Newbie question - 900 MHz NLOS wireless - user's opinions solicited

I am in a rural area of the US with the only high-speed options being
satellite or a wireless system new to the area. Satellite is out
because of its FAP and price.

I'd like user's opinions of the 900 MHz service. I've been unable to
find much info on it from the user's standpoint. Seems that most is
written for the dealer.

My potential provider uses a WaveRider (model unknown) 900 MHz system,
and claims up to 1Mbit/sec. Not as speedy as most of you guys, but
better than my 26.4 dial-up. He provides access only to Internet
backbone, no mail or news servers. $350 installation, $25/month.

My use would be entirely fixed from my house, eventually tying in 3 or
4 computers. Virtually all traffic would be incoming - few uploads.

His tower is visible from my location, and about two miles away.
Tower height about 250 feet, but I don't know how high the antenna is.
Some trees between us, but I am willing to poke holes where needed
and have an unused 60 foot tower already in place, with 40 more feet
of tower on hand for an external antenna, if I need to go over them.

Request opinions from users on:
Actual speeds obtained from similar systems.
Reliability.
Interference from trees / rain / etc. (no known cell phone users
within 100 yards).
Any problems encountered.
Changes in service due to customer load.
Is the price reasonable? Is anything commonly negotiable?

Primary computer is Dell 8250 (1.5G RAM, 200G HD), full blown off the
shelf using WinXP - no problems foreseen there as far as capabilities.

Thank you, in advance.

Email me if you want more details. I have worked quite a bit with these
systems.

jbacon at telcomplus dot net

--
Jerry B.

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and
the pessimist fears this is true." - James Cabell

"Joes place" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> My potential provider uses a WaveRider (model unknown) 900 MHz system,
> and claims up to 1Mbit/sec. Not as speedy as most of you guys, but
> better than my 26.4 dial-up. He provides access only to Internet
> backbone, no mail or news servers. $350 installation, $25/month.

I only have limited experience with these systems, so i have no baselines to
give you performance comparisons but:

-900mhz is documented as better than 2.4ghz for longer distances. This i've
read and experienced with 900mhz long range cordless phones.
-i had a 900mhz wireless transceiver setup from , i think , wi-com , a
couple years ago and it was exceptional - the distance was <1mile however -
but we had, to the best i remember, NO problems with intereference, weather,
etc.
-900mhz is better with 'near line of site', particularly foliage/tree
interference
-your distance is well within 'good' signal strength range.
-1MBit/sec is bi-directional, so is actually better than most cable and
dsl - although, you say you are mainly downloads - and I get 2500MBit on my
cable downloads (a rareity around here, but i consistently get that)
-you can source your mail or news servers elsewhere - plenty to choose from
-$25 / month seems quite good


"Joes place" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I am in a rural area of the US with the only high-speed options being
> satellite or a wireless system new to the area. Satellite is out
> because of its FAP and price.
>
> I'd like user's opinions of the 900 MHz service. I've been unable to
> find much info on it from the user's standpoint. Seems that most is
> written for the dealer.
>
> My potential provider uses a WaveRider (model unknown) 900 MHz system,
> and claims up to 1Mbit/sec. Not as speedy as most of you guys, but
> better than my 26.4 dial-up. He provides access only to Internet
> backbone, no mail or news servers. $350 installation, $25/month.
>
> My use would be entirely fixed from my house, eventually tying in 3 or
> 4 computers. Virtually all traffic would be incoming - few uploads.
>
> His tower is visible from my location, and about two miles away.
> Tower height about 250 feet, but I don't know how high the antenna is.
> Some trees between us, but I am willing to poke holes where needed
> and have an unused 60 foot tower already in place, with 40 more feet
> of tower on hand for an external antenna, if I need to go over them.
>
> Request opinions from users on:
> Actual speeds obtained from similar systems.
> Reliability.
> Interference from trees / rain / etc. (no known cell phone users
> within 100 yards).
> Any problems encountered.
> Changes in service due to customer load.
> Is the price reasonable? Is anything commonly negotiable?
>
> Primary computer is Dell 8250 (1.5G RAM, 200G HD), full blown off the
> shelf using WinXP - no problems foreseen there as far as capabilities.
>
> Thank you, in advance.
>

