Category: Internet

How to prepare your home for an easy Alyrica install during COVID-19

Posted on March 30, 2020 by - Internet

How to prepare your home for an easy Alyrica install during COVID-19

We wanted to give some practical notes for those that are wanting service at their home or business on what they can expect from us while on site for their Alyrica install.

Who are the people Alyrica serves best?

Being that Alyrica is a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP), many people think that we serve rural areas, or those that are not served by cable, fiber optic or modern DSL exclusively.

We absolutely can deliver a better internet experience to rural customers than many are experiencing. We also have found that many of our customers live in areas that have several good internet options. The reason that customers come to us in these areas is simply because we strive to offer the best customer service experience in telecommunications.

Great Internet Service + Great Customer Service = Alyrica

There are several things that we do and don’t do that customers appreciate as well.

  • We DON’T have introductory pricing – introductory prices are there to hook you and then a few months down the road the price will go up 100% or more.
  • We DON’T have taxes and fees – They are factored into the price of the service.
  • We DON’T sell you on things you DON’T need – bandwidth, services, etc. We like being straightforward.
  • We DO have a great phone service – residential and business phone systems. We can save businesses hundreds of dollars a month in some cases.
  • We DO provide public static IP addresses – not everyone needs one, but it is complimentary for our business accounts and Gamer and above accounts.

What is involved in the Alyrica install process? What happens inside the home? How long will they be on site?

I completely understand people’s concerns with the COVID-19 situation, especially with people coming to your home, let alone inside your home! We have talked about in length about how we are ensuring everyone’s safety during this time in another post.

We have our 5 Step Process which outlines the customer’s relationship to Alyrica from start to finish, but we want to explain what the process looks like once they arrive. An average Alyrica install takes 2-3 hours.

The entire install process is written in an internal wiki page and isn’t as pretty, so here are some of the highlights:

Pre-Install Work

Outside the Home

  • Installer arrives on site and checks in with the customer, letting them know they are at the house and will perform the signal check
  • Installer checks for signal to our towers and locates the best possible installation location on the outside of the house
    • Radio mounting location
    • Cable path from outside to inside the house

Inside the Home

  • Fill out paperwork for the installer to start his work
    • Discuss best location for the router inside the house
    • Paperwork completed

Actual Install Work

Outside the Home

  • Install the radio mount and radio

Inside the Home

  • Install the router, power injector
  • Run the cable from router location to outside the house and up to the radio
    • Crawl Space
    • Attic
    • Direct Entry (through the side of the house)
  • Configure the connection to Alyrica’s network
  • Test the connection and verify with the customer

What a customer can do to assist in the process to make the install as clean and quick as possible

As I am not a medical professional, these are just some good ideas that can help.

  • Determine where you want the router to go inside your house and clean everything out of the way of where that will go so that the installer can work efficiently.
    • Good Placement: Where most of your computing or entertainment use of the internet will be; i.e. an office, family room by the TV, etc.
    • Bad Placement: In a closet in the basement on the far side of the house where no one goes. WiFi works best at closer range with as few walls to go through as possible.
  • Turn off HVAC during the install and for 30 minutes after the installer performs his work inside. Since COVID-19 is considered ‘airborne’ (which is why the 6′ distancing rule) you want to make sure that anything in the air is not circulated throughout the house.
  • After the install is completed, feel free to disinfect every new piece of equipment inside your house (a little isopropyl alcohol doesn’t hurt anything except viruses!)
  • The installers all wear mask and gloves while they are in the house to make help ensure their safety and your safety.

We want to make sure that people can get connected and will stay connected throughout this ordeal and we are glad to help!

If you haven’t checked your location to see if you can get service, check out our Coverage Area or give us a call today: 541-929-3330!

Solution oriented, friendly customer service; that’s Alyrica!

COVID-19 Internet Access for Students. An overview to help prepare for Distance Learning

Posted on March 24, 2020 by - Internet

COVID-19 Internet Access for Students. An overview to help prepare for Distance Learning

Understandably, I’ve received calls and email from colleges, schools and school districts in our coverage area asking about internet access for students as everyone is preparing to shift to an online model throughout the State of Oregon. Schools are closed throughout the state until at least April 28.

The way we work and learn has changed

I know people jokingly say something like ‘You can learn anything on YouTube!’ I have learned more from YouTube than I care to admit.

This isn’t an attempt to talk about HOW to do distance learning; that is up to the school districts and teachers. But I’d like to give some examples in my own life of what distance learning looked or looks like.

I did the bulk of my college courses via distance learning. What that looked like not too many years ago was that the college would send me the DVD or VHS of the lectures I needed to watch along with all the course work and the due dates for assignments. People thought it was crazy at the time, but I actually enjoyed it!

Completely online universities are common now and make a lot of sense for many people.

