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Review by SierraRob 
Posted: 28 days ago
member for 2.9 years, 419 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Prather,Fresno,CA
 $250 per month (36 month contract)
 "Very fast, reliable (so far!)"
 "Expensive"
 "Better than any alternative in this area"
| Pre Sales Information:
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I live in a rural area (20+ acre ranches, very hilly) that is on the very edge of AT&T's service area. No DSL, cable, T1, or even reliable dialup here. When I first moved here I got HughesNet satellite service, and stuck with it for several years (as there was really nothing else) until Verizon Wireless Broadband started working here. Dumping satellite like a depleted uranium brick, I switched to VZW and used that for over a year, switching back and forth between two USB modems on my Cradlepoint router (as my usage regularly exceeds 5GB/month just with work-related file transfers). Other than the ridiculously low cap, VZW worked well for me and was reasonably fast.
Then I heard a radio commercial for Unwired Broadband, visited their website, and sent them an email expressing interest. It took about three weeks after the official order (due to a backlog of new install orders, and one postponed install due to a crewman calling in sick) for an install crew to get here, but once they did the install went quickly and smoothly. They set up a small rectangular dish on a tripod mount on the roof, and ran a long cable down to where I have my wireless router set up. The box that their antenna plugs into is just a little thing about the size of a small laptop power supply, with one RJ45 connector for the WAN connection to the router or computer.
I've been running with the new service almost a day now, and so far it seems very fast. I ordered the "Business Gold" level of service, which is rated at 1.7Mbps (symmetric) minimum, topping out at 3.5Mbps. I've done several speed tests and each time it has been around 3.2M up and 2.8M down. It costs $249.95 a month. Expensive, yes, but it is a business-class connection with static IPs and no arbitrary usage limits, and I really need a connection like that for my home office. (Basic residential service levels start at $49.95/month.)
So far, very happy with the service. We'll see how it goes over the medium/long term!
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Review by BeAuMaN
UPDATED: 167 days ago
member for 1.3 years, 37 visits, last login: 133 days ago
Madera,Madera,CA
$69 per month (24 month contract)
 about 45 days
"Pretty good Bandwidth, Pretty good latency"
"Limited Availability Based on what might be inbetween you and access point."
"Kicks the crap out of Satellite, gives a connection that's competitive with entry-level DSL and Cable plans, if not better."
| Pre Sales Information:
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Should keep in mind that I've only been with this service for a week thus far, so I'm still in the "honeymoon" phase. With that said...
This service is awesome. To give a bit of background, I was originally a Sprint Broadband Direct customer, which I had for a good number of years, and it served me well compared to dial-up. I'm out in an area where no cable or DSL is available. As we all know, Sprint was shutdown due to a FCC mandate, and I had to find something else. So after weighing my options, I found this service, left a message on the website, got a call back that day.
They originally did internet mainly for businesses, but expanded more into the home market. So they said I would get business-level bandwidth, in essence, as long as I don't torrent (Their issue isn't so much the legal aspect, but the load it puts on their network). I was skeptical, but scheduled them out. The wait, since they were swamped by the Sprint fallout, was somewhere around a month or two, and when they came out, they couldn't get connection through my grandparent's trees... They left their ladder though, so I had them come out again, and look around a bit. They -could- get a signal off my grandparent's workshop...
So I kept in contact, and figured I could do a point-to-point off the workshop to my house. I ordered some Ubiquiti NanoStation5s, as per recommendation on the DSLreports forums, and had them come out, set up their wireless end-user unit, I setup the point-to-point after some tinkering, and it worked.
I'm getting usually around ~7 - 7.5mbps download, and somewhere between ~3 to 5.5mbps upload. That's huge. Latency from Fresno, Cali to San Francisco Megapath speedtest server is between 20-33ms.
HUGE improvement. Further, great service. John, the salesperson, worked with me and all my questions and helping me as much as possible. The install guys, Jared and Rob, and that other guy with the beard I can't quite remember at the moment were all nice folks too. All very helpful.
So really, if you're looking for a fast connection, for gaming and browsing, this would be it. Gaming connection is pretty awesome for Battlefield 2142. Downloads are zippy. No torrenting though (or at the very least, turn off your upload ALL the way so no users connect, and leech.). Bandwidth limits per month are implied, but not written. I don't think it's a problem normal users will run into.
Long order and install process, but that was due to the fallout of all the Sprint Broadband Direct customers. Not sure on brand/model of equipment. No bad experiences as of yet.
===Follow-Up Below, 3/9/09===
Follow-up: Well, the honeymoon is over. Verdict? Still satisfied with my service, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who can't get a wired high speed service. The rates I posted before have decreased a bit, or maybe reversed... I'm averaging about 5 - 5.5mbps down, and 7 - 7.5mbps up. It's dropped a bit at times due to the fact that the company is becoming more popular and they're getting a large number of customers. I was told though that they were in the process of updating their backends and buying more bandwidth.