Joes place wrote:
> I am in a rural area of the US with the only high-speed options being
> satellite or a wireless system new to the area. Satellite is out
> because of its FAP and price.
>
> I'd like user's opinions of the 900 MHz service. I've been unable to
> find much info on it from the user's standpoint. Seems that most is
> written for the dealer.
>
> My potential provider uses a WaveRider (model unknown) 900 MHz system,
> and claims up to 1Mbit/sec. Not as speedy as most of you guys, but
> better than my 26.4 dial-up. He provides access only to Internet
> backbone, no mail or news servers. $350 installation, $25/month.
>
> My use would be entirely fixed from my house, eventually tying in 3 or
> 4 computers. Virtually all traffic would be incoming - few uploads.
>
> His tower is visible from my location, and about two miles away.
> Tower height about 250 feet, but I don't know how high the antenna is.
> Some trees between us, but I am willing to poke holes where needed
> and have an unused 60 foot tower already in place, with 40 more feet
> of tower on hand for an external antenna, if I need to go over them.
>
> Request opinions from users on:
> Actual speeds obtained from similar systems.
> Reliability.
> Interference from trees / rain / etc. (no known cell phone users
> within 100 yards).
> Any problems encountered.
> Changes in service due to customer load.
> Is the price reasonable? Is anything commonly negotiable?
>
> Primary computer is Dell 8250 (1.5G RAM, 200G HD), full blown off the
> shelf using WinXP - no problems foreseen there as far as capabilities.
>
> Thank you, in advance.
>

He's probably losing money on the equipment costs and $25/month is
cheap. 1Mb is damned good if you're used to 26kb. Your two mile range
should present no problems for a stable connection. And a few trees in
between *probably* will not prevent good servce because WaveRider's
claim to fame is shooting through trees when other equipment won't cut
it. I wouldn't worry about putting up a tower on your end until it
becomes obvious it's needed. Reliability should be high, this is quality
equipment. There should be no interference from rain but 900MHz cordless
phones may be a problem if they are nearby. The service will suffer
when/if he overloads the network, probably not a concern early on in the
life of a WISP.

Thank you for your comments. I'm going with it.




On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 08:24:18 -0600, Joes place <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>I am in a rural area of the US with the only high-speed options being
>satellite or a wireless system new to the area. Satellite is out
>because of its FAP and price.
>
>I'd like user's opinions of the 900 MHz service. I've been unable to
>find much info on it from the user's standpoint. Seems that most is
>written for the dealer.
>
>My potential provider uses a WaveRider (model unknown) 900 MHz system,
>and claims up to 1Mbit/sec. Not as speedy as most of you guys, but
>better than my 26.4 dial-up. He provides access only to Internet
>backbone, no mail or news servers. $350 installation, $25/month.
>
>My use would be entirely fixed from my house, eventually tying in 3 or
>4 computers. Virtually all traffic would be incoming - few uploads.
>
>His tower is visible from my location, and about two miles away.
>Tower height about 250 feet, but I don't know how high the antenna is.
>Some trees between us, but I am willing to poke holes where needed
>and have an unused 60 foot tower already in place, with 40 more feet
>of tower on hand for an external antenna, if I need to go over them.
>
>Request opinions from users on:
>Actual speeds obtained from similar systems.
>Reliability.
>Interference from trees / rain / etc. (no known cell phone users
>within 100 yards).
>Any problems encountered.
>Changes in service due to customer load.
>Is the price reasonable? Is anything commonly negotiable?
>
>Primary computer is Dell 8250 (1.5G RAM, 200G HD), full blown off the
>shelf using WinXP - no problems foreseen there as far as capabilities.
>
>Thank you, in advance.