Current K-12 online school in Oregon

My kiddo who is in first grade attends a charter school through the State of Oregon which is done completely online. They use video conferencing for the teacher and students to connect in class everyday. His classmates live all over the state. Assignments and tools are all available online. He has discussions and submits assignments online. Needless to say, when all the schools were shut down, his school was not since they already are completely online (and he was a little disappointed…)

These types of online schools weren’t an option when I was a kid. I think it’s so cool that my son uses is the same technology I use every day (and he teaches me some tricks too!)

The COVID-19 ordeal has highlighted some weakness in internet connectivity for everyone; some due to financial reasons, others due to physical limitations based on where they live. Not everyone can participate in online learning, that’s a fact.

The ‘Digital Divide’ for people/students in rural areas is a real concern that is highlighted now more than ever

Internet Access to rural areas is essential to put students on a level playing field. There is a concept in the industry of an area being ‘over built.’ This means there are usually more than 2 good options for high speed internet. This would be places like downtown Corvallis, Albany or Lebanon where there are generally several options for Internet Access.

While we do compete directly in these areas due to how our network is built, we have the ability to serve people who do not have high speed internet options to help get them over the ‘Digital Divide.’

What Alyrica has been doing to bridge the ‘Digital Divide.’

Alyrica is the best option in the Mid-Willamette Valley for rural internet access. Yes, I am biased, but based on the service we deliver at the price we deliver it for, with the customer ratings that we have, we are the best value proposition out there!

Outside of providing service, we have been working closely with local city and county leaders as well federal leadership to address this issue in a much broader sense.

Being an Internet Service Provider ourselves, we are in a good position to speak to leaders about what hurdles there are and how working together we can help bridge this gap.

While the current COVID-19 pandemic has brought this issue to the front of people’s minds, it has been part of Alyrica’s core business for years!

What is the world going to look like after everyone goes back to ‘life as usual?’

No one can really answer that question, but I’ll give some thoughts on what the world of the internet and distance learning will look like.

With the current situation around the world; we are currently more digitally connected than physically connected. I personally think there is no substitute to sitting across the table from someone physically, but I am super grateful for where technology has come so far!

Jason’s Predictions

I think the world is being forced to adapt to the digital age in a faster pace than would have happened organically. We could be ‘fast-forwarding’ 10 or 20 years due to the necessity of moving learning and business online. Even though most people don’t like to change; it is amazing how we are able to adapt to what life throws at us!

I know there are many people that are struggling with this change. This is not just about connectivity. We all have to change routines, adapt to new technology, adjust our schedules. This is a HUGE transition to ‘business as usual,’ regardless of what ‘business’ it is!

Here are a few areas that have/are changing due to this ordeal that I think will continue to expand:

Online School
Not everyone will move to online only school; but I think there will start to be more hybrid learning opportunities, such as students being able to take classes or electives all online; even grade school kids being able to do class from home one day a week.

Tele-Medicine
The VA hospital system already has a great program for Tele-Medicine and with more platforms being used to connect with doctors that were not allowed to be used in the past (such as FaceTime, Skype, etc.) there will be more demand for Tele-Medicine.

Remote Work / Remote Office Time
This is already a growing trend, but I see more companies that were nervous about ‘taking the plunge’ to remote work being forced to. Many are realizing that it isn’t as bad as they originally thought. For many Millennials and Gen Zs, this move is what they have been craving for a long time and I expect this to continue to grow.

Final Thoughts
I do think that things are going to calm down after this virus is brought into check; but I don’t think that everything is going to go back to ‘normal’ in terms of connectivity and the real need.

I believe that this ‘forcing’ into the digital age highlighted, enlarged, confirmed, (add your own adjective here…) that the ‘Digital Divide’ is real and that we need to do everything we can to connect everyone we can. Even after schools are reopened, the need for rural broadband is still going to be there for students to be able to do homework, connect with family and friends, work remotely, connect to a doctor, etc.

Alyrica may be able to close the ‘Digital Divide’ for YOU

Shameless plug for Alyrica here. The best way I know to help people cross the ‘Digital Divide’ is to see if there are options at your location! We are happy to get people online, especially those who do not have good options.

If that means Alyrica, of course we are excited to have you as a customer, but sometimes that means referring you to one of the ISPs we know that are outside of our coverage area but could cover their location. It never hurts to check!

Solution oriented, friendly customer service; that’s Alyrica!

Is Internet access an Essential Service during a time of disaster?

Posted on March 20, 2020 by - Internet

Is Internet access an Essential Service during a time of disaster?

Monday this last week I was on a phone call with several other Internet Service Providers (ISP) and leaders in the telecommunications sector. The discussion was around where ISPs stand in the big picture, and if we are an essential service.

