Frequently Asked Questions
This Faq is due to be updated (5/22/2006) while generally accurate it underestimates the reliability and speeds of our 3rd generation of service.
How does Etheric differ from......conventional WiFi?Etheric Networks has developed proprietary technology that optimizes wireless broadband equipment to achieve vastly improved performance and reliability....DSL?
DSL service is entirely in the hands of the Local Exchange Carrier - the phone company. ...Cable Modem?Cable modem companies neither offer business solutions nor support network servers at your location. Cable companies discourage IP sharing, permitted by Etheric. Cable's typically slow upload speeds can't compare to Etheric's blinding synchronous broadband connections. ...Satellite?Satellite performs at high latencies, making it unsuitable for real-time applications such as Voice over IP and Video-Conferencing. ...T-1 or T-3??The traditional T-1 and T-3 markets are considerably more expensive, require expensive equipment and complex installations. Cost savings are significant with Etheric. Etheric provides subscribers with Ethernet connections, unless they prefer a T-1/DS-1 interface (for PBX, etc).
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EQUIPMENT - NETWORK - SPECIFICATIONS
What kind of speed performance can be realistically expected?
What is the expertise level provided by Etheric?
How does Etheric Networks connect its subscribers?
What is the connectivity availability in the Bay Area?
What is the reliability of the Etheric network?
What are the realistic bandwidth utilization boundaries of the Etheric service plans?
What is the latency of Etheric's wireless service?
Where are Etheric's data centers located?
INSTALLATION QUESTIONS
What general information do you need to email a quote for service?
I assume "access only" does not include ancillary services (e.g. news groups, web hosting)?
Is there any extra cost for extra static IP?
What equipment comes with the service?
Is this something I can install myself?
What is the installation cost?
What charges (fees, deposits, etc.) are associated with your service?
Do I need to put an antenna (or similar) outside my house?
How large or intrusive is the equipment?
Is a gateway provided at installation?
Is IP sharing permitted?
What about firewall protection?
How easy is it for others to snoop on what data I'm sending and receiving over your wireless network?
Where can I find the current pricing, specifications and accessibility information for some of the major broadband providers?
SERVICE CONTRACT & GUARANTEE
What guarantee does Etheric provide its subscribers?
Is there a contract required to subscribe to your service?
If I want to upgrade my service plan later, does that require me to re-sign a contract OR purchase new equipment?
Does the service contract accommodate a subscriber-friendly 30-day opt-out option?
Is there a penalty for canceling the service contract prematurely?
Why does Etheric provide such an unusually subscriber-friendly performance guarantee?
EQUIPMENT - NETWORK - SPECIFICATIONS
Q. What kind of speed performance can be realistically expected?
A. The Etheric wireless network is extremely fast... about 3x to 20x (ave 1000%) faster than T-1 service, and as much as 300 TIMES FASTER than DSL or CABLE. on upload. Our telecommuting subscribers receive access to speeds equivalent to Local Area Network (LAN) performance vs. the slower wide area network speeds. If the home office is connected to our network then the connections can completely bypass the Internet... and we can create a completely secure network for them that runs at speeds of 6-7-8 Mbps bi-directionally! Case study: For instance, if lawyers can shave just 2 minutes off of each hour in Internet wait time this will add up... in fact if you can do anything to remove obstacles from the path of a highly paid professional, it really affects the bottom line.
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Q. What is the expertise level provided by Etheric?
A. service for Docomo, the most technologically advanced cellular operator in the world. The principals have a background in the research and development of wireless systems. One of our partners, Steph Marr, led the security consulting practice for Predictive Systems... and Alexander Hagen worked in research and development of next generation services beyond the current I-mode. I-mode was a 2 and 2.5G system... then came wide-band CDMA which is a 3G system... and Alex's R&D group developed 4G and 5G systems. We hope that this type of deep technical background will provide the technical excellence that allows prospective subscribers to appreciate why Etheric has the highest uptime and lowest packet loss and latency of any provider in the Bay Area.
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Q. How does Etheric Networks connect its subscribers?
A. We use a combination of multi-point beams to connect our subscribers and then point-to-point links to connect to the fiber backbone of the Internet. At the current time, our network requires "line-of-sight" to provide service accessibility. Etheric has a system in development that will be ready in mid-2004 that will allow access where "line-of-sight" is blocked by obstacles such as trees.
