Best of the ISP-Lists

The Service Survives When the Horse Drowns

Members of the ISP-Wireless list discuss talking about the weather with prospective customers of Wi-Fi services. One tells customers that the connection will stay up even in a tropical downpour that could drown a horse.

[August 8, 2001]

On the ISP-Wireless list in July, KF asked,

"What do you tell prospective customers when they ask about the effects of weather on their service? I need a good line."

A number of respondents shared the explanations that they offer their customers:

[JD offered] "My line is, 'Typically, there are no effects on the speed or throughput.' Note the word 'typically.' Doesn't mean a good storm can't take the link down. Just like an earthquake cutting power, the wind or other forces of nature can take down your tower or CPE antennas, or just misalign them. Just play it down, unless the customer knows specifics and begins asking questions. Explain to them how you've calculated your coverage areas and the radio/cable/antenna combinations to provide an operating margin which should allow for heavy rain, snow, etc., without ill effect. You may want to put a detailed description in a FAQ for those who want more details."

[PL noted] "I politely ridicule their ignorance (I do the same with health issues), then I provide facts. For example, using 2.4 GHz, with rain equal to 150 millimeters during a one-hour period, attenuation is only .02 dBm over one kilometer. So even in a sustained tropical downpour enough to drown a horse, the properly engineered 2.4 GHz link will barely blink."

[TI added] "Here's my line: 'We have the same weather related problems as the telcos do with T1s: a direct lightning strike will probably take it out.'"

AR shared a slightly more risky explanation:

"I tell them that it is similar to digital satellite as far as weather."

A number of others suggested that AR's explanation might be a little risky:

[PL retorted] "Ouch! Terrestrial 2.4 GHz and 5.x GHz reception is far, far, better than any satellite system the public is familiar with. I'd never make that comparison; that's apples to onions."

[BR agreed] "Satellite is much more prone to weather interference because of the distance traveled and the frequency."

[MS added] "I've never had any weather-related outages, even on a sixteen-mile hop. My satellite sucks when it rains hard or snows; my Internet just keeps right on trucking."

—End

Related articles:
	[May 28, 2001]	Kote Against Rain
	[Mar. 16, 2001]	ISP Marketing During Tough Times