However, to be fair, I have some point-to-point equipment in the middle that could be limiting my bandwidth. I ran some tests with John Weigand (He's my original salesperson, and my general go-to guy if I have any problems with my connection, definitely recommend going through him if you're going to sign up, Extension 506 on their phone number), and running various ping and connection tests from his side and my side, the connection had no problems going to their equipment, but had problems going to mine occasionally. I haven't had a problem since 4 months ago though, I just thought I'd post this as a disclaimer for bandwidth problems I've had.
In the end though, It's good bandwidth considering it's a WISP, good people giving good service, it's local, and I haven't had many problems at all. Last month I used 100 GB of bandwidth (That's combined download/upload), and no problems at all, for those worried about WISP capping/throttling. Finally, for gaming, I play Left 4 Dead almost every night, and there's been no problems at all. Good Times. That's my follow-up review, as there isn't much else to say or report. Happy surfing.
===Update Below, 6/24/09===
Well, the land of milk and honey is gone. No more are the days of uncapped internet, Unwired Broadband has matured, and so have its policies. The current policy is for service people to cap old customers who were previously uncapped at 1024/386 kbps whenever their account is brought up (basically whenever you call them, or they call you), due to the fact that they'd have to hire a lot more people to change everyone over. We had a very lengthy (2 hour) discussion/argument with a sales executive and sales manager over bandwidth in our old contract, and settled at 2mbps up/down.
We're pretty much okay with it I suppose, it's just the matter of how they didn't notify us of these changes that made us rather miffed, and they were annoyed when we discussed a conflict with the contract we signed.
Hence, I edited my scores and my tag lines on this review. It still kicks the crap out of satellite, but it isn't as awesome as it used to be. This should be expected though... being that Unwired Broadband is a growing business... they're making the transition from local business to state-area business. During this growing time, you make changes to compete or you're crushed by competitors due to being on their radar now.
So to unwired broadband customers, if you're wondering where the bandwidth went, that's where. If you have an old contract, I'd do some reading and asking. Hopefully UnwiredBB will flourish.
Followup comments:  
aopty
@unwiredbb.com
| huh it seems they are changing their ways. I have had them for about a week now and so far i must say i am disappointed. I am paying for the 1mb/up that is now available to residential and includes "online gaming" in the description, and i NEVER get over 1mb up or down. Xbox is not working well for me at all with this, constantly going red connection and getting dropped, running pings to xbox.com has been giving me 100% LOSS OF PACKETS for about 3 days now, tracert giving me 14/30 success and its the same for worldofwarcraft.com, not good at all. Not sure why mine seems to be capped at 1mb while others posting are getting way higher on the old residential plan, would have waited or looked for something else if i had know they would be capping my bandwidth like they are right now. Good company at start i guess but not really helping me out much. works for web browsing but i could be saving 50$ a month and get something cheaper if i just want to check my email. not satisfied for now, would not recommend. Im going to have to see about getting out of this contract if they arent going to do something about this, im paying for the plan that was marketed for online gaming and all my gaming is complete junk with this service yet regular websites work fine.
Pinging xbox.com [65.55.42.140] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 65.55.42.140:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
Ping statistic for unwiredbb.com [64.192.0.15]
Reply from 64.192.0.15: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=124
Reply from 64.192.0.15: bytes=32 time=11ms TTL=124
Reply from 64.192.0.15: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=124
Reply from 64.192.0.15: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=124
Ping statistics for 64.192.0.15:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 3ms, Maximum = 11ms, Average = 5ms | |
| | BeAuMaN
join:2008-07-17
Madera, CA
 ·Unwired Broadband ..
| Re: huh Just noticed messages in my inbox telling me I got replies while checking my connection speed, heh (Connection is slow as of last night, so I'm checking speed).
Huh... interesting... looking at their residential fixed wireless right now, yeah... the plans do look different. They added more tiers... I remember them saying that their service was upgrading and what not...
btw, aopty, you on their fixed wireless service? or their DSL? and for what area?
If yes to the Fixed Wireless, did you ask the service guy who set it up what bandwidth he was getting on the test? And also I'm left wondering what equipment you have between your ISP connection and PC/Xbox? | |
| | | BeAuMaN
join:2008-07-17
Madera, CA
·Unwired Broadband ..
