The wireless service has no monthly transfer limit. It is subject to the Fair Access Policies listed on the home page.  Get it today for Two Harbors and Silver Bay users for only $49.95 per month and an installation charge of $80.  

Illgen, Beaver Bay, Finland, Little Marais and Duluth Township customers are on our new NON-LINE OF SIGHT system.  The monthly rate for those customers is $49.95 and $200 installation charge.  

Here is more information on our Non-Line of Sight systems. To see our Frequently Asked Questions & Answers (FAQ) or troubleshooting, click here.

March 20, 2007

The technology we have implemented is 900 MHz non-line-of-sight (NLOS) fixed wireless.  In other words, we mount an antenna on your house aimed at our transmitter.  Unlike “Wi-Fi” or satellite based Internet service, our signal can penetrate through trees at great distances, but not through hills.  In general the closer you are to the transmitter, the more trees it can go through.  The farther away you are, the less trees it can penetrate.  We want to make sure during installation that we have a strong enough signal and enough “cushion” to allow for storms or leaves on trees without negatively affecting your service.  If we determine that the service would not be adequate we would not complete the install and you would not be charged anything.  Specifically, to maintain our quality of service (QOS) the signal needs to be -80 dBm or stronger with 15% or less packet loss.

There are two styles of antennas used, depending on how strong the signal is in your area.  Generally, the yellow shaded area on the coverage map is the standard antenna.  The red areas on the coverage map will require the standard antenna plus a yagi antenna. You will need Adobe Acrobat to view the coverage map.  Click HERE to view the coverage maps.  There will be some exceptions, depending on foliage in the area. In other words you may be in a red shaded area but have a clear line of sight to the tower, thus may not need the yagi antenna.  We will not know for certain until our installer tests your connection.   

INSTALLATION:  If we need to install the standard antenna plus yagi antenna, your installation charge will be $200.  CLP retains ownership of the antenna and provides you the Service.  If you terminate service, we will take the antenna back.   The antenna uses a category 5 Ethernet cable with an RJ 45 connector to connect to your computer.  In other words, you will need a network (NIC) card on your computer if you do not already have one. All new computers have this built-in.  The plug is the same shape as your telephone plug only twice as large. (8 pins instead of 4 pins)  If you need a network card, you may purchase one yourself or buy one directly from our installer.  

SERVICE:  The Service will be $49.95 per month and term will be monthly.   The service is compatible with any DSL/Cable router if you wish to use one for added security or the ability to hook up more than one computer simultaneously.   Once again, you may purchase on your own or from our installer.  The router in not required for the service to work.

The service is an always on, high-speed connection.  We become your ISP.   It does not use your phone line or dial-up to connect. You simply need to click on the Internet or Email icon and you are online.  The maximum download speed is 3,000 Kbps for Two Harbors, Wales and Duluth Township Customers.  It is 1,500 Kbps for Silver Bay, Beaver Bay, Finland, Illgen and Little Marais customers. (Vs. dial-up at 54 Kbps).

The network is identical to a cable modem network in that your speed at any given time will vary based on how many customers are online at any given time.  Your maximum throughput will also vary based on your signal strength.  Typically the network downloads at about 700-2,000 Kbps.  We do not intend for it to drop below 256 Kbps. We warranty speed tests from our tool located on our www.lakenet.com home page. You can also learn about how speed tests can be deceiving and run the test from here.

We will limit the upstream to 128 Kbps unless special arrangements are made with us.  By limiting the upstream we are able to protect our network from viruses, spyware, worms, etc.  We found that this works great for Virtual Private Network connections (VPN).  We will severely limit bandwidth to web servers, gaming or music file servers or Peer to Peer (P2P) traffic.  For more information on our Fair Access Policy for all wireless customers, click here.

You will have the option to have up to 10 email accounts.  You may access those email accounts through your email program or our website (http://webmail.lakenet.com).  If you choose to keep your existing email account with your provider you may do so.  Most providers will charge you a small monthly fee to do that.  

Since this is an always on connection your computer’s vulnerability to attacks from the Internet are greater. (as with any broadband connection).  We would recommend either a DSL/Cable Modem Router that does Network Address Translation (NAT) or at a minimum a software firewall such as the free Zone Alarm (http://www.zonelabs.com) or Norton, McAffee, or Windows XP Firewall.

Our wireless system has multiple layers of security.  Unlike “Wi-Fi” our network is very secure.  First, our system is proprietary. A person can not “scan” our network with their computer like Wi-Fi.  The antenna we mount on your house has to be a certain manufacturer and it is programmed with special encryption keys.  Our tower equipment is also programmed with the antenna we mount on your house unique identifiers.  If those identifiers are not programmed on either side the system will not communicate with one another.  Additionally, our Bandwidth Control Manager, needs to be programmed with the unique identifiers.  If all three layers do not match, the system will not communicate.