Last week, the State of Pennsylvania was the first to announce businesses that are not considered ‘life-sustaining’ are ordered to close.

California, New York State, along with many others followed suite with an order to keep all workers home for nonessential businesses.

Oregon also created the ‘Stay Home, Save Lives’ order which has closed all non-essential businesses effective 3/25.

In all the uncertainty around us right now, we all need communication with one another to ensure that we are getting the information we need, the work done we need to, or just to have a distraction from the cabin fever we may be experiencing!

Alyrica is considered an essential service by the Department of Homeland Security, the World Health Organization and others

That conference call on Monday was an eye opener for me. I knew that the work we do everyday matters and we provide a great service to our community. I realized that what we are doing now, more than ever, is crucial for our customers and our community.

Many people can’t work from home due to the nature of their work and I understand that. With schools all moving online for the foreseeable future, it brought an even greater need than thought originally.

Here is a great explanation on “What are Essential Services?” as well as an outline of the Department of Homeland Security’s Critical Infrastructure Sectors.

For our customers and our businesses; Alyrica is here for you through this ordeal.

I have heard in other parts of the world that the Internet is getting saturated; what is Alyrica doing to mitigate that?

Every part of the world is seeing an increase in internet traffic. Some are even wondering if the internet as a whole can handle such an increase in demand. To calm those fears; the internet is not going to implode on itself.

Alyrica builds and maintains its own network. This means that we do not go over third-party ‘subscriber lines’ to people’s houses like other providers might do. What that means for our customers is that we have control over the end user experience.

Since we are continually upgrading and making our network more robust with more headroom and multiple paths to ‘the internet’ we are in the best possible position as traffic increases.

We certainly have seen an increase in traffic over the last couple weeks, but we are in a great position in terms of overall bandwidth. We are sure to see even more drastic increases on our network and we have the capacity to handle it.

As demand continues to increase, what are the bottlenecks and what can people expect in the months and years to come?

The bottleneck for most internet users is in the ‘last-mile’ which I talk about at length here: Internet Delivery Methods.

The last mile to each individual customer is where the pain point is for people. For example if Alyrica has 4 upstream or ‘middle-mile’ 10 Gbps fiber optic paths to ‘The Internet’ that is not the bottleneck since total traffic demand during peak hours is less than 20% of those upstream paths. This is true for most networks, hence, the issue being the ‘last-mile.’

Alyrica’s last mile is either fiber-optic or fixed wireless. For our fiber optic customers they will not have any issues at all in term of capacity or transport to their residence or business and the most common issue they will experience is the WiFi inside.

Our fixed wireless towers have the limitation of frequency allocation and access point (AP) capacity. We continually monitor each AP’s capacity to ensure that our customers do not see their connection slow down. We are not perfect by any means, but we are committed to staying ahead of this curve.

What do I need to do if I am on a limited connection or I am not getting the speed I need to work or do school?

First off, I encourage our customers to give us a call! There are many times we hear from customers that have been suffering with slow speeds for weeks before they give us a call. We do our best to monitor the health of the network, but for the individual user, we don’t monitor individual connections and don’t know if people are having a hard time until they call us!

Common issues break down into a few buckets:

  • WiFi Issues: This is the most common support call we receive; one device is not working like it should. We can help troubleshoot to find the device and see if the WiFi is strong enough throughout the house. We have a service called Whole Home WiFi that can help here.
  • Maxing out the plan: We see this fairly frequently as well. Right now we are seeing this frequently as families are all working/doing school from home simultaneously. These multiple streams (if they are video conferencing) will use more bandwidth. We don’t sell people more than they need, but in some cases it is the right call to upgrade the plan to the next tier. Check out How Much Speed Do I Need?
  • The AP a customer is on is reaching capacity: We do monitor for this and know about these issues before customers do, and have plans for upgrading. Sometimes customers do notice this, but we already have a plan in place that we may not have completed yet. In these situations we help people understand peak hours, optimizing the connection, etc. These are usually temporary until we complete the upgrade to their area.

Bottom line, CALL US! We are here to help and have the best people to answer questions, fix issues, etc.

Solution oriented, friendly customer service; that’s Alyrica!

COVID-19: Timeline of events so far and how Alyrica is adapting to keep our customers connected and our staff safe

Posted on March 18, 2020 by - Internet

COVID-19: Timeline of events so far and how Alyrica is adapting to keep our customers connected and our staff safe

Oregon’s world (and my perspective) changed last Thursday

I think that like a lot of people, I was aware of what was happening in the world and specifically what was happening in Washington State, right next door to us here in Oregon. I also used to live up in the Seattle area and my wife has family that lives in Kirkland (the epicenter of Washington’s COVID-19 outbreak), so we were tuning in there. I know that many of our customers have ties to the Seattle area, other impacted areas in the Pacific Northwest and around the nation.

