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Intra
join:2009-10-20
Gore, VA

Intra

Member

[Fixed] Question about Canopy Wireless Technology

After dealing with a local WISP for 2 years, and having the run around for that time, I'm extremely sour when it comes to wireless internet.

Another local company though, started a year ago, uses Motorola Canopy, on the 900 MHz frequency, boasting 3Mbps down, 1Mbps up, NLOS gear, and 100 to 200ms, all for 39.99 a month, static IP being optional for an additional 10 dollars.

Along with that, there's no contract, it's month to month, and the first month is completely free if we dislike the service for any reason.

Now like I said, I'm extremely close minded to the whole wireless scene now after my issues with the first company, but everything that was WRONG with that company, bad/no signal 24/7, zero customer support, 2 year contract with a ridiculous price locked in (60$), and crappy equipment, is negated in this new company, boasting nothing but positives across the board.

Then I read the posts on this site, about the 500 different things that can interfere with a signal so easily, so then my concern turned in to a nightmare of thoughts of what to expect.

Is it really THAT easy and common for a stupid object like a baby monitor or cordless phone to completely handicap my signal?

I mean I gotta think logically on this, why would a business man, good OR bad, put up a tower and offer service near an interfering frequency?

The tower is just over 1 mile away, and if I stand on my roof I can see it clearly, so LOS shouldn't be an issue, but after reading these horror stories, I'm so paranoid that, even if it works now, some neighbor who couldn't close her legs will end up having a baby monitor soon, ruining my experience, and leaving my powerless.

I need some information, and if you need more information, let me know.

The site is www.winchesterwireless.com and as far as I could see, there's no hits when I search them on dslreports, but the technology their using does have hits.

Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any info/tips you can offer!
Nitroxide
join:2009-06-05

1 edit

Nitroxide

Member

You've pretty much nailed the problem with WISP's is that a lot of the good ones (Maybe winchester wireless) gets a bad rap when there are other shitty WISP's in the area and destroy people's confidence. I deal with that constantly. There is no reason for wireless to be any less stable or usable than cable or dsl.

That said there's really not too much you can do to find out how good this new ISP is. Motorola Canopy equipment is top of the line and imo the best in the wisp world. Ask if they offer a refund within the first month if you're not happy with the service.

Intra
join:2009-10-20
Gore, VA

Intra

Member

Yeah, there is a 100% money back guarantee for the first month if unsatisfied, and it's month to month, both of which tell me -

A) He has to believe in his product, or else he wouldn't offer such a relaxed system of no contract, he'd be out of business in a week if no one got the service they wanted.

B) He knows what he's doing, and from the time I spent talking with him, he really does.

Not to mention his first and other company, Custom Computers, is all certified with whatever you can think of, and has been in my town since 1990, so he has to continue doing something right.
tx_tower
join:2007-11-13
Blanco, TX

tx_tower

Member

the 3meg down 1meg up might be stretching it unless he is using the Canopy Advantage platform, I would ask about that and if so it sounds like a situation where its hard to lose with the money back deal like that.
Intra
join:2009-10-20
Gore, VA

Intra

Member

Interesting TX, didn't know there were different ways I could receive my signal. I did a search, and according to the Canopy website, it looks like the Advantage system is just a cluster of radios basically right?

Either way, the receiver we get installed at our home does look like the receivers that are pictured in the Advantage platform picture.

I'll ask, but as of now I know the following -

He said we can get updates via software for the system, no buying hew hardware or having to reconfigure settings constantly.

The WISP does say their service is able to do VoIP and online gaming, and in fact many customers use it for that.

And he said he built his own tower, so does that basically mean he put up a large tower and put that Advanced platform cluster on top?

I appreciate the responses I've been getting, keep up the good help!
Nitroxide
join:2009-06-05

Nitroxide

Member

Motorola Canopy Advantage and non advantage look the exact same. It's simply a software upgrade.

