Frequently Asked Questions
To serve you better, we've assembled a list of our customers' most frequently asked questions. If you don't find your answer here, feel free to contact us.
We are not satellite!
We offer unlimited data with no speed throttling
Satellite internet speeds have improved in recent years, but their primary disadvantage remains high cost per unit of data transmitted. For this reason, satellite service plans that are affordable have relatively small data quotas before speeds are drastically throttled down. Many new subscribers don't realize they will likely need 250-500GB of data a month for distance learning, telemedicine, tele-work, or streaming movies, while their satellite plan is likely to have a quota of 100GB or less before speed throttling. When they hit their quota 2 weeks into the month, they now face 2 weeks of speeds too slow to stream any video or audio. All NLWI service plans have fixed speeds and unlimited data.
We are pay-as-you-go with no contract
Satellite plans typically have a minimum contract of 1 or 2 years, and require you to buy your way out if you cancel early. NLWI service plans are pre-paid by the month, with no obligation to continue service. It is okay to skip a month or end service as you wish. There are no deposits, penalties, or late fees. We do require payment of an installation fee upfront to help cover some of the cost of the equipment and labor.
We are fixed-wireless technology
We own and operate a state-of-the-art 4G LTE network using the same technology as major cellphone carriers. The difference is we link to radios mounted to the outside of your home or shop instead of to mobile devices. This allows our connections to be stronger and more stable than cellphone connections. We connect our external radio to a Wi-Fi router on the inside, and this provides Wi-Fi service to mobile devices in the home or shop, as well as internet service for computers and smart TVs.
We are local and non-profit
We have a long and growing list of subscribers who have happily switched over from satellite and DSL. Many also appreciate that we are a local and non-profit alternative to the corporate giants who have failed to deliver on the promises of delivering the internet super-highway to rural areas for two decades. Every new subscriber helps us improve and expand rural broadband to our neighbors.
The federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) ended in 1 June 2024. There are currently no subscriber subsidies for internet service.
The Mission of the NLWI Network
North Lauderdale Water Association is building the North Lauderdale Wireless Internet (NLWI) network to provide broadband connectivity to rural families and businesses that need it for distance learning, telemedicine, and telework during this national quarantine and beyond. Our goal is to deliver broadband to as many underserved people as possible. While the network can deliver higher speeds as needed, the most efficient use of our shared bandwidth and other resources is to provide adequate speed to many people rather than maximum speed to a few people.
Marketing v. Reality — it's the minimum that matters
While those who market connectivity services like cell phones and cable like to mention maximum possible speed on their network, what is actually most important to the user is the minimum speed they will experience in trying to use the network for their daily tasks. It is slow minimum speed or intermittent connectivity that causes the pain and frustration. A super high maximum speed that a subscriber only sees if online at 2 am is no compensation for seeing the buffering icon while trying to do homework or connect for a telemedicine appointment or stream a movie during prime time.
Why FCC defined "Broadband" as 25 x 3 Mbps
Many people are surprised to learn that most everything a home or small business requires from the internet can be done smoothly with 25 Mbps downlink and 3 Mbps uplink. This is why the Federal Communications Commission for many years defined "broadband" as 25 x 3 Mbps. The North Lauderdale Water Association main office operated with a 25 x 1.5 Mbps fixed wireless connection for nearly two years to test the technology. Through that connection we remotely access our digital mapping system, monitored our water plants, and streamed 9 security cameras. Here are some common online activities and the speeds they require:
___Required Download Speed: __
1. Stream a song 0.3 Mbps
2. Make a Zoom or Skype call 1.5 Mbps
3. Stream a standard definition movie 3.5 Mbps
4. Stream an HD movie 15.0 Mbps
5. Online Gaming 3.0 Mbps (<100ms ping)
6. Point of Sale (POS) transaction 1.0 Mbps
Gamers
Hardcore gamers are led to believe they need 100 Mbps connections for smooth gaming and rapid reaction times. The amount of data a game actually transmits up and receives down is much less than a video stream. What most affects gameplay is the lag between the game server and the individual players, and this is determined by the latency of the network, often referred to as "ping" for the test used to measure this delay. Data loss (packet loss) due to a poor quality or intermittent connection will also ruin gaming, just as it will any streaming content. A good game experience requires a solid 3 Mbps connection and a ping of 100 milliseconds or less.
Online Merchants
A Point of Sale (POS) transaction using a card-swipe or chip-reading device is only 10-50 kB of data depending on whether a signature is captured or not. Because the data file is so small, speed is not an issue, but a reliable connection is paramount.
VPN
Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service will unavoidably slow down network traffic and increase ping to some degree because it is encrypting all data and adding hops (distance) to the path it takes. A rule of thumb is a 33% decrease in speed and a 100% increase in ping.
Summary
The bottom line is that an honest 25 x 3 Mbps connection that delivers this speed 24-7 is fine for most homes and small businesses. Such a connection can happily support multiple people streaming audio and video content on mobile devices such as phones and iPads, online gaming, and posting to social media, all while simultaneously streaming an HD movie to a single TV. Higher speeds will not help gamers unless their connection is saturated with other users. Someone like a software developer, graphic artist, or radiologist who needs to frequently upload and download huge files, or a business with many employees or large online traffic volume may genuinely require more capacity. Also, webcasters who stream live video to the internet may need a higher speed plan due to higher uplink requirements.