It was last Thursday (March 12) that I had several places to travel to around the valley and had some time in the truck to listen to the news. The big news that day was that Oregon banned groups of more than 250 people being together.

I also started to see/feel/understand the effect of what this means for everyday life for us. Over the weekend, I had some time to think through the impacts that this could have and what this means for Alyrica and the customers we serve.

I saw your post on working from home, but what if I can’t work from home?

After the last post I had talked about working from home and there were several people who pointed out that they didn’t have the ability to work from home, so what now?

That is a fair question and one we have to wrestle with as well. Alyrica (and telecommunications in general) is an interesting company; half tech, half field work.

For those on our team that work in the office, transitioning to working from home is a possibility. For the other half of the team, their work is in the field; building tower sites, drilling and pulling fiber and going into customer’s homes and businesses to get them online. What about them?

I posed this question to a few members of our team: “What if we are not allowed inside people’s houses; how do we still get them online?”

It seemed extreme on Monday morning to ask such a question; but then the day unfolded…

Monday’s conference call regarding the Department of Homeland Security, FCC and others in our industry

Our trade association WISPA in conjunction with USTELECOM had a conference call that internet providers like Alyrica was able to participate in. We heard from leaders in the telecommunications sector about our role in the COVID-19 situation we are in.

According to the Department of Homeland Security we are considered an essential service. Our leadership team determined that we need to do whatever we can to help. This means keeping the existing network strong and connecting people who do not have adequate service.

The FCC has asked ISP’s to take the “Keep Americans Connected” pledge which Alyrica is going to participate in. As an ISP, we are doing great work for the country by getting people online and keeping them online since so many people are being required to work or do school from home.

Schools that were initially given an ‘extended Spring Break’ aren’t going back to class until the end of April. I have spoken with a couple schools/districts in our footprint about how we can help at this time as the situation unfolds.

The Alyrica memo to all our staff and the steps we are taking regarding COVID-19: we are treating this like a marathon vs a sprint

Alyrica is made up of several divisions; most are smaller teams that have little to no interaction with customers directly and work independently from other teams. The two groups we were most concerned about were our office staff and our installers.

The office staff is more than 10 people at any given time and we have asked those that are able to please work from home for the time being.

For the installers we have issued guidelines for entering customer premises. A mask and gloves are to be worn while performing work inside homes and businesses for every job.

Here is the entire Memo.

Transparency; that’s Alyrica!

March 11-29 COVID-19 Timeline

March 11

  • Washington State Governor Jay Inslee bans gatherings of 250 or more in the 3 counties around the Seattle Metro as well as Seattle Public Schools to be closed for 2 weeks.
  • Lebanon reports its first case of COVID-19

March 12

  • Oregon Governor Kate Brown announces the closure of all schools in Oregon beginning Monday March 16 until April 1
  • Gov. Brown also announced the ban on gatherings of 250 people or more throughout the state through April 8.
  • Gov. Inslee announces that all schools across Washington state are to be closed from March 16 – April 24.
  • Alyrica makes the move to communicate we are willing to put on masks and gloves when entering houses if customers would like us to.

March 14

  • Oregon announced its first fatality due to COVID-19.

March 15

  • Gov. Inslee announces that bars, restaurants and entertainment facilities are all temporarily shut down.

March 16

  • President Trump announces the 15 Days to Slow the Spread which asks people to avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 people, among other things.
  • Gov. Brown bans the gathering of more than 25 people in the state as well as closing all restaurants, bars, etc.
  • Alyrica as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) is considered an ‘Essential Service.’

March 17

  • Governor Brown announces that schools across the state will continue to stay closed until April 28th.
  • Alyrica rolls out the memo outlining steps we are taking for our customers and staff alike to ensure safety and peace of mind.

March 23

  • Governor Brown announces the ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’ executive order which closes all non-essential businesses and moves all office workers to work from home if able

March 25

  • Governor Brown’s executive order goes into effect.

March 29

  • President Trump extends the guidelines for social distancing through April 30.

What do we need in order to work from home?

Posted on March 13, 2020 by - Internet, Rural Broadband

What do we need in order to work from home?

There I was, talking with someone yesterday morning at an Albany Chamber Greeter’s event about the news regarding the Coronavirus and the Governor banning gatherings of over 250 people.

As the conversation grew, there were other people at this greeter’s event that were business owners, parents, etc. We were talking about the effects of this ban as well as what next steps could be taken (including school closures, banning gatherings of over x number of people, etc.).

The main concern revolved around what this would mean for families if everyone had to stay home for a couple weeks.

I heard just this morning that all public schools in Oregon are closed until April, making the concern that people had yesterday a reality today.

