" Wireless Broadband Modem Service has arrived in my area. I cannot get ADSL or a cable modem service where I am for at least 2 years. I have NO one I can ask around here, other than the salesman of the service, about wireless internet service. Has anyone been a Wireless Broadband Modem user? Can you provide some feedback on it's reliability and speed? I have been told that it is as fast, or slightly faster then the cable modem and just as reliable.

Thanks, Neil Max "

" Check out http://www.wi-lan.com/

They have some really nice (read:reliable) spread spectrum stuff. Again your talking kinda pricy for initial costs, but without having to pay a local telco monthly charge (which are usually prohibitive) the equipment more than pays for itself over time. Heard nothing, but *incredible* things about this place.

Another one to check is http://www.breezecom.com Again same as above, but I don't know about their reputation.
Good luck!
Parker Beeson
Cyberia Inc. "

" Mike,
It's not first-hand experience, but a while back (1 to 2 months, maybe) I heard a news piece on public radio about a school or library out in the boondocks that was using a wireless connection to their ISP. The administrator was pretty much gushing over it.

I'd like to know more about it myself, as 53Kbps hardly whets my whistle! Especially the costs.
A. R. McCoy
PS The obligatory wishes for Kay. I know this is somewhat personal, but would you consider putting up a page with the details of her condition? Maybe someone else has some experience that could help. Doctors aren't the only ones with special knowledge, and any given doctor doesn't know everything, so maybe some input from the Mac community might help. "

" Hey Mike, Read your user request for wireless Internet access and thought I'd drop you a line for I have had a "Wireless microwave cable modem" set up at my house for about 3 months now. The company that offers my service is called WantWeb (www.wantweb.net). They offer combination Internet access and cable TV access, either as separate or combined services. They do have a limited service range including the coverage in Portland, OR, soon in Seattle, WA, and in Colorado Springs, CO. I have had great luck with this service and it actually uses a microwave dish pointed at the largest TV/Radio antennae in our area. It uses a CCM cable modem connected to your ethernet port or hub for downstream connectivity and has a USR 33.6 Sportster for upstream data transmissions (the modem plugs into the CCM, so you don't waste a serial port, it's initialized and dialed by the CCM). With only the upstream of 33.6 it really is not suitable for any sort of serving purposes, however it's great for web surfing and general connectivity. They offer several packages and sometimes specials, differing between cities. Full installation for me cost $200 plus $50/month for the service, however this was for a 12 month agreement (charges apply if service is dropped early) and I don't know if there running this special anymore. Installation included the CCM (cable modem), the Sportster, a PC 10bT 3Com Ethernet card and the microwave disk that sits on top of your house (you must be line of sight to there sending dish). If you throw on another $20/month you get cable TV access as well. This basic service I got was for one computer, one IP address and one email. You can purchase extra emails for this account if you want at $5.95 a pop. If you want multiple IP's you have to get the multi-user account and a multi-user CCM (lots-o-$$$). I have 6 Macs and 1 PC in my house, so instead of spending the money, I just set up one of my computers with the great little utility IPNetRouter (www.sustworks.com/products/product_ipnr.html), gave all my boxes there own internal IP's and the IPNetRouter box the WantWeb IP. Sha-bang, all boxes have high speed Internet access and I don't spend all the extra money for the mutil-user crap. You can also use Vicom Internet Gateway to do the same thing but it was more difficult to set up IMHO, costs more, however is more versatile and offers many more features.

OK, sorry to ramble, but your asking SPEED. Upstream is somewhat limiting but hardly noticeable. They advertise 750kbps access which I have not been able to push, however let me give you an example. Between 3 boxes, I had a roommate upstairs web surfing on a 6100, on my PMac 9500 I had 3 FTP's going, one chugging along at 60k/sec, the other 2 approx. 20k/.sec. Also on the same box I had a First Class download going (pulls about 20k/sec) and on my PC I had a First Class download going (another 20k/sec), as well as web browsing on the PMac 9500 and not noticing any slowdown. It really feels like it's a T1 other than a little lag for pages to start loading.

I have only had one problem with my service getting locked out, there tech support SUCKED, because it was outsourced, but I was eventually given a number to a local rep who actually worked for WantWeb and reset my connection on there servers, have had no problems since. Also they are supposedly straightening out the Tech Support a bit so it should be better in the future. All in all, I think it's a great service and I am not seeing ADSL coming to my phone company anytime soon, so this is defiantly going to get my by for a while. Also they are going to be offering upstream microwave access in the future, and they are supposedly testing this in Seattle shortly. I hope to get on this bandwagon once available in my area.

Hope this helps, or at least interests some of your readers,
Jerrod Thomas

P.S. Forgot to mention GREAT page, I check it several times daily! "