yochana

I don't believe there are any problems except there is a good bit of jitter on the connection when tested. Tech came out Monday to adjust the radio after tornado and said they do have some stronger radios they can switch out. This is just a bad reception area. Thanks for explaining the speed/bandwidth question

I use Bluebird Wireless internet service. In my area they only guarantee 512 kbps download and upload. My radio is mounted on a 60-foot tower and is hardwired into the office to a switch. When I first subscribed to their service I was running anywhere from 512 to 1000 kbps and occasionally up to 1500. After a few months it went down noticably. Now I am running 300-700 kbps. I am really wondering if they decreased the bandwidth to our area. EVERY evening around 6 pm the internet gets very sluggish and it is always slow on the weekends. (probably due to more people being on the internet) I am wondering does the amount of bandwidth determine your speed? In other words, if I could get Bluebird to provide me more bandwidth would the speed increase? Bluebird claims my slow speeds are due to noise interference - but the connection once ran fast and nothing has changed. When I call their tech line they always say, Oh, I see right here you have an excellent connection. There is no problem on our side. Since this is my work connection I'd be willing to pay more per month for better service. We do have our connection set as a private network. Our closest neighbor uses Bluebird also and the other neighbor doesn't use internet. (In his 80s) So I don't think anyone is stealing/using our connection. I also don't believe they are adding any new users in this area. Would appreciate anyone's input.

Many thanks for such a thorough answer. The main problem is that transcription companies have transitioned to such huge software platforms it can even bog down an internet speed of 4 Mbps. Satellite and wireless usually cannot handle these big programs and the software will bog down and will not run. That's why I always try to hire on with a smaller company whose software is more compatible with slower internet speeds. My wireless cannot handle VPN either. I was on EZnet wireless owned by a local guy who really didnt have the means to keep the latest and best equipment. He just recently sold out to Bluebird. However, Bluebird gives us only 1 plan and that is their slowest one and they only guarantee 512 kbps download, 256 kbps upload, and 768 surf speed. I have been running tests and it runs anywhere from 2685 kbps but over the weekend it has been as slow as 443, 350, 174. I think if one has telephone service they should be provided with DSL. BellSouth says because we are rural it is not profitable for them and they arent going to provide it. Cable will not provide service for the same reason. I really appreciate your answer.

I am a medical transcriptionist and many job offers require "high speed internet only." So how fast would this be? I only have wireless in my area by Blueb ird Broadband Service and I run anywhere from 1600 kbps to 512 kbps. This would not really be considered "high speed" would it?