What I learned… and how this can enable you to stay productive during this time

When I go to these events it is purely to see other business leaders, make new connections, etc. Very rarely do I give out business cards or try to sell our services. (We are friendlier internet after all…)

BUT several people had made the comment that if they had to work from home with their current internet connection, they simply wouldn’t be able to do it. For many, their internet connection is just too slow and/or too unreliable.

I let them know that there is a good chance that we would be able to get them online. They just needed to call our office to get the process started with our team.

Are you ready? Next steps you may want to consider

People that know me know that I am not an alarmist by any stretch of the imagination. I am very optimistic that the Coronavirus will be stopped and that we will be able to all carry on with our lives, have a great summer in Oregon, and that in a year or so this will be a distant memory.

All that to say, with the measures that have been taken, there is a possibility that more and more people will be required to work from home. I wouldn’t have even thought about it myself since we have a great internet connection at our house and working from home for a couple weeks wouldn’t be a big deal for me and my family.

The conversation with my friends at the greeter’s event changed my perspective in a big way. Anytime a crisis happens, one of the most important services that can be provided is communications. In our ever-growing digital world that means a reliable internet connection.

In case you haven’t looked at changing internet providers in some time, it’s not as scary as it sounds. Here is what you can expect from us: We have local staff that answer the phone when you call and can answer any questions you have. Our team is scheduled about a week in advance and we do our best to work with people’s schedules for install times.

Measures we are taking to keep our team and our customers safe while we help enable people to work remotely

I certainly understand people’s concern for the health and safety of their family and friends, not to mention the greater community we live in. As my wife and I had our second kiddo just 6 weeks ago, I’m very germ-conscious!

Our team goes into homes and businesses everyday. Here are some of the steps we are taking to ensure the health and safety of our customers that we interact with on a daily basis, as well as keeping our team safe:

The majority of the work our team has to do is outside. While they are inside people’s houses they are instructed to sanitize their hands before entering the house and if a customer requests, to wear disposable gloves as well as a mask.

How Can Alyrica Help?

It’s been a crazy few days impacting events, gatherings and workplaces all over the valley. No one can predict the future, but if you’ve been sitting on the fence about getting a better internet connection at your house, it may be the right time.

In case you’re wondering what our process looks like to get you online, in total it takes less than a week from the first phone call to getting you online and able to work from home. It all starts with a call or checking if your address is in our coverage area.

I think the best question we can ask is…”Do you have what you need to work from home?”

Locally owned, family business; that’s Alyrica!

Rural Internet

Posted on March 9, 2020 by - Internet, Rural Broadband

Rural Internet

The past few years there seems to be more and more media attention around having better rural internet options. Terms like Digital Divide make the conversation a bit more confusing, especially in areas where there seems to be options.

Defining Rural Broadband

Much of the confusion I think comes from people making the rules for funding rural internet not really having a clear definition of what ‘rural’ is or what ‘adequate service’ means. How big/not big does it mean to be rural?

I grew up as a kid in rural Montana (~2,000 person population) with the next closest town being about 30 miles away and was a booming metropolis of 1,800 people.

I also lived right outside of Seattle for 4 years and shared the road with 4 Million of my closest friends every time I went to the grocery store. Even in that environment, not too far out of the city there are pockets of poor internet access and the only options some people have are old DSL or Satellite.

So how do we begin to define rural, and what service do people need to not be part of the Digital Divide?

The definition of ‘Broadband’ has been a moving target and will continue to be so in the years to come. Since this is the case, areas across the country that had adequate ‘Broadband’ 10 years ago are now being left behind.

Broadbandnow.com has a great article on the change over time, and I borrowed their table from that article:

FCC Broadband Definition Over Time

Date Adopted Minimum Download Minimum Upload FCC Commissioner
2015 25 Mbps 3 Mbps Tom Wheeler, D
2010 4 Mbps 1 Mbps Julius Genachowski, D
1996 200 Kbps 200 Kbps William Kennard, D

*Data via FCC Public Records

This change started pushing government organizations to see what they could do to help internet companies make that a reality for people so that they could then have access to ‘Broadband.’

Fixing the Digital Divide

Satellite Internet decided to come to the rescue with the digital divide and create plans around the 25/3 broadband definition. Therefore anywhere you can get satellite internet, you now are NOT part of the digital divide and have broadband access. Right? Not quite…

I’ve had the opportunity to work with Polk County, Oregon on addressing some of the rural internet and broadband issues. Polk County is doing great things in terms of addressing what access the county has and in what areas to help providers see areas of opportunity to go in and serve. The did an extensive survey of residents in the rural areas of the county and had some great findings! Check out their survey and findings here.

As I’ve been in several of these meetings, I have heard over and over people talk about the funding that government agencies have to help pay for rural internet access. Since the money is there for the taking, we (the ‘we’ could be the ISP, the local government, a bunch of individuals, etc. depending on who is talking) need to go take it!

