WisperTel provides an Internet connection via a wireless antenna system.   An antenna is installed on your roof with an attached radio receiver/transmitter.   This antenna is pointed at a nearby Access Point tower, and must have a clear line-of-site (no trees, buildings or hills blocking the path).   When you send and receive information over the Internet, it goes over the wireless link from your radio/antenna to our Access Point.   From there that information travels over our "backhaul", which is a point to point wireless link to a fiber-optic connection hooked directly to the Internet.   WisperTel service has very low "latency", or delay, compared to satellite Internet, where signals must travel thousands of miles into space.   WisperTel is well suited for gaming as well as other service such as VPNs and Voice over IP (VOIP). see Typical Installation for details.

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How is it wired into my home?

WisperTel professionally mounts an antenna on your roof, then runs a CAT-5 wire (Ethernet cable) down the outside wall of your home (we try to follow gutters and trim to hide the cable).   We then bring the wire into your home by drilling a small hole or following an existing entry into the home such as a duct or prior cable, phone or satellite TV installation entry.   An Ethernet jack is then installed on the inside of an exterior wall (your computer should have an Ethernet jack - all new computer do.   An older computer may need an adapter).   If you need additional inside wiring to extend the connection into your home, you may need to hire a wiring contractor or may want to consider using a wireless router (available at computer stores) to distribute the connection thru your home.

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How do I connect multiple computers to the connection?

WisperTel will install a single Ethernet jack inside your home.   If you have more than 1 computer, you will need to purchase your own wireless router.   A router acts as a splitter, allowing up to 4 computers to be plugged in directly, and it also wirelessly sends your Internet signal throughout your home to any computer or laptop with a wireless card.   An 802.11g wireless router typically runs under $50, and can be purchase from any computer or office supply store, or Wal-mart.

What are you coverage areas?

Click here to see our coverage maps.

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Does weather affect the service?

Wireless Internet access requires a "line-of-site" connection from your house to one of our towers.   This means that any large trees, buildings or other obstructions may cause a degraded level of service.   Our installers do a site survey before installing to make sure that there is a good signal.   Weather will not cause a degradation of service, even in very severe storms.   Your connection will remain stable even during winter months or other stormy periods.

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How fast is WisperTel Internet?

WisperTel offers two plans:   our standard plan, which runs up to 1.5Mbps, and our Ultra-high-speed plan which runs up to 5Mbps.   This is over 200 times faster than dial up, and faster than most DSL connections.   Speeds cannot be guaranteed as they are affected by distance from your antenna to our Access Point, network load, and server activity.

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What are the computer requirements for WisperTel Internet?

PCs and Macs both work with our service! Recommended requirements: Motherboard chip speed of 233mhz or higher; 64MB RAM or higher; 100MB free hard drive space; PCs: Windows 98 OS or higher / Macintosh: OS 8.x or higher. You also need to have an Ethernet jack on the computer for us to connect our service. All newer computers have this jack; for an older computer, you can purchase Ethernet cards from most computer stores.

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How does WisperTel Internet access differ from standard dial-up?

Unlike dial-up, our service is always on.   This means that there is no dialing, no waiting, and no need for a second phone line.   There is also a dramatic difference in speed - WisperTel is over 100 times faster than dial-up service.

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How long will it take to set up service?

We can typically have service installed within several days of placing an order.   Once we've determined that the service will work at your location, it takes about 2-3 hours to hook everything up.

Can I do the installation myself?

Not at the present time.

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What about e-mail accounts?

If you already have free e-mail accounts (i.e., Yahoo!, MSN, Hotmail, G-mail, etc.) you can access these accounts over the WisperTel Internet connection.   WisperTel also provides up to 5 e-mail accounts that are included with the service, and they can be accessed via the web or from a PC based e-mail program such as Outlook Express or Thunderbird.

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How reliable is WisperTel Internet service compared with wired services such as cable and DSL?

We have designed our wireless network to be as reliable as any wired network.

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