1 GB FIBER Coming Soon to Wrightwood

[SpeedRacer]

I see that UIA is offering phone service for $24.99/month. How does it differ from what Verizon/Frontier has been providing, if at all?  Is it VoIP? If so, how does it differ from a system like Ooma?

[Ultimate Internet Access]

Ours is $24.99 per month flat.. all calls in the USA are free. Plus taxes of course, runs about $32 or so with taxes. We do charge for International calls and initially that service is turned off until you tell us to activate it.
The rate charge for different countries is all over the place and we recommend that if you have regular calls to other countries that you use Skype or a service like it. After all that is free and works really well over Fiber.

It is VoIP but the ONT converts it to a regular analog POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) line and we disconnect the Existing Verizon/Frontier line and wire ours in from the ONT.
We run our own switch so the packets do not go out over the open Internet as they do with the other services mentioned, which might be subject to network congestion along the way somewhere with Vonage or Ooma for example.. For the most part these service work well, but your milage may vary.

One good thing about the Fiber is that you can hang you hat on it, in other words it is so consistent and has such low latency, you can count on that any issues with VoIP are not due to your local internet connection.

I really try to talk people out of it as there are so many alternatives nowadays to having a landline.. Skype for example.. or just use your cell phone. But our phone service works very well and you won't notice a difference between your current landline and ours.

Regards,

--WEs

[Bob C]

We run our own switch so the packets do not go out over the open Internet as they do with the other services mentioned, which might be subject to network congestion along the way somewhere with Vonage or Ooma for example.. For the most part these service work well, but your milage may vary.

RE: Voip...

Wish I understood more about how this worked vs Frontier's system, as it relates to power, and ability to "be up and running".

I do have concerns about relying on cell phone as the only form of communication, especially in a large disaster, and/or when phone cables between Wrightwood and the rest of the world are out (I think the cell towers here use the cable, and not microwave?)

But ok, let's talk about Voip... In the past, there have been times when our phone service to the outside world outside of Wrightwood was cut off (either from a cable being cut, or something else). During those times, we were at least still able to phone local numbers (including the fire department), even if we could not call outside the local area.

Would the Voip system offer the same kind of ability, if for some reason the fiber or internet service "to the outside world" is disrupted?

Are there any issues with 911 and Voip (and my address being displayed)?

Lastly, you said that one of the outputs of the ONT, is a POTS line. Would that one POTS line then be used to feed the entire house via the Frontier wiring (so all my former phone jacks would be energized)?

Thanks in advance for answering all our questions!

[Ultimate Internet Access]

Bob C,

The Frontier system is powered over the copper wires themselves. If you have a regular phone that does not require additional power then it will work.
The Cell towers have some Fiber that feeds them.
Yes, the Frontier (then Verizon) Fiber has been down between Wrightwood and Adelanto (Frontiers link to the CO) and you could still call locally since the local CO was still up.
We do not use that Fiber feed, nonetheless if our Fiber were cut then you phone would be completely down as our switch is in LA and not in Wrightwood.

No issues with 911.. that is all the same.

Yes the POTS port on the ONT would power the entire house.. we pull off the Frontier wires and put ours on where they come into the house.
So if a particular jack in the house works, it would work with ours.

Thanks in advance for answering all our questions!

You're welcome.

Regards,

--Wes

[Newguy]

Maybe I missed the post.  Can we get some pictures of the ONT install?  Pictures of pole to house.  Also it would be really cool to see some pics of the headend.

Thx!

[Ultimate Internet Access]

Hello.. here is the Wrightwood Headend. Yes, real bamboo floors!

I will get an pic of an ONT later.



Regards,

--Wes

[lwt42]

Hello.. here is the Wrightwood Headend. Yes, real bamboo floors!

Can I borrow the printer sometime?  <ducking>

[Ultimate Internet Access]

One of the best purchases I ever made.. we use the heck out of it.

Regards,

--Wes

[Ultimate Internet Access]

Pic of mounted ONT.