I wish it were that simple, but alas, it is not. If you recall, the satellite internet companies already provide 25/3 service, so by that definition, any area that is able to get satellite internet does not qualify for government funding. No, I’m not joking, it is the reality of the situation.

It isn’t as simple of an issue as many people think it should be. The target that people are striving for today (25/3) will probably be obsolete in the next 10 years. Satellite isn’t fast enough, cell companies have tough data caps, building fiber optics to every address in the United States is incredibly cost prohibitive and impractical… So what is the answer to the digital divide?

Local Internet Companies to the Rescue!

As crazy as it sounds; local internet companies are probably the best bet for helping overcome the digital divide. This isn’t just because I work for a local internet company (a really cool one I might add…) but the local companies are the ones that use the service they’re selling, and they probably live in rural areas just like you do! And since the local internet companies have to sell the internet, chances are good that they need to have good internet at their houses and places of work in order to make their network work.

In all the conversations I’ve had with people around this issue, the one thing that I have found is that there are generally options for people. That isn’t 100% true; the Polk County survey definitely found some areas where there is poor service or no service. Once local internet companies see and hear a need, they are the most willing to help figure out solutions to making that happen; we are neighbors after all!

That’s what I’ve loved about working at Alyrica; I know now that there are options that I never would have imagined before and that the digital divide isn’t as wide or expansive as some would have you believe.

If you haven’t checked our coverage recently; you may be surprised to find that you may be able to get Alyrica service at your house or business. And IF you are out of our main coverage area, we probably know the next best provider who may be able to get you online since we have connections in the industry.

Friendly, solution oriented customer service; that’s Alyrica!

Choosing an ISP

Posted on March 5, 2020 by - Internet

Choosing an ISP

Choosing an ISP (Internet Service Provider) is surprisingly complex depending on where you live and options available to you. Here are the basics for choosing an ISP.

1) Find out which companies are able to service your address

This is the biggest piece to choosing and ISP and largely depends on your location. Cable providers for example will be able to tell based on your address very quickly. Either you are in their footprint or you’re not. To have them run to your location can be expensive and take a significant amount of time.

(Side note here: I was once looking at renting a house in Renton, WA outside of Seattle. The cable company was not there and the only option we found was VERY SLOW DSL. I asked the cable company how much it would cost to run to this address which was about 3,000 ft and it would’ve cost me $11,000 and about 6 months to get on the calendar. I didn’t do it in case you’re wondering the end of the story…)

If it is a wireless ISP, they will need to run an analysis to see if you are in the footprint and then send someone on site to verify if they can indeed get you online.

2) Compare prices and needs based on your budget

This isn’t as simple of an apples to apples comparison all the time, so here are the factors you need to be aware of when comparing plans:

  • Monthly service cost
  • Speed
  • Installation cost
  • Equipment rental/purchase cost
  • Data caps and overage fees
  • Customer reviews

Monthly Service Cost

Different companies have different tactics and approaches to get you to come over to them. The most common strategy is the introductory price (for example, you can start at $39.99 for the first 6 months and then it jumps to $89.99 after that) that consumers just need to be aware of.

Speed

This varies drastically based on company, but you may not need as much speed as you think. We’ve written about that in a different post here.

Installation Cost

Depending on what service type it is; it could range from $0 to $200 or more based on the location. Make sure to ask about install costs up front.

Equipment Rental/Purchase

This also varies depending on the ISP. Some will provide basic equipment to get you online but no router; some ISPs will only allow you to rent their equipment which adds to the overall monthly cost or upfront cost if you need to purchase the equipment.

Data Caps

This is a hidden fee that many companies have in the fine print and can be extremely costly if you are not aware of them. In case you are wondering, Alyrica doesn’t have data caps, which is great for our customers! More on Data Caps here.

Customer Reviews

Believe it or not, this is actually a BIG deal. Telecommunication companies are known for being the worst industry to deal with from a customer service perspective.

With a Net Promoter Score® average of 24, telecom holds the lowest industry average according to the NPS® Benchmarks Report 2018. Even banking, a notoriously difficult industry for CX, has an NPS average of 37.

Source: CustomerGauge.com

There are benchmarks out there such as the ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) that helps consumers know what to evaluate when looking at an ISP.

Alyrica monitors NPS weekly and strive to keep our NPS score above 90 (or 3.75X the national average). Friendly, solution oriented customer service; that’s Alyrica!

3) Be aware of early termination fees if you are switching providers

This will also vary differently based on the contract and company that you have service through. We recommend looking at the fine print and calling the ISP to see what the early termination fee would be before you decide to switch in the middle of your contract.

4) Choose and get on the install schedule!