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Q. What is the connectivity availability in the Bay Area?
A. As of June 2004, Etheric's network currently spans "line-of-sight" access from South San Francisco to Gilroy, covering Watsonville, San Jose, Los Gatos, Belmont, Palo Alto, Hillsborough, Portola Valley, Los Altos Hills and La Honda. We can rapidly build-out a new area if there is a sufficient number of reservations for our service. See our coverage map or send an inquiry to know if you're covered.
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Q. What is the reliability of the Etheric network?
A. We have the highest reliability of any wireless providers at 99.994% uptime... our wireless links has 1:1000 packet loss, which is insignificant (other providers have packet loss as high as 1:30)... so Etheric in actuality provides the most robust technical solution currently available in the Bay Area. Additionally, radio packet loss does not necessarily create packet loss at the network layer.
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Q. What are the realistic bandwidth utilization boundaries of the Etheric service plans?
A. We have a 20:1 overbook ratio for residential services.. a 10:1 overbook ratio for SOHO... and a 5:1 overbook ratio for businesses... which simply means whatever your committed information rate is (1Mbps, 1.5Mbps, 3Mbps or 7Mbps) we expect that subscriber to have a median utilization 5% residential (20:1)... 10% for SOHO (10:1)... 20% for business (5:1). Bandwidth . Many DSL and cable providers have overbook rates of 80 to 1 or higher.
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Q. What is the latency of Etheric's wireless service?
A. Average is < 10 ms (1/100th of a second). Optimal is 4 ms. (1/250th of a second to the backbone). High is < 51 ms (1/20th of a second). It should be noted that it is technically challenging to continuously maintain extremely low latency across the entire network due to external interferences, however Etheric is developing technology that will continue to enhance the robustness and reliability of our network.
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Q. Where are Etheric's data centers located?
A. Etheric colocates at two data centers, Qwest (Sunnyvale and Equinix (San Jose), and is in the process of connecting to Fiber in Foster City.
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INSTALLATION QUESTIONS
Q: What general information do you need to email a quote for service?
A: 1. Please review our service plans, pricing and FAQ to familiarize yourself with our services. 2. Please provide the phone number and physical address to confirm service location connectivity (zones).
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Q: I assume "access only" does not include ancillary services (e.g. news groups, web hosting) ?
A: Etheric provides POP3 e-mails services on a "request basis" for all plans... except the Residential Silver (basic plan). An enhanced service option is also available to any account which provides web hosting, news, etc.
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Q: Is there any extra cost for extra static IP?
A: Each service plan tier provides a specified number of static IP addresses and email addresses. Additional IPs are available at a rate of $3.00/mo. per IP.
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Q. What equipment comes with the service?
A.Short-range receivers and antennae costs $399 + tax; long-range: $599 + tax. There is a $100 de-installation fee for residential customers. A Dual System will cost less than 2 x but must be custom quoted.
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Q: Is this something I can install myself?
A: Etheric installs and aligns all client system equipment.
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Q: What is the installation cost?
A: An average $99.00 for residential... $99 to $250 for SOHO... $200.00 to $500 for business.
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Q. What charges (fees, deposits, etc.) are associated with your service?
A. Aside from your monthly service charge, we charge a one-time installation fee. Premature cancellation (after your initial 30 days of service) incurs a penalty. We will uninstall equipment for a small charge.
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Q. Do I need to put an antenna (or similar) outside my building ?
A. Yes... but Etheric installs all dishes. In some rare cases, the antennas can be mounted indoors behind windows (non-gas filled).
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Q. How large or intrusive is the equipment?
A. < 6 miles (12 in. x 8 in. dish); 6-12 miles (24 in. dish); > 12 miles (36 in. dish).
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Q. Is a firewall router provided at installation?
A. We can provide a router recommendation. We require support of standard auto negotiating Fast Ethernet connection.v Please see our hardware recommendations page. Please be EXTREMELY CAREFUL NOT TO USE THE WRT54G V 5.0 - 4.0 or WRT54GL are both fine.
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Q. Is IP sharing permitted?
A. If subscribers would like to put that network connection on a hub for multiple PC's, they may do so... if they want to also connect a firewall to it... they may.
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Q. What about firewall protection?
A. If subscribers would like to connect a firewall to the gateway network connection ... they may. If our subscribers would like us to arrange a firewall for them, then we can provide a recommendation.
