I'm not sure if they go that far south, but Prairie Mobile Communications has (or had) a fixed-wireless service through parts of southern Manitoba.
Working with a fixed-wireless provider in NW Ontario, I can also confirm that "you get what you pay for". A free-standing pole with guy wires anchoring it is cheaper in equipment/capital cost but requires more (and more skilled, and more expensive) labour to install. Also not legal in some places.
There are many people in southern MB who can erect towers & poles (cheaper than WiBand), the challenge is finding them... And then convincing WiBand to just use the existing tower.
For halfway-decent or halfway-reliable service, expect to pay about $3k in install costs w/o a contract. On a contract, that often drops to $1k, $100-$300 or even $0 depending on contract length and provider.
Barret's Xplorenet is a good option if a) no-one else can reach you, or b) installation of a tower or mast is contra-indicated for some reason (land unsuitable, prohibited by wife on aesthetic grounds, etc.). Otherwise, NWO has mostly the same experience with them - it's better than dial-up, but worse than everything else.
-Adam
Wiband was making noises like they would like nothing better than to install on an existing tower, or at least the installation crew was all for it. Finding a tower and install at a good rate is another matter all together. Wiband is the best option if I can get line of sight. A tower hunting I go.
My email to the www.rrafn.com service bounced. I have a hunch that my experience there could be somewhat informal.
On 19 November 2010 17:29, Adam Thompson athompso@athompso.net wrote:
I'm not sure if they go that far south, but Prairie Mobile Communications has (or had) a fixed-wireless service through parts of southern Manitoba.
Working with a fixed-wireless provider in NW Ontario, I can also confirm that "you get what you pay for". A free-standing pole with guy wires anchoring it is cheaper in equipment/capital cost but requires more (and more skilled, and more expensive) labour to install. Also not legal in some places.
There are many people in southern MB who can erect towers & poles (cheaper than WiBand), the challenge is finding them... And then convincing WiBand to just use the existing tower.
For halfway-decent or halfway-reliable service, expect to pay about $3k in install costs w/o a contract. On a contract, that often drops to $1k, $100-$300 or even $0 depending on contract length and provider.
Barret's Xplorenet is a good option if a) no-one else can reach you, or b) installation of a tower or mast is contra-indicated for some reason (land unsuitable, prohibited by wife on aesthetic grounds, etc.). Otherwise, NWO has mostly the same experience with them - it's better than dial-up, but worse than everything else.
-Adam
If it seems a 40/50ft'er is enough, I'll let you know next time I'm offered one.
A co-worker living near St. Jean-Baptiste has installed dozens of those, he'd probably be willing to come out to your place and offer advice for a reasonable price, heck maybe some beers.
On 11/19/2010 10:48 PM, Ian wrote:
Wiband was making noises like they would like nothing better than to install on an existing tower, or at least the installation crew was all for it. Finding a tower and install at a good rate is another matter all together. Wiband is the best option if I can get line of sight. A tower hunting I go.
My email to the www.rrafn.com service bounced. I have a hunch that my experience there could be somewhat informal.
On 19 November 2010 17:29, Adam Thompsonathompso@athompso.net wrote:
I'm not sure if they go that far south, but Prairie Mobile Communications has (or had) a fixed-wireless service through parts of southern Manitoba.
Working with a fixed-wireless provider in NW Ontario, I can also confirm that "you get what you pay for". A free-standing pole with guy wires anchoring it is cheaper in equipment/capital cost but requires more (and more skilled, and more expensive) labour to install. Also not legal in some places.
There are many people in southern MB who can erect towers& poles (cheaper than WiBand), the challenge is finding them... And then convincing WiBand to just use the existing tower.
For halfway-decent or halfway-reliable service, expect to pay about $3k in install costs w/o a contract. On a contract, that often drops to $1k, $100-$300 or even $0 depending on contract length and provider.
Barret's Xplorenet is a good option if a) no-one else can reach you, or b) installation of a tower or mast is contra-indicated for some reason (land unsuitable, prohibited by wife on aesthetic grounds, etc.). Otherwise, NWO has mostly the same experience with them - it's better than dial-up, but worse than everything else.
-Adam
Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
Outstanding. Thanks.
On 19 November 2010 23:18, Colin Stanners colin@ninja.ca wrote:
If it seems a 40/50ft'er is enough, I'll let you know next time I'm offered one.
A co-worker living near St. Jean-Baptiste has installed dozens of those, he'd probably be willing to come out to your place and offer advice for a reasonable price, heck maybe some beers.
On 11/19/2010 10:48 PM, Ian wrote:
Wiband was making noises like they would like nothing better than to install on an existing tower, or at least the installation crew was all for it. Finding a tower and install at a good rate is another matter all together. Wiband is the best option if I can get line of sight. A tower hunting I go.
My email to the www.rrafn.com service bounced. I have a hunch that my experience there could be somewhat informal.
On 19 November 2010 17:29, Adam Thompsonathompso@athompso.net wrote:
I'm not sure if they go that far south, but Prairie Mobile Communications
has (or had) a fixed-wireless service through parts of southern Manitoba.
Working with a fixed-wireless provider in NW Ontario, I can also confirm that "you get what you pay for". A free-standing pole with guy wires anchoring it is cheaper in equipment/capital cost but requires more (and more skilled, and more expensive) labour to install. Also not legal in some places.
There are many people in southern MB who can erect towers& poles (cheaper than WiBand), the challenge is finding them... And then convincing WiBand to just use the existing tower.
For halfway-decent or halfway-reliable service, expect to pay about $3k in install costs w/o a contract. On a contract, that often drops to $1k, $100-$300 or even $0 depending on contract length and provider.
Barret's Xplorenet is a good option if a) no-one else can reach you, or b) installation of a tower or mast is contra-indicated for some reason (land unsuitable, prohibited by wife on aesthetic grounds, etc.). Otherwise, NWO has mostly the same experience with them - it's better than dial-up, but worse than everything else.
-Adam
Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
PMCnet's website is long gone - they're still feeding AC power to their network but I'm not sure they're doing much more than that to maintain it. Looking at a 2006 tower map and they're nowhere near Ian (closest is Altona).
I've visited customers on their network whose radios were offline more than online. The old Waverider gear can barely pass traffic in perfect conditions, it isn't built to survive the huge interference seen around today.
On 11/19/2010 5:29 PM, Adam Thompson wrote:
I'm not sure if they go that far south, but Prairie Mobile Communications has (or had) a fixed-wireless service through parts of southern Manitoba.
Working with a fixed-wireless provider in NW Ontario, I can also confirm that "you get what you pay for". A free-standing pole with guy wires anchoring it is cheaper in equipment/capital cost but requires more (and more skilled, and more expensive) labour to install. Also not legal in some places.
There are many people in southern MB who can erect towers& poles (cheaper than WiBand), the challenge is finding them... And then convincing WiBand to just use the existing tower.
For halfway-decent or halfway-reliable service, expect to pay about $3k in install costs w/o a contract. On a contract, that often drops to $1k, $100-$300 or even $0 depending on contract length and provider.
Barret's Xplorenet is a good option if a) no-one else can reach you, or b) installation of a tower or mast is contra-indicated for some reason (land unsuitable, prohibited by wife on aesthetic grounds, etc.). Otherwise, NWO has mostly the same experience with them - it's better than dial-up, but worse than everything else.
-Adam
Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.mb.ca http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable
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Adam Thompson -
Colin Stanners -
Ian