Canopy has very low latency even under load. Which makes it very good for voip, gaming, etc.

He could have a cluster, or he could be using an omni access point. Again, none of this really matters to you because it can work fine in both situations.
Intra
join:2009-10-20
Gore, VA

Intra

Member

So you're saying advantage or no advantage, I'll be getting reliable service if the company does what they claim to do?
Nitroxide
join:2009-06-05

Nitroxide to Intra

Member

to Intra
The hardware is certainly capable of doing all that and more. However there could still be other problems (Overloaded tower, not enough bandwidth from their headend, poorly managed network, etc. etc.) but you're not going to know any of that until you try it.
wirelessdog
join:2008-07-15
Queen Anne, MD

wirelessdog to Intra

Member

to Intra
Unless you can get reliable signal in 2X mode (extremely unlikely in 900mhz) you will not see those speeds.

Typical Canopy 900mhz speeds are closer to 1500k/512k.

IMHO their advertisements of 3.2megs/1meg is far reaching at best. The noise floor in 900mhz just doesn't allow for those type of speeds...

Now, if they are using a different frequency range and Advantage equipment the sky is the limit on speed.

All 900mhz Canopy equipment is Advantage equipment.

Looking at their website I'm guessing you have to purchase the equipment. If that is the case I would look for a 30 day money back guarantee.

We maintain ownership of our equipment but when we charge installations we offer a 30 day money back guarantee on the installation standard.
Intra
join:2009-10-20
Gore, VA

Intra

Member

They are using 900mhz frequency, so I guess I should expect around the 1500kbps?
wirelessdog
join:2008-07-15
Queen Anne, MD

wirelessdog to Intra

Member

to Intra
In 1X mode, which in our operation is the norm as opposed to the exception, we typically see around 1500-1700k down and 300-500k up.

Semaphore
Premium Member
join:2003-11-18
101010

Semaphore

Premium Member

Wireless done right is very fast and highly reliable. Done poorly it can be the worse than dial-up. And Canopy is fantastic gear but it won't do miracles. If it's installed properly and the link is solid then it will work well. Installed poorly or on a marginal link it will suck just like other equipment.

To be able to achieve 2x speeds you need at least 10 db of separation to the local noise floor. What that floor is in your area can only be known by someone at that location. Canopy has a spectrum analyzer that can show this information when the Radio is NOT passing traffic.

The AP and CPE dynamically adjust this rate over time. You might get 2x rate all, some, or none of the time.

It is not possible to do a true 1Mbps up AND 3Mbps down on Canopy 900 ALL the time. It just isn't. This partly because of limits on the CPE but also the AP. So on that part they are stretching the truth.

It is possible to show the customer the Link Capacity Test screen though that will show numbers close to, or above that but THAT is not true throughput.

There's very little to be gained by speculating. Speak to existing customers and use that as a gauge. Then decide.

AnonDog
@kaballero.com

AnonDog to Intra

Anon

to Intra
Canopy should be operated in 2x mode if possible. It will reliably auto-select which modulation level to use. Latency is cut by 50% when a sub is running 2x mode. We want as many subs as possible running 2x mode for that reason.

I just tested one of our 900 MHz subs who is about a mile from the tower and has LOS as does the OP in the thread.

This is what I got:
Current Results Stats for LUID: 12 Test Duration: 10 Pkt Length: 1522
quote:
Downlink RATE: 2966323 bps
Uplink RATE: 1113292 bps
Aggregate RATE: 4079615 bps
Pkt Xmt (Act/Exp): 906/0
Pkt Rcv (Act/Exp): 2411/0

Downlink Efficiency: 100 Percent
Downlink Index (Act/Max): 100/100
Frag Count (Act/Exp): 57936/57936

Uplink Efficiency: 95 Percent
Uplink Index (Act/Max): 95/100
Frag Count (Act/Exp): 22732/21744

This is typical 2x mode performance except that I set my downlink/uplink ratio to 70/30.