IP Address is an address that can be seen and accessed from the internet. If you want to run a web or FTP server then you will need a public address. Some other applications can benefit from a Public IP Address. For example if you plan to use an IP camera, for security or livestock monitoring, (we will be able to supply these in the future) you will need a public IP address to be able to access this remotely.
If you just plan to send email and browse the internet, a Private IP address is all you need. There is an added security benefit of not being addressable from the internet when using a Private IP Address as you can not be seen from the internet.
Absolutely. The SmarterBroadband's transceiver actually emits less power than a cellular telephone (sub 4 watts), and the antenna will be installed at least 20 feet above ground level. The equipment used has been certified by the FCC, the recommended safety distance from the SM is 3 feet.
What do I need to get service?
The professional installation crew will provide everything you need. A computer with Ethernet card is required. If you don’t have an Ethernet card or don’t know, they are available upon request. The installer will configure the equipment with the necessary settings.
Rev. 08/12/2005