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Freqently Asked Questions

What is Tendring Community Broadband?
Tendring Community Broadband was setup by Tendring District Council and included several partner organisations whose aim was to trial long-range wireless broadband access technology for use in rural and semi-rural areas. This trial has now ended but three of the partners have formed WB-Internet to build broadband delivery networks including long-range radio hubs. The former trial hub at Great Bromley has been decommissioned and a new high-performance commercial hub built. Customers can connect to this hub by ordering the service from KeConnect.

I live in the area served, am I guaranteed service?
No. A full installation check has to be completed prior to the contract being activated.

I have my own wireless equipment; can I connect to the service using that?
No. Only equipment supplied by WB-Internet can be used to connect to the service.

Can the signal travel through walls and trees?
Buildings and walls in the direct radio path will degrade the signal too much but some vegetation can be tolerated. The outdoor unit needs to be positioned with line-of-sight to the radio mast at Great Bromley.

I had a satellite service - which was rubbish - is this the same?
No. The service communicates in the 5.8GHz band with a high-speed wireless hub at Great Bromley and from there onto our high-speed backbone. The service is symmetric and communicates at the same speed in both directions. It does not have the latency (delay) problem suffered by satellite delivery systems and doesn't rely on a landline uplink.

How much does it cost?
The KeConnect Wireless MAX service charges are as follows:

  • The 512Kb/s service with 10:1 contention is £49.95/month
  • The 1Mb/s service with 10:1 contention is £99.95/month
  • The 2Mb/s service with 10:1 contention is £149.95/month

Please note that you also have to pay a one-off connection charge of £299.95
Higher bandwidth and lower contention is available on request.
Please also note our standard contention of 10:1 compared to 50:1 for most standard ADSL packages. 2Mb/s means 2Mb/s and not a possible maximum of 2Mb/s!

My friend gets broadband for £14.99 so why is this more expensive?
Wireless Internet is always going to be more expensive than ADSL due to the cost of providing the service but it is superior in terms of speed, contention, symmetry (the speed is the same in both directions) and availability in rural areas. It should actually be compared to SDSL and it is designed for SME businesses, teleworkers (using remote connections to their company networks) and people hosting their own Internet services (dynamic sites, environmental monitoring, security etc.) as well as rural users who cannot get ADSL.

But 8Meg broadband is coming soon - shouldn't I wait for that?
Internet delivery is all about backhaul - the total bandwidth to your local drop-off. The old telephone network is hardly the most appropriate way to deliver this and at the ends of the network (the Tendring Peninsula for example) there is a chronic lack of available bandwidth. This is reflected in the published contention (the ratio by which you should share bandwidth) and the unpublished contention (what really happens on the BT network). Whilst BT are moving towards a new, IP-based network it is a massive job with rural areas still likely to be left out. Add to that the distance limitations of ADSL over the "last mile" from the exchange and you can see how wireless simply has to feature in any total delivery solution.

Anyone can setup a wireless network with an access point and a DSL connection - isn't that just what you've done?
Absolutely not - Great Bromley is fed by a high-speed microwave network going back to our POP on the Internet backbone. At Bromley we have a four-sector hub operating in the 5.8GHz band C at 2W EIRP - we will go to 4W EIRP when this is permitted by OFCOM later in the year. We have properly engineered our network to deliver fast, stable Internet connections from our long-reach wireless hub or indeed whatever means we deem appropriate.

I live in a conservation area; can the dish be mounted on my house?
Yes. You are permitted to install a unit for connection to a broadband Internet service.

How big is the dish?
There are currently two sizes of outdoor unit. The biggest is about 36cm x 40cm and the smaller is 25cm x 30cm. The smaller unit will be deployed for installations close to Great Bromley and the larger one at greater distance.

Can I paint the outdoor unit yellow to match my house?
No, the outdoor must not be painted or obstructed in any way as this will affect performance and invalidate the warranty.

How do I connect my computer/network to the service?
The service terminates on a RJ45 Ethernet socket in the premises. Two options are available - non-NAT where the unit must be connected to an Ethernet router to provide connection to a private LAN or NAT where the unit can be connected directly to a private computer or LAN hub/switch.

How do I get connected? To request connection to the service you have to place an order with the service provider KeConnect Internet for their Wireless MAX product.

© 2004 Micrologic UK Ltd