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In SF, WebPass (and MonkeyBrains, from what I hear) are great alternative ISPs. Both do point-to-point wireless. My building shares a symmetric 100Mbps connecti
by pcl 12y ago
In SF, WebPass (and MonkeyBrains, from what I hear) are great alternative ISPs. Both do point-to-point wireless. My building shares a symmetric 100Mbps connection to WebPass, and I pretty reliably see 30-40Mbps on my wired network. And I pay significantly less than I had previously paid Comcast. (However, I never used the TV component of my Comcast offer, so the cost structure is presumably different for people who do want cable TV.)
I understand that point-to-point wireless is more realistic in an urban environment than in the suburbs or a more rural setting. Do other cities have good alternate ISPs, or are SF residents somewhat unique in their appetite to try alternate providers?
- sparkman55 12y agoPoint-to-Point (Fixed) Wireless is actually also an attractive solution in rural / semi-rural settings as well. If the distances are moderate (with line-of-sight) but demand is too sparse to warrant the cost of running coaxial / fiber (and distances are too far for DSL), a common alternative on the high end is fixed microwave, and on the low end Verizon LTE. A good example is the Ames, Iowa area, where an ISP has set up a tower with good line of sight, and a bunch of directional antennas both on the tower and at customers locations. This setup provides great service out to ~15 miles or so, enough to cover the outskirts of this small town. Some issues with this setup: storms cause 'rain fade' which blocks the signal, and the wireless spectrum does not scale to too many users. Also, there's a finicky antenna on the roof that can become misaligned in storms.
- bicknergseng 12y agoMy building in SF is locked in to ATT Uverse. I'd kill for WP or MB.