Regards,

--Wes

[MerlinSilk]

A few days ago there was a truck at the end of our driveway (upper Desert View) installing something on the poles. We unfortunately had to go through and so the gentleman had to come down from the pole to let us out. He told me that he was installing fast internet - so my heart was beating faster with joy.
We are section 3 as far as I understand, does that mean the permits for our poles are secured?

[Ultimate Internet Access]

Working on it.

--Wes

[RobertW]

Sounds like it should happen next week then RobertW. Let me know how the install goes RobertW.

Regards,

--Wes

Wes,

The install went just great yesterday.  I believe his name was David and Robert were the installers. Great guys, very courteous, professional and they knew what they were doing. My install was easy as it was only a 90+ ft drop from the pole. I had my own wireless router, a Cisco Linksys e6400 I was going to use and when on the phone with you, you'll remember you questioned whether it was truly a 1 GHz router or not.  We did a wireless speed test from an old iPad and downloads speeds were nearly 40 Mbps and upload speeds were nearly 30 Mbps.  So I'm very happy with that and it appears my own Cisco wireless router will work just fine.

Again, a great job by your team...

Bob

[Ultimate Internet Access]

Hi Bob,

Cisco Linksys e6400 I was going to use and when on the phone with you, you'll remember you questioned whether it was truly a 1 GHz router or not.

I looked up some reviews on this router and they are mixed, on Amazon at least.. But the proof is that if it works well for you then I'm happy!
I bet the old iPad is running off of 2.4.. so that is pretty good speed really on there. Newish devices should run off the 5.8 Ghz and go faster (depending on how close you are to the router).

I believe his name was David and Robert were the installers. Great guys, very courteous, professional and they knew what they were doing..

That's what I like to hear! Good for them and UIA. I will let them know.

Don't forget to go outside once in a while..

Regards,

--Wes

[MerlinSilk]

Working on it.

--Wes

...and today we had Edison in the yard looking at poles - so - things are moving - great!

[angelwolf326]

After the last few days of SLOWWWWWWW internet, I am all signed up, contract signed and sent in   I can't wait!!!

[Newguy]

Hello.. here is the Wrightwood Headend. Yes, real bamboo floors!

I will get an pic of an ONT later.



Regards,

--Wes

Wes,

Thank you for the photos.  Do you mind if I DM you some technical questions?

J.

[Ultimate Internet Access]

Do you mind if I DM you some technical questions?

Either way is fine with me.

Regards,

--Wes

[Bob C]

Got my installation done today...

I was actually fairly happy with my DSL speeds (well, as happy as you can be, compared to what others have reported their DSL speeds to be). I paid for the "up to 5Mb" DSL speeds, and for the most part, got that.

Keep in mind, my house is pretty much all wireless, so I know wireless is the bottleneck. One of these days, I'll plug my computer directly into the new UIA Ethernet to test the real speed coming into the house. For now, all I can do to compare, is show speedtest results of the old DSL vs the new UIA.

Frontier DSL:


UIA:


And these speed tests were done on my iPhone 5, using the 5Ghz wifi connection to my router. Again, one of these days, I'll have to just plug my computer directly into the Ethernet cable and see what the real "to the house" speed is.

So even though my wireless speeds are nowhere close to what my total incoming bandwidth is, I suspect the router will sustain that speed with several connections, where before, the DSL 5Mb speed was divided by the number of wireless consumers sucking off that limited bandwidth.

[SpeedRacer]

Bob C: Are you using UIA's router or your own?

[lwt42]

One of these days, I'll plug my computer directly into the new UIA Ethernet to test the real speed coming into the house.

If I might suggest: never plug a computer directly into an unfiltered ethernet connection with a public IP.

It's always best to plug into some sort of firewall -- like the one in the typical small office/home office "router."

The built-in firewall is kind of like a one-way mirror, you can get out, but things on the outside can't connect back in.

I suspect that's what you meant, but it's worth clarifying.