Wireless Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Last updated: April 10, 2008

What is "Wireless Broadband Internet Access"? Wireless Internet access is the next generation of high speed, or Broadband Internet access, that uses a microwave radio instead of phone or cable lines. This service is suitable for home or business and is similar to, but in many ways superior to DSL or Cable Internet service.  Not to be confused with satellite Internet access, or lumped in with slow cellular phone services which are slow and require handheld devices, Wireless Broadband Internet access does not suffer from the latency problems and bandwidth limitations of other wireless services. With speeds up to 6Mbps in both directions, Succeed.Net Wireless service is able to provide the speed you need while uploading AND downloading. Wireless Broadband does not require satellite TV systems, a cable connection, or even a telephone line.  We provide all the equipment and installation.  Our Wireless Broadband is compatible with VPN's, VOIP, Static IP's, Online games, Macintosh, Windows, Unix, Xbox, etc. What is the difference between your "Supercell" and "Metrocell" wireless? Supercell network is our long range wireless that utilizes special equipment for going long ranges, penetrating trees, and is primarily installed in rural areas.  Security is provided by proprietary non-standard wireless network packet types and encryption over the wireless portion of the network. Metrocell network is our inner city wireless network that utilizes standards based 802.11a/b/g gear and is intended for shorter ranges, but maximum coverage.  Security is provided by PPTP VPN tunnel through the entire network PC or CPE to Internet Gateway. You can also roam around anywhere in our coverage area and get access with your notebook, Pocket PC, etc. Download Comparison Chart 2 megabyte file at full download speed How fast is Wireless Broadband?  Very Fast!  It delivers speeds up to 6 Megabits per second (Mbps), which is up to 200 times faster than a standard 28.8 Kbps modem and up to 100 times faster than ISDN.    Is it available in my area? Check our coverage map to see if you are in range of one of our towers.  Then go outside and see if you have a visual line of sight to the tower with no trees, buildings, or other obstacles in the way.  If you do, 95% you can get our service. How secure is the signal? Supercell - Our equipment was designed with security in mind.   Our systems use spread spectrum radio signals that split the data over multiple frequencies at the same time.  We also employ a proprietary data packet type which can't be seen with standard consumer wireless gear.  This is similar to the technology used by the military. Metrocell - Our metro city network uses standard 802.11a/b/g signals to allow roaming and wide availability in condensed areas.  Because of this we employ state of the art PPTP VPN encryption from CPE (Access radio, notebook, handheld, etc) to our Internet gateway encypting ALL of your data going through our network.  Each user gets a unique encryption that is separate from all other users. Will I have to learn anything new to use this system? If you already know how to use a Web browser you will find our system totally transparent. You are always online. You click on your browser icon, and you are online with no delay - no waiting for a free line or a connection. What does the equipment look like? The antennas range in size from a small 4" x 6" panel,  to a 24" x 36" grilled dish. They are all very lightweight and are no more difficult to install than a TV satellite dish. The cables used for exterior mounting come in set lengths, and are 1/4" to 1/2" in diameter, with the connectors being slightly larger. The single workstation radio is a single card similar to a network card.  The router unit is a small box 8" x 12" x 2.5".  See a install gallery here of installs at customers premises. How does the wireless signal and Internet get to me? Do I need a phone line? No, a phone line is not needed. The Wireless Internet connection is bi-directional, meaning your unit will send and receive information, making it a complete solution for Internet connectivity.  You can also replace your land line phone system with less expensive VOIP solution. Is this like Cable modems or DSL? Wireless Broadband is fast like Cable Modems and DSL, but they are all dependent on physical wires, and a middle man (i.e. phone/cable company). With Wireless Internet access you are dealing with no wires, but directly with the ISP. There is no middle man and we can respond to service issues much more quickly.  Wireless broadband can offer symmetric speeds faster than currently offered Cable or DSL service.  This is state of the art stuff! Is this the same as "satellite" Internet? No!  Wireless Internet is high speed bi-directional unlike satellite solutions, where you download via the dish antenna at fair speeds, but upload speed are similar to modems.  Satellite connections are poorly suited to internet access with pings times ranging from 400ms to 900ms making any interactive Internet application unusable (games, telephony, webcams, VOIP, etc).  This is because of the distance the data has to travel back and forth from outer space.  Our wireless solutions typically have less than 15ms ping times. Can I run servers on this connection? Yes, but clients wishing to want to run servers over a wireless link will need to pay for that ability. The running of servers of any kind is prohibited in the basic residential wireless access plan.  