| Re: huh I called over, since Y'know, I sort of feel responsible for the review I give (And I do truly love Unwired Broadband). Essentially they're expanding quicker than expected residentially, so they started imposing speed caps on new residential customers, because residential bandwidth use was overtaking their business customers, and so it's a temporary measure until they upgrade to get more bandwidth (Which will be very soon). However, the amount of bandwidth available after they upgrade will be a lot, so I'm sure the speed caps will be higher. | |
| Sangerman44
join:2009-04-06
Sanger, CA
| Question I live out in Sanger, CA and I want to update from my Verizon wireless service I use since it is utter crud. Does this company ever do a demonstration? I asked and they said no. Anybody with this service want to let me check it out for a small fee  I want to make sure it is all that is advertised because I am afraid of the $600.00 setup fee they are asking for. | |
| | BeAuMaN
join:2008-07-17
Madera, CA | Re: Question Sangerman44... $600 setup fee? You're sure?... They told me I was getting a "discount", but that's pretty crazy... especially for a residential connection... | |
| | | BeAuMaN
join:2008-07-17
Madera, CA
·Unwired Broadband ..
| Re: Question Also followed up on the installation fee when I called... You should probably try calling again. Rates sort of vary for installation, however the basic (Assuming you're just having them put a dish on a roof, and run a wire to your box) installation fee is lower than $600 for residential, based on contract length.
Hopefully it'll work out for ya man. | |
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Review by cmsman
UPDATED: 187 days ago
member for 187 days, 1 visits, last login: 151 days ago
Madera,Madera,CA
$99 per month (36 month contract)
about 14 days
"Service delivered as advertised"
"More expensive than cable or dsl"
"Great alternative to satellite"
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I recently move from an area that was serviced by Comcast cable. Had that service for 4+ yrs and had no complaints. My new house is further out in the sticks and there was no cable or dsl available. I need reliable high speed that supports VPN access and low latency. I found Unwiredbb on this site and called. The sales guy, Craig, was helpful, explained the different plans and also used some google map tools to determine that I should have a good shot to one of their towers. I took the plunge and ordered on my move day. Took about two weeks for the install, but they warned me during the initial call and again at signup that installs can take 2-3 weeks from the order date so I was prepared. Being a systems engineer I didn't want the "standard" slap an antenna in the easiest spot and staple cables to the outside of the house. I ran flexible conduit with a pull string from a MDF in my garage to the site I had erected a mast at the rear of my house. Directv attached to the top of the mast and Unwiredbb attached right under Directv without any issues. Cables were pulled for both from the mast location to the MDF through the conduit. The installers did a quick and efficient job and their work was professional. To be honest, I've only been online with them for a week but they have delivered everything they promised and the service seem solid. I'll post another update once I have a couple of months of their service in the bag.
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Review by sryan
Posted: 2.5 years ago
member for 2.5 years, 3 visits, last login: 2.4 years ago
Fresno,Fresno,CA
$79 per month (12 month contract)
about 7 days
"Reliable, Fast, 5 STATIC IP's, and Local"
"Not that great of communication, pricing different depending on who you walk too"
"DSL is reliable, pricing isn't too bad, and you get a STATIC IP"
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We had SBC DSL here but with a DHCP address. For the VOIP I wanted to do, I had to get a STATIC IP and I had to get it without any hassle. SBC wanted $250 just to set it up. No thanks... so I looked for a local ISP and found Unwired Broadband, LLC which appears to be about the ONLY Residential LOCAL ISP I could find. I was pretty stoked as I got a guy named Mario on the phone which was amazing. Very friendly guy. He gave me the answers to all my questions. I've always been able to call him and never had to wait on hold. My only real issue with this ISP so far is communication. They seem to lack it if I don't stay on top if it, it doesn't seem they will either. However, for that small problem it's great dealing with someone local. I get a human who speaks my language. I get 6Mb/512 which seems a little inconsistent but always above 1.5 so that's great. I also get 5 STATIC IP's with NO SETUP FEE's so that's cool too. All in all, I would recommend Unwired Broadband to anyone needing an ISP in the San Joaquin valley although I wish their communication was a bit better. All in all though, experience has been good.
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Review by freebird152
Posted: 2.9 years ago
member for 3.1 years, 372 visits, last login: 247 days ago
Dinuba,Tulare,CA
$50 per month (24 month contract)
about 8 days
"Very good option for anyone in the California Central Valley"
"None at the moment!"
"Awesome WISP!"
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I ordered 384kbps down and up for a $300 install fee and a $50 monthly. I usually receive 1mbps-3mbps in downloads and about 500kbps-1.5meg uploads! My IP address is Static with no PPPoE. The Install process was very smooth and professional, this company is awesome!
For years I have only had crappy 31.2kbps dial up so these speeds are great for me.
I am a very heavy gamer, so it is important that I have high upload speeds and low ping times. The ping times, while unstable, are very low, this system is great for gaming.
C:\Documents and Settings\xxxxxxx>ping yahoo.com
Pinging yahoo.com [216.109.112.135] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=88ms TTL=50
Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=93ms TTL=50
Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=106ms TTL=50
Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=81ms TTL=50
Ping statistics for 216.109.112.135:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 81ms, Maximum = 106ms, Average = 92ms
All in all, an awesome ISP! :-]
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