UBNT gear definitely survives way better with shielded cable, it's not
worth messing with unshielded.
On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 7:52 PM, Josh Luthman
<j...@imaginenetworksllc.com <mailto:j...@imaginenetworksllc.com>> wrote:
I can say Ubnt survives a LOT better with shielded cable. The
last two years went waaay better for customer gear.
Josh Luthman
Office: 937-552-2340 <tel:937-552-2340>
Direct: 937-552-2343 <tel:937-552-2343>
1100 Wayne St
Suite 1337
Troy, OH 45373
On Jan 6, 2015 8:41 PM, "Jeremy" <jeremysmi...@gmail.com
<mailto:jeremysmi...@gmail.com>> wrote:
If you say so. As I said...there is a lot of debate on this
subject. If you get an ESD it follows the path to ground
through the POE and to earth ground.
On Jan 6, 2015 6:34 PM, <cstann...@gmail.com
<mailto:cstann...@gmail.com>> wrote:
Shielded cable is for protection against high-power RF
interference, it does not correctly protect from ESD as it
leads inside the house. The grounding on your tripod or
mast is the protection from ESD and keeps surges outside
the house.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From: * Jeremy <jeremysmi...@gmail.com
<mailto:jeremysmi...@gmail.com>>
*Sender: * "Af" <af-boun...@afmug.com
<mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com>>
*Date: *Wed, 7 Jan 2015 01:29:25 +0000
*To: *<af@afmug.com <mailto:af@afmug.com>>
*ReplyTo: * af@afmug.com <mailto:af@afmug.com>
*Subject: *Re: [AFMUG] New WISP
Shielded cable with shielded connectors on every install.
I recommend Shireen on towers and installs. A lot of the
guys use UBNT tough cable. Whatever, just shield and
ground. If you cut in wallplates (you should...it is more
professional), use shielded keystone jacks and shielded
patch cables. I use unshielded patch cables from the POE
to the router. This has saved a ton of routers and NICs
from ESD because the path to ground does not extend to the
router. You may spend a bit more on supplies but you will
have less service calls. Opinions cary on this subject
but I have worked for a very large company that we all
know and this practice probably cut service calls after
lightning storms by 20%.
On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 6:24 PM, Jeremy
<jeremysmi...@gmail.com <mailto:jeremysmi...@gmail.com>>
wrote:
I explain it like this: "Routers are made like light
bulbs. They are pretty much engineered to fail. If
you get one that lasts three years you are lucky. All
routers lock up and need power cycled once in awhile.
As they get older they start to need it regularly.
When it gets to the point that you are power cycling
your router all the time it is time to buy a new
router. Don't spend $250 on a router because it will
likely fail just as quickly as the $70 router." This
has saved me so many issues.
On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 6:21 PM, Jeremy
<jeremysmi...@gmail.com
<mailto:jeremysmi...@gmail.com>> wrote:
pwer? "power cycle" their router!
On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 6:20 PM, Jeremy
<jeremysmi...@gmail.com
<mailto:jeremysmi...@gmail.com>> wrote:
Yeah, seriously though. Cash flow statement is
essential. MOST WISPs fail within three years
because they don't make it to cash flow
positive before they run out of operating
capital. Do not underestimate your expenses.
Track everything. TRAIN YOUR CUSTOMERS. If
you have overages, bandwidth limitations, ect.
let them know up front. Tell every customer
to pwer their router if they don't have
Internet (show them how), THEN call you if
that doesn't work. This will save close to 90%
of your calls.
On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 6:13 PM, Ken Hohhof
<af...@kwisp.com <mailto:af...@kwisp.com>> wrote:
Not totally joking. Undercapitalization is
a major mistake of most startups including
WISPs. You need money to make money.
Make a month-by-month plan for your first
2 years and do a cashflow spreadsheet. Set
targets for how many installs you plan to
do each month, how much you revenue you
will generate, how much you need to spend
on equipment and recurring expenses. Set
milestones for when you can fund growth
from cashflow, when you have repaid your
initial investment or loans, when you need
to add staff and will the money be there,
etc. Review progress each month and
adjust as necessary. But this will help
you avoid being underfunded to achieve
your goals, or not reaching profitability
in a reasonable timeframe. It’s too easy
starting out to use a simple calculation
like I’m paying $500/month for bandwidth
and I charge $50 so once I get to 10
customers I’m profitable. Then a year
later you’re at 100 customers which seems
like success, but you have maxed out your
credit cards and aren’t drawing a salary
and can’t hire a full time installer, and
you need major network upgrades and don’t
have the cash.
Also while you don’t need to budget every
penny, you need realistic estimates of all
your costs, not just the big, obvious
ones. Like assuming you take credit cards,
some of the revenue will go to processing
fees and “discount”. You will have some
bad debt from customers who don’t pay, and
you will have some churn if only because
people move, get divorced, and die. You
will go through supplies like cable and
hardware for installations, and you will
spend a certain amount on maintenance. You
will have costs like insurance and lawyers
and accountants and postage and
utilities. At least come up with a rough
number for these, and refine based on
experience.
If you use your own vehicle, at least pay
yourself the IRS standard amount for mileage.
Find another WISP nearby and make an
arrangement to cover for each other in
case of sickness or just so you can get
away for a few days.
Decide what your business hours are and
how to handle calls outside business
hours. Also decide on a way to notify
customers if you have a major outage so
you aren’t answering the phone when you
should be working on a problem. For
example, a message on your voicemail.
Train your customers from day one. For
example, let calls go to voicemail after
hours and call them back, or they will
assume they can call any time of day or
night. Or if you say you will suspend
service when payment is X days late, do
it. If they never get to expecting
things, they won’t be pissed off when you
take them away. Like Trevor used to answer
his cellphone at all hours, now I have to
call the office and leave a message. Or
the service has really gone downhill, I
used to get 20 meg speeds now I only get
10 (even though they are on a 5 meg
plan). Or I used to wait 3 months and
then pay up, now if I’m 5 days late, they
cut me off. Better to set their
expectations early.
*From:* Jeremy
<mailto:jeremysmi...@gmail.com>
*Sent:* Tuesday, January 06, 2015 6:34 PM
*To:* af@afmug.com <mailto:af@afmug.com>
*Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] New WISP
Have a million dollars. Cash.
On Jan 6, 2015 5:23 PM, "Josh Luthman"
<j...@imaginenetworksllc.com
<mailto:j...@imaginenetworksllc.com>> wrote:
Get a billing system. Powercode or
whatever.
Don't finance customers that can't pay
up front, wastes billing time instead
of installing more customers.
Don't use your cell phone for the
office. Get a hosted PBX. Close the
shop so you don't get burnt out, have
other people and or a call center.
Josh Luthman
Office: 937-552-2340 <tel:937-552-2340>
Direct: 937-552-2343 <tel:937-552-2343>
1100 Wayne St
Suite 1337
Troy, OH 45373
On Jan 6, 2015 7:21 PM, "Trevor Bough"
<trevorbo...@gmail.com
<mailto:trevorbo...@gmail.com>> wrote:
Hi guys, long time listener, first
time caller. I'm looking at
starting a new rural WISP and was
wondering if you guys could share
some of the things you wish you
had known when you started out.
Things to absolutely stay away
from, things that you didn't think
of first, but made your life 10x
easier, etc. Any info would be
greatly appreciated!