Our business wireless solutions are very well suited for server connections because of the higher upstream speeds. Will I still need my telephone modem? No, Wireless Internet connections do not require a modem. However, Succeed.Net does offer wireless customers a dialup account as a backup to be used when traveling to areas that do not offer wireless, or in the event the wireless link stops functioning. The dialup account is not meant to be used as a primary access method, nor should it be used in combination with a working wireless access system. How long will it take to install? Once your location has been surveyed and approved for wireless, the technician will begin the installation.  When a service tech is on-sight it usually takes 1-3 hours. More complex installations may take longer. Each location and house will be specific to its own needs and possible obstacles. Can I get Busy Signals? No, you always have an Internet connection 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 365 days a year. A wireless connection requires no phone line making it impossible to get a busy signal. Can I upgrade my connection speed? You can upgrade your wireless account to any higher connection speed accounts as your needs grow.  There is no fee to upgrade other than the change in monthly costs.  But, there is a $50  service fee to downgrade your service.  What if I move to a new location, can I take my wireless connection with me? As long as your new location is within the range of any of our wireless networks you can.  Normal installation costs will apply as if it is a new installation.  Mover reinstallations start at $100. How does this access method compare to Cable and/or DSL? As with any Internet connection your provider is sharing access (bandwidth) with all of it's customers, so your most limiting factor is the amount of bandwidth the ISP has available. Cable and DSL charge enticingly low rates for what they call "high speed access," which might seem like a good thing, but charging so little means there is not enough money coming in to provide the bandwidth needed for your customers, so typically you will find your connection slows drastically when other people are using it heavily. You seldom actually get the speed they boast you will. You get what you pay for. You'll realize this to be true as more and more cable and DSL providers are putting speed controls on the customers. Cable and DSL are not available in most outlying rural areas, and probably won't be for many more years. How much does it cost? Pricing is very competitive with DSL and Cable Internet with accounts starting at only $29.95 / month.  Although some locations are hard to reach, and will require additional hardware to make the connection.  Monthly account pricing is available on our pricing page. Is there an additional fee for every additional user I add to my Wireless connection? All residential accounts support up to 5 computers.  Our business accounts are provided with a NAT (network address translating) router for a connection to the internet that allows almost unlimited computers within your office or home to connect to the Internet at the same time through your local area network and using a single IP address (with some limitations to certain types of programs). Keep in mind that all computers are sharing this connection so make sure to get enough bandwidth to cover the expected usage and size of your business. Can I buy my own wireless equipment and install it myself to connect to your network? Supercell - No, the outdoor wireless radios we use are proprietary to ensure security and performance of our network and not available to the general public.  Metrocell - Yes and no.  We use standard 802.11a/b/g wireless equipment that adheres to the WiFi standard and you may use your own for occasional use by a notebook or handheld (must support a PPTP client), but if you intend to the service fulltime we highly recommend an Outdoor CPE to ensure top speeds and reliable connections. What is included with my service? All Wireless services includes: Firewall protected IP address(es), email accounts, personal web hosting, access to Supernews newsgroups, barracuda email filtering, and unlimited 24/7 Internet access through SUCCEED.NET's high-speed wireless network. Additional IP addresses, email, business web hosting, and other services are available at an extra cost. Do cordless phones conflict with wireless Internet service? Since our wireless service is based on 2.4ghz microwave frequencies, 2.4ghz cordless phones can cause noise and lessen the quality of your service.  The amount of noise varies widely depending on make and model of phone.  Severely impacting your service is rare, but happens more often with the long range customers because of the amplifiers that are used tend to amplify the cordless phone transmissions.  We recommend that our users purchase 900mhz or 5.8ghz cordless phones. What if I have other questions? Wireless Broadband is an exciting, next-generation technology for high speed Internet access, so you may have questions not covered in this FAQ. To learn more, please email us at support@succeed.net or give us a call at 530-674-4638 option 1 and we'll be glad to help you with Wireless!  Please let us know if something should be added to this FAQ. Call 530-674-4638 extension 100 Monday - Friday 9 AM - 5 PM