USI WIRELESS

unknown

I have been with them for 2 and half years. It is inexpensive, and it is reliable, but the service is sometimes slow. They are responsive to inquiries quickly.

We switched to USI because our previous carrier is dishonest, insulting and unreliable. USI doesn't advertise extravagant and confusing come-ons, all they do is give you a price and then deliver the service. When you call for tech support, you talk to a real human who is actually knowlegeable. The speed you get isn't going to set any world records but it's enough for us to watch Netflix movies over the internet. The price is reasonable.

Subscribed to the 6mb service. Service is intermittent. Sometimes it's really fast other times it is slower than dial up. Company representatives have told me "that is just the way it is" and there is nothing they can do about it.

unknown

I really wanted this to work. I like the idea of a community/government-based internet service provider. Unfortunately, it didn't really work for streaming video (middle speed.) My theory is their system was developed before streaming video became popular and it just doesn't have the capacity to provide the necessary bandwidth. That said, If you want internet for web surfing or email it should be just fine.

It is fast enough. They are cheap.

We have been pleased. It is fast and the price is much better. The customer support is good to deal with the few issues we have had. I do not have any complaints.

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Their prices are reasonable. They cover the city of Minneapolis. If you are anywhere in the city of Minneapolis, you can roam with them. You can sign in to a wireless network, no matter where you are in Minneapolis. That's a feature that I like. So far, the speed of their service has been good. I think they go up to 6 Mbps. They seem to have a reliable connection.

We really like this service. They called us once because they could tell we weren't getting as good of service as we should. A worker came out and explained that our new windows that we'd just had installed were causing problems. A new router was installed and he did his best to fix the problem, then told us what we could try if that still didn't work. The service was very good.

I started with them last Fall and over the Winter couldn't get connected sometimes. Seemed had to do with the weather. USI Wireless actually realized I wasn't getting a very good connection and they contacted me to fix it free of charge. I now have an antennae in a different room connected by cable to my PC but it's worked well since using the antennae.

Installation was a breeze and occurred within a couple days. Although the installer told me that the signal he got from my location was the best he'd ever seen, I've had a few problems getting signal in my house with my laptop. My desktop connection is generally quite good, though I do have small problems every couple weeks or so. I definitely got better service from another provider, but I paid a premium for it. This is a serviceable, and much less expensive, solution for me. (Total cost for 6 mbs/sec service is $25/month)

My Qwest DSL service had some technical problems and it was going to be a few days before it could be fixed. I decided to give the Minneapolis wireless network (USI Wireless) a try by connecting with my laptop and ordering a week of service. The signal was reasonably strong from my porch, so I ordered a year of their 6MB/Sec service and planned to cancel within the month if the service was not reliable. The cost listed above is based on paying $287.40 for a year of service plus around $85.15 (tax included) for the Ruckus Modem. Less expensive service is available. Because I ordered the fastest speed they had a technician install it free of charge to confirm that I have a strong enough signal. I am about 300 feet from the antenna and it is blocked by a couple of trees and houses. The technician showed up on time, configured the modem, and used an instrument to find the best location for the antenna. He said that they have changed to improved antenna versions a couple of times. He was very knowledgeable and answered all of my questions. He indicated that finding the right spot for the antenna was very important, so having a tech do the install might be a good idea even for cheaper service when it's not free. I have had the service for about 5 weeks now and am very impressed. To make sure that the service is consistent I have performed a random speed test using speedtest.net almost ever day. The recorded speed has been 5MB/sec download or faster every time and the upload is always over 1MB/sec (usually 1.5). I have had problems with my connection on two occasions. Both times it looked like my connection was fine, but I was not getting much data. The first time I called customer support who was very helpful and had me restart the Rucus modem which seemed to reset the connection. The second time I reset the modem without calling and fast service was again restored. I hope that this is not needed often, but have had to do similar things in the past with DSL and Cable Modem service. I am using the service for gaming (PC and Wii), to work from home (Software Engineer), and for general web surfing. In the PC game Team Fortress 2 the ping times for the fastest servers are in the low 30s compared to 70s with DSL. SpeedTest.net is also recording a ping in the low 30s. Connecting to my office network using VPN has also been faster and more stable. I have lost the VPN connection a handful of times, but can usually go the whole day without reconnecting which was not the case before. The service also comes with a roaming account for access on the go, but I have not used it much so I can't comment. As you can tell I am very pleased. I am getting four times the speed (6MB vs 1.5 MB) for half the price ($24 vs $50/month). I expected to sacrifice reliability, but that has not been the case. My understanding is that your experience will depend on your location and the location of the nearest antenna, so keep that in mind.

They tried to work with me. They were very nice but the service did not work because of the stucco in my house. They did not charge me for anything for it. I really happy with the company but it did not work.

This is a new service in Minneapolis only. I think that there are bugs in the system. Before I switch, I want to see if they are able to resolve these issues. When they did have to ship out supplies they did so promptly. I feel that this company has great potential but they haven't achieved it yet. I was able to get a special deal for the service. The approximate cost listed includes the cost for three years of service for $320 and then the modem was $80.