Motorola Canopy Wireless Internet..

[thatguy]

Currently I am using a mifi through Millenicom (verizon coverage) for our household internet, but living with a 20gb cap is a pain sometimes..

a local company is offering Motorola Canopy Wireless internet in our area.. Price is $43 for 50 gb or $60 for 75 gb

What are the plus and minus of this type of internet?

I realize they do line-of-sight wirelessly from local towers and that I would have some sort of dish/receiver on the house to capture the signal..

thanks

Brian

 

[sseelhoff]

Currently I am using a mifi through Millenicom (verizon coverage) for our household internet, but living with a 20gb cap is a pain sometimes..

a local company is offering Motorola Canopy Wireless internet in our area.. Price is $43 for 50 gb or $60 for 75 gb

What are the plus and minus of this type of internet?

I realize they do line-of-sight wirelessly from local towers and that I would have some sort of dish/receiver on the house to capture the signal..

thanks

Brian

We have it here. I like it. We have occasional outages, but overall, the speed is good, and the signal is pretty stable. The local company that provides it is very responsive. On a day to day basis, I don't notice much of a difference than when we had FIOS (in the city). Outages are a pain, but they are typically brief. It has always been on their end (tower issues) and are corrected in a few hours max.

 

[fordmantpw]

We have a similar system, and I couldn't live without it. I'm too far out for DSL or cable, and satellite isn't an option for me. I work from home as software developer, so I use a TON of bandwidth, so a 20GB cap wouldn't work for me (I average about 5GB/day).

I say go for it!

 

[thatguy]

this is is sounding more and more like a good thing with the positive comments IM getting..

Are there any questions that I should be asking them when I have them come out for a sight evaluation?

Brian

 

[cqaigy2]

We have a similar system, and I couldn't live without it. I'm too far out for DSL or cable, and satellite isn't an option for me. I work from home as software developer, so I use a TON of bandwidth, so a 20GB cap wouldn't work for me (I average about 5GB/day).

I say go for it!

Who is your ISP? How much a month?
Thanks

 

[sseelhoff]

this is is sounding more and more like a good thing with the positive comments IM getting..

Are there any questions that I should be asking them when I have them come out for a sight evaluation?

Brian

What is the distance to the closest tower>
Are there ANY obstructions that could impair reception. (Remember-trees grow-it may not block reception now, but it could in the future based on the angle between your receiver and the tower).
I would also ask if they have local IT or it is farmed out, and if they have after hours IT support.

 

[hawkeye08]

I have ISP with the Motorola system. We pay $60/month for 512Kb, with bursts to 2Mb. We only have one choice for tower and it is on ~6000ft mountain, 200' up the TV station antennae. We have used both the 5.7Ghz and 900Mhz radios, the 5.7 uses a dish like DISH network and has the fastest speeds, but we are outside the max distance (spec'd for 10 miles, we are 11.3) and when the temp is around freezing, the access point antennae gets ice on it, eventually blocking the signal. The 900Mhz is not as fast, uses a yagi antennae, but is able to punch through the ice better so less downtime. Overall, we are satisfied (not many choices, this one is currently the best).

It is a good, secure system that functions well if not over subscribed. If you do not have ice problems, you won't suffer those issues. We've had it since Dec 2004. I've looked at the Millenicom as a backup and when we go camping, but have not done it yet. I would go with USB modem that plugs into Cradlepoint router with external antennae on the unlimited plan (I think they take a look at your usage if you go over 50GB in a month)..

Have a look at the ice on our access point... https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?....291788914221028.66505.128214493911805&type=1

 

[fordmantpw]

Who is your ISP? How much a month?
Thanks

I have a local small ISP called RadioWire (http://www.radiowire.net). I pay $45/month for about 12Mbps down and 8Mbps up. I've got a special agreement with them though, as most users are limited to 1Mbps up and down. I refer friends, they keep the referral bonus and give me good, reliable speed!

 

[thatguy]

What is the distance to the closest tower>
Are there ANY obstructions that could impair reception. (Remember-trees grow-it may not block reception now, but it could in the future based on the angle between your receiver and the tower).
I would also ask if they have local IT or it is farmed out, and if they have after hours IT support.

just heard back from them this afternoon - the towers they use are clearly visible from the house which is about 7 miles away.. there are no trees that block them either..

Is 7 miles close or far away?

brian

 

[fordmantpw]

just heard back from them this afternoon - the towers they use are clearly visible from the house which is about 7 miles away.. there are no trees that block them either..

Is 7 miles close or far away?

brian

A lot depends on the equipment. I'm about 1.5 miles from the tower, but that tower shoots to another one 7 miles away, and that one to another 10 miles away from it, which is where the central connection to the internet backbone is. If you have true, clear, line of site, 7 miles is probably fine as long as they use the proper equipment.