Congrats! Now that you have done your homework and are able to switch to a new ISP, you’re ready to get on the calendar for installation!

NOTE: We always recommend that you have the new service installed before you cancel your current service, just in case there is a snag with the install process and don’t want to be without internet for a while.

Finally: Enjoy your new internet connection!

Want to know if Alyrica is able to provider service at your address? Check our coverage!

What is 5G?

Posted on March 5, 2020 by - Internet

What is 5G?

Is 5G what I see on my home router? Is 5G what Alyrica uses to get people connected? Is 5G dangerous? What does the ‘G’ in 5G even mean!?

What is 5G?

There has been so much hype around 5G from cell companies that people’s perception is simply that 5G will allow make things so much faster and better that the world will be a better, safer, more productive place (as long as you are on that company’s service that is).

5G simply means ‘Fifth Generation’ and relates to the newest generation of cell provider technology. This isn’t actually ‘new’ technology, but adapting this technology into cell phones/mobile technology is what is new about it.

Is 5G Dangerous?

There are a lot of myths around 5G, specifically regarding millimeter wave and if it is dangerous. There is a great article that covers this here, but I’ll quickly touch on the basics.

Everything in the wireless world (WiFi, wireless internet, cell phone technology) is Non-Ionizing Radiation and the only health risk is that body tissue can get warm. The only way that happens is if it is extremely high output power and in the correct frequency. This is how a microwave in your kitchen works, super high output power. Output power on tower radios, WiFi routers, etc are all very low power output. You’d probably be in more danger from the battery heating you up than anything else.

What’s the difference between 5G and 5Ghz?

Most wireless routers use 5Ghz, which is a radio frequency, and the term ‘5G’ relates to a generation of technology. The term looks similar but it would be like asking what’s the difference between gasoline and a car model? They aren’t even close the same thing and the only similarity is that they both have to do with a car.

Why is 5G so much better?

Like everything in technology, the more we learn the better things can get! The ‘reason’ that people are excited about 5G is simply due to throughput. This could have some real benefits in terms of artificial intelligence and big data processing which is all very cool. For most people’s everyday life, having a 1Gbps download speed on a cell phone will help download an app faster; but most apps aren’t that big, so how helpful is that really? This goes back to How Much Speed Do I Need?

Why does some 5G go blocks and other’s goes miles?

It all has to do with the technology they are wanting to use and what an individual company is calling ‘5G’ which means different things to different companies.

The difference all boils down to the frequency that is being used by the provider.

Frequency

In a nutshell, the lower the frequency, the better it can penetrate through objects over distances, but the slower the throughput. A great example of this that most people are aware of is a wireless router in your house that is ‘dual-band’ meaning 2.4Ghz AND 5Ghz. 5Ghz will make things faster, but if you’re on your phone a long way from your router and there are a several walls between your device and the router, it would be better to use 2.4Ghz as the signal will be better.

Not wanting to bore people, but at Alyrica we use 2.4Ghz, 3.6Ghz, 5Ghz, 11Ghz, 18Ghz and 24Ghz routinely. The higher the band the more throughput. We are able to get over 1Gbps via a wireless link depending on the frequency and channels available. This isn’t ‘brand new 5G technology’ it’s stuff we have used for years.

Not every company is using the same frequencies which is why one company’s 5G goes miles and a different company’s 5G can only go blocks. It is all based on what frequencies the company has decided to use in their 5G technology.

Cell phone companies use different frequencies for different things and they fall into 3 categories; low-band, mid-band and high-band. High band = high throughput. Cell phone companies are now just starting to use high band technology to get to cell phones. This is done in the high band typically through 60Ghz (Millimeter Wave) which is what most people think of in terms of a health risk. Official studies on the affect of Millimeter Wave can be found here.

60 Ghz (Millimeter Wave)

Pros: High band can get good throughput.

Cons: High band can only go very limited distances and if there are any obstructions (like trees, walls, cars) the signal degrades and doesn’t work very well or doesn’t work at all.

Since this is the case, 5G technology relies on a blend of the low, mid and high band; but only in cities are there high band radios that can provide the throughput that people are excited about. 60Ghz isn’t practical for anywhere other than cities, so if you live out of town a bit, this isn’t something that is coming to you anytime soon. Here is a great graphic of the ‘Race to 5G.’ In this ‘race’ the big cell phone providers aren’t even in a practical place to roll this out to many cities, let alone everywhere else.

Does Alyrica use 5G technology?

Like all tech and internet companies we are always looking at getting better and better for our customers! We have ourselves gone through 4 major iterations of the technology we use to get customers online. We are in our ‘Fourth Generation’ and eventually we will need a ‘Fifth Generation’ but we will do our best to not confuse people like everyone else out there is doing with 5G!

