Is service affected by weather?
Not normally. Unlike Satellite TV our signal is broadcast from towers within approximately 10 miles of your location. Given the short distances the signal is not significantly affected by rain, snow. or fog.
Installation
Installation normally takes somewhere between 1 to 2 hours depending on the difficulty of the installation. We do require the customer to be home during the installation to approve the antenna location, placement of the inside computer jack, etc.
The installation include mounting the antenna at a suitable location on the building, running wire outside the building to a surge suppressor, and running Ethernet cable inside to a jack located near the computer. We will make a reasonable effort to route the cable as inconspicuously as possible.
Can I install this myself?
We would really prefer that you didn't. It makes it difficult for Amplex to guarantee the quality of the service when we do not do the installation. There is also the issue of who is responsible for equipment damaged by wiring errors or other problems during installation - if we let the magic smoke out of the radio it's our problem, if you do it by making a wiring mistake it's going to be expensive.
What goes outside on the house?
The equipment varies depending on the location of your house or business. The radio itself is normally 12" x 3" x 3" and mounts on the outside of the house or on an existing antenna tower. In some instances where we need additional signal strength we use a reflector dish - which looks very much like a small TV satellite dish. Occasionally we will use a wire grid reflector.
The antenna normally needs to be mounted at as high an elevation as practical - usually on a roof eave, an existing antenna tower, or attached to a chimney. Only in very rare cases is it possible to mount the antenna near the ground - it almost always needs to be above 8'. Our installers are highly skilled and do a very professional job of mounting the antenna and running cable as inconspicuously as possible.
Computer Connection
We deliver the service to you over a Ethernet connection. Your computer will require a standard Ethernet network card. Most computers built within the last several years already have a Ethernet port as standard equipment. The connector looks like a phone jack only wider with 8 wires. If you need an Ethernet card installed the cost is $20 per computer.
One / Multiple Computers
Amplex does not differentiate between customers using one or multiple computers. Our pricing plans are the same regardless of the number of computers you attach to the network. Amplex provides one fixed IP address to our customers. If you wish to connect additional computers you may use any common DSL/Cable router to share the connection with multiple computers.
Amplex does not provide support for customer routers due to the great variety of manufacturers and models available. If you need assistance in configuring a router we suggest that you first check the included documentation and the manufacturers website.
Email
5 email accounts are included with your wireless service. Additional accounts are available at a cost of $12/year.
Phone Line
The service does not require a phone line. We recommend that you do not leave a phone line connected to your computer if you are not using your modem as many computers are damaged by lightning hitting near phone lines.
Is there a contract?
Yes - there is a one year initial contract for your wireless service. There is a $200 charge for early termination. Amplex will waive the early termination charge if local conditions change making the service unreliable and we are unable to resolve the issue. Service moves within our service area will be charged the current installation charge ($75 residential, $75 business).
Who owns the equipment?
The radio and antenna remain the property of Amplex and are to be returned in workable condition to Amplex at the termination of service.
Peer to Peer Services
Peer to Peer (P2P) services such as BitTorrent are allowed but are restricted in bandwidth in order to maintain acceptable network performance. The wireless network is designed primarily to deliver information to the end user. It is not designed and it is not well suited to delivering large amounts of information in the opposite direction. P2P protocols usually attempt to use all available bandwidth and result in poor performance and customer complaints from other users. To address these concerns Amplex implements rate limiting on P2P traffic. P2P rate limits are established as an aggregate per tower location and vary by tower. Rate limits are based on the available capacity of the site. We are well aware that it is entirely possible to hide P2P traffic from the rate limiter in order to evade the limitations. Should this become a problem Amplex reserves the right to rate limit the upload speed of any customer to the minimum speed specified in the service plan without further notice.
What Amplex won't do...
Amplex does not install TV type towers - and we will turn down an installation if we do not have sufficient height for a usable signal. If the customer wishes to install a tower or extend an existing tower there are companies we can recommend for this work. We can not guarantee that any particular tower height will work without testing.
We will not climb towers or structures that our installers deem to be unsafe or unsound. We will not climb or repair equipment during dangerous weather conditions (high winds, lightning, ice storms, etc.). On rare occasions equipment is damaged by lightning or other weather events - we will correct the problem and restore service as soon as it is safe to do so. Keeping the service running is a high priority for us, keeping our employees safe is even higher.
Cut down or clear trees to create a path for the signal.