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Q. How easy is it for others to snoop on what data I'm sending and receiving over your wireless network?
A. Our proprietary network provides highly secure encryption (AES or 3DES). We need the subscriber to identify their security preferences and/or requirements... as encryption can affect speed and cost.
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Q. Where can I find the current pricing, specifications and accessibility information for some of the major broadband providers?
A. Etheric understands that the proprietary high-speed / low-latency services that we offer are attractive to companies and individuals that seek high performance... but is probably (in most cases) not the right fit for most residential subscribers who are located in a high-connectivity area where 384K to 1Mbps DSL and cable are readily available... users who are happy with their currnet IP, speeds, and service. If Etheric services exceed your needs, we'd like to help you efficiently locate and determine what might best suit your broadband needs... so please feel free to review the following high-profile IP resources links: SBC Yahoo! DSL Residential Packages SBC Yahoo! DSL Business Packages Comcast High-Speed Residential Comcast Workplace Comcast Broadband Commuter Comcast High-Speed Internet Pro Megapath Home Office DSL Megapath Business DSL Covad Residential DSL Covad Business DSL Broadband.com http://www02.sbc.com/DSL_new/content/1,,3,00.html http://www02.sbc.com/DSL_new/content/1,,10,00.html http://www.comcast.com/Benefits/CHSIDetails/Slot4PageOne.asp http://work.comcast.net/workplace.asp http://work.comcast.net/commuter.asp http://work.comcast.net/pro.asp http://www.megapath.net/products/homeofficedsl.asp http://www.megapath.net/products/businessdsl.asp http://www.covad.com/residential http://www.covad.com/business/dsl.html http://www.broadband.com
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SERVICE CONTRACT & GUARANTEE
Q. What guarantee does Etheric provide its subscribers?
A. We consider all Etheric subscribers to be elite high-speed broadband patrons. Etheric provides a unique guarantee to beat any comparable broadband offering (i.e. guaranteed baseline speeds; burst/peak speeds) that are publically published and currently accessible in your local area. We also provide a unique annual NO Risk service performance guarantee.
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Q. Is there a contract required to subscribe to your service?
A. Etheric utilizes a 1ST year contract to service subscription, which thereafter reverts to a month-to-month starting year #2. Etheric provides a NO Risk subscriber protection warranty based on specific service exceptionally high performance levels (competitor promotions, etc. are not covered). Here's how it works... if Etheric should fail to provide the guaranteed network service specifications (minimum sustained bandwidth guaranteed: 1Mbps, 1.5Mbps, 3Mbps or 7Mbps)... then such subscriber account will be graciously released from the service contract. (NOTE: Burst/Peak bandwidth throughputs of 3-8 Mbps while normally attainable will depend on your service plans priority level.)
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Q: If I want to upgrade my service plan later, does that require me to re-sign a contract OR purchase new equipment?
A: No, but we will need to modify your service level agreement accordingly. You will not need to change your client premise equipment unless you want to upgrade to a service that exceeds the maximum allowed throughput of the equipment already installed. Keep in mind that although Etheric does allow all plans to run at maximum speed, monthly throughput is carefully monitored and allocated per each service plan's performance specifications.
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Q. Does the service contract accommodate a subscriber-friendly 30-day opt-out option?
A. Yes! Etheric is committed to high-end performance, high-end reliability and high-end subscriber protection. A subscriber can cancel within the first 30-days and not be obligated for further service if network specifications are not satisfactorily delivered for any reason. A new subscriber should be aware that service can require some tuning on our part to achieve maximum performance during the 1st week after installation... so we only ask that our subscriber fairly judge Etheric network performance after we have fully tuned a newly installed connection.
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Q. Is there a penalty for cancelling the service contract prematurely?
A. Yes... if a subscriber should want to cancel anytime prior to the expiration of the 1st year's 12-month term, the subscriber shall be required to pre-pay 90-days service as an early termination release.
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Q. Why does Etheric provide such an unusually subscriber-friendly performance guarantee?
A. Ethically and morally Etheric personnel want to provide a NO risk proposition to all our Business, SOHO and Residential subscribers because it's the right thing to do and more companies ought to be doing it. Etheric is also highly confident in the proprietary wireless technology that we're providing our subscribers so we are putting our money where our mouth is. On the practical side of the equation... not one subscriber has yet cancelled. Knock on wood!
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