You can usually get a pcmcia slot on your computer if you order it in advance. Many new computers are not coming with pcmcia slots- the new version of the slot is an Express slot- it is about 1/2 the length of the pcmcia slot. If you have one of our high power cards- 375 mw then we have a solution for you but you need to shop carefully because the solution is not the same. Here are the solutions.

1: USB device($89.99): The power of this device is 100 mw- so will not have the same range. However, it does pretty well. If you were using our laptop package- you will find this solution somewhat comparable. I do not recommend it as a replacement if you had a long range Laptop Package. The power of the usb is a little weak to power the cable and antenna.

3: Networked Boat($450.00): The power of the device is 500 mw- about a 33% incease in power and better range. If you want to make your boat wireless then simply plug this unit in and get a wifi router and you have a network like your home. This will needac source of power.

I have updated the speed test a little bit. We have had some latency issues in the San Juans and we are working with our carrier to solve them. I thought I would provide a quick update on the speed test tool that is on the left hand side of the webpage. Please click on it and save the results- if you are having speed issues in our network then this gives us a great tool- Greg White(BBX Network Manager) just spent 3 days in Friday Harbor trying to get to the bottom of some qos issues with latency and streaming.

SPEED TESTS:

Send us an any results at info@bbxpress.net.

Here is the link to Speedtest.net. It is a great tool to use on any network. You can use it on your mobile broadband card. There is also a mobile app for the iphone. You will be shocked at the latency of the networks. Anyway here is the link:

speedtest.net

Here is what you should see from BroadbandXpress.

Typical Download: 2-4 megs(2,000-4000 kbps- dialup is 56 kbps). Up to 10 mbps in certain locations

Typical Upload: .2-2 megs(200-2000 kbps- dialup is 56 kbps). Up to 6 mbps in certain locations

Typical Ping: 40-70 milloseconds(passable for gaming or voip). This measures the time to send packets of information to the server. The longer the time- the worse packet sensitive appications will be such as voice over internet or gaming. This will not effect your regular downloading much.  Pings in the 30-50 range are typical for comcast business which is generally the fastest generally available service in Washington. Shaw Cable is generally the fastest in BC.

The bbx higher power solutions like the long range EZ connect modem or the networked boat will greatly improve the performance of these packet sensitive applications.

Latency in a packet-switched network is measured either one-way (the time from the source sending a packet to the destination receiving it),or round-trip (the one-way latency from source to destination plus the one-way latency from the destination back to the source). Round-trip latency is more often quoted,because it can be measured from a single point. Note that round trip latency excludes the amount of time that a destination system spends processing the packet. Many software platforms provide a service called ping that can be used to measure round-trip latency. Ping performs no packet processing; it merely sends a response back when it receives a packet (i.e. performs a no-op), thus it is a relatively accurate way of measuring latency.

Ping on Speedtest.net is a bit different than a traditional command-line ping which uses ICMP. We are measuring the time it takes to get a response for an HTTP
request sent to the server. The number will be higher than an ICMP ping,but the relative value to other tests is still very useful. The server you ping
the lowest to will usually be the server that provides the most accurate bandwidthmeasurement.

1: Connecting with your built in Hardware

If you are trying to connect to one of our locations with your built in wireless or an iphone/ipod touch- forget it!

You simply cannot connect with any reliable speed or quality of service without a high quality/high power wifi device. Buy it from BroadbandXpress and you will get support from our technicians as they are familiar with the utilities. 

2: Long Range Antennas:

The long range antennas will provide you with at least 2 miles of coverage. Greg and I spent a whole day at Shaw Island connecting to the Friday Harbor site and the results were surprisingly good. The long range USB is not ideal for a long range solution due to the lower power of the device. Whichever solution you use - an external antenna will radically improve your quality of service. The cable is especially important. Use only a solid core copper cable and do not splice it. One of our favorite customers from Shilshole was having very different speeds everyday and we could not figure out what was wrong. The customer had spliced the cable himself- 2 years of frustration for him and us.

  3: Connecting with your BBX USB:

Greg and I have been on many boats in the last month and there are a few things that we are seeing:

A: Not disabling your built in wireless adapter - this must be done to prevent the 2 devices from fighting.

B: Not using the WiFi utility that comes with the USB. Shown below is the utility that comes with the USB device. If you do not see this utility then download it from the disk that came with the device or go to our online store and download the utility. Just go to the product and you will see the download link for the utility.

Here is the utility shown below:   

4: BroadbandXpress did not work anywhere I went????

I hear this issue a few times a month and it is very frustrating to us and especially to you. It absolutely puts me in the worst mood possible to hear someone say your network does not work. The issues are usually very simple to solve and usually involve software not being properly installed. Sometimes the software needs to be reloaded. We have all the instruction manuals posted online in our online store. We include them in new sales but you may have thrown them out. Print them and keep them on the boat.

If you have more than one experience in a row with bad service or inconsistent signal- e-mail me at kk@bbxpress.net. I will respond quickly with a solution.

We have the occaisonal issue, but rarely does an issue go on for a long time unless there is a undetectible problem. This is an unlicenced spectrum so there will be issues at times hard to detect. Let me know if there are any issues that are persisting over a long time.