The question that people are asking when they ask us this question is actually, “Is Alyrica going to start using 60Ghz, Millimeter Wave to hook up all their customers?”

The answer is no; it isn’t practical for most of the customers we serve, especially in the rural areas!

Transparency; that’s Alyrica!

Internet Delivery Methods

Posted on February 17, 2020 by - Fiber Internet, Internet

Internet Deliver Methods

As we are looking into HOW the internet actually gets to the end-user, it has to do with the Delivery Method, also known as the ‘Last-Mile.’

While “The Internet” uses many many methods, the one that most people care about is how the ‘Last-Mile’ is connected at their house.

We will explore the pros and cons of some of the most common methods of delivery of each of these methods and why they matter.

Dial-Up

This goes back a few years (hopefully) for most people! The best thing about dial-up was that it got A LOT of people online many years ago. People that still have to use dial-up today will have a terrible internet experience as a typical dial-up connection is only capable of 56kbps. I won’t say much else as this is antiquated technology, but for those that want to be a little nostalgic, have a listen to THIS.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)

DSL has taken a few forms over the years, (DSL, ADSL, SDSL, and VDSL). In its essence, DSL uses existing copper phone lines to the house and depending on the type of equipment used to deliver the DSL internet connection, the speeds can vary from very slow, older DSL, to much faster VDSL. The downside to DSL technology has to do with ‘line loss’. Very simply, line loss has to do with how far away a house is from the pedestal and the internet provider’s equipment. While one person on the same pedestal could get 40Mbps, someone further away from the pedestal would only be able to get 8Mbps. There has been a bit of confusion when companies refer to upgrading the pedestal to fiber optics (which is a great thing) but it is NOT the same as having fiber to the home (FTTH) which is a direct fiber optic line coming to the house.

Coaxial Cable Internet

Similar to DSL, Cable Internet uses existing copper coaxial cables to deliver internet to a house or business. The technology also has a similar limitation that DSL does in terms of line loss.

Fiber to the Home (FTTH)

Fiber to the Home is considered the best form of internet delivery. Since it does not use copper lines, but rather uses light to transmit data, it does not have the limitations that copper and a single fiber is capable of 100Gbps (That is 100,000 Mbps!) depending on the equipment used to light up the fiber. Having a direct fiber connection to the internet is considered winning the lottery in terms of internet connectivity!

Fixed Wireless

Fixed Wireless is a great medium as it is able to deliver fast speeds, is able to be installed quickly and does not rely on any existing phone or TV cable lines to the home. As this technology continues to grow, the speed continues to get faster for these connections. The downside of Fixed Wireless is that it uses public wireless frequencies and can have interference issues which degrades the wireless signal and reduces the throughput of the connection which looks like a slow down of the internet delivery.

Satellite Internet

Just like the name suggests, Satellite internet is transmitted from a Satellite orbiting the earth, sending the signal to a satellite dish on a person’s house. The pro of satellite internet is that it is SOMETHING; but due to the high latency of sending and receiving signals to space and back, it is not a great internet experience.

As Alyrica began as a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP), we have a history of being able to get faster, better internet into areas that are stuck with older, slower technology. As Alyrica continues to expand our Fiber footprint, we are excited to deliver the best internet experience available AND the great customer service as well!

Solution oriented, friendly customer service; that’s Alyrica!

What is the Internet?

Posted on February 14, 2020 by - Internet

What is the Internet?

The internet is a network of networks using standardized protocols to communicate.

What?

Alright, it’s not that simple; but it is more simple than people think!

I’ll use myself for example…I have an iPhone that I want to listen to music on through an app since I don’t have the song I want to listen to downloaded to my phone. How in the world do I get that song? I go to the app, search for the song and push play. Yes, that is how I do it; but what is actually going on?

I think most people’s concept of the internet is this:

Concept of the Internet

For most people, this is actually all they WANT to know… either the magic is on or it’s not!

I’ll dive a little deeper (but not too much deeper I hope!) Nerd alert; this is kinda fun for me. If you’d rather just leave it to the magic, no need to read any further!

For you brave souls that have ventured beyond to this sentence, here we go!

Simply put, the internet is a bunch of computers all connected to each other through different data transport mediums (WiFi, fiber optics, etc.) where people are able to get information from one device to another.

Using the same example, here is another (more accurate but still VERY simple) version of how I get to list to the song on my phone.

More Accurate Concept of the Internet

That is still VERY simple; because what does an ISP Network look like?

Glad you asked!

Since we can only speak for ourselves, and because we are predominately a WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider) this is what it looks like going from a device (like my iPhone) out to the datacenter that has the song I want to listen to:

Even More Accurate Concept of the Internet

Again, this is very simplified, but I found it super helpful when I first started working at Alyrica!

Solution oriented, friendly customer service; that’s Alyrica!