Frequently Asked Questions

Transcription

1 Frequently Asked Questions Internet 1. How does New Source Broadband Internet service work? 2. How is the Outdoor Unit wired into my home or business 3. Can I connect multiple computers to the connection? 4. Does weather affect the service? 5. Is New Source Broadband High Speed Internet Service Always On? 6. What are the computer requirements for New Source Broadband Internet? 7. How long will it take to set up service? 8. Can I do the High Speed Internet installation myself? 9. What about accounts? Phone 1. How does New Source Broadband Digital Phone work? 2. What kind of equipment do I need? 3. How do I access Phone Settings and Advanced Features? 4. How do I transfer (port) my existing phone number? 5. Does 911 service work? 6. Can I use my computer while talking on the phone? 7. Can I use my answering machine? 8. How is the voice quality? 9. Are there limitations to the service? 10. Does fax work with New Source Broadband Digital Phone lines? 11. What Digital Phone capabilities does New Source Broadband offer for business lines? 12. How do I order New Source Broadband Digital Phone service?

2 Internet How does New Source Broadband Internet service work? New Source Broadband uses a two-way radio and antenna system called a Subscriber Module or SM installed on your roof, an exterior wall, or some other structure outside your home or office to provide an Internet connection via sophisticated wireless technology. This combination transmitter/receiver/antenna system is carefully aligned by our installation technician to point at a corresponding Access Point on a nearby tower, and must have a clear line of sight (no trees, buildings, or hills blocking the path). Depending on how far your SM is from our tower, the SM may be a small rectangular unit, or can be a dish (similar to a satellite dish in appearance) up to 24 inches in diameter. When you send and receive information over the Internet, it goes over the wireless link from your radio/antenna to our Access Point. From there that information travels over our backhaul, which is a point to point wireless or fiber-optic connection hooked directly to the Internet. Our service has very low latency (or delay) compared to satellite Internet, where signals must travel thousands of miles into space. NSB s service is well suited for digital phone (also known as Voice over Internet Protocol/VoIP) and other uses such as VPNs or gaming. How is the Outdoor Unit wired into my home or business? New Source Broadband s installation technician professionally mounts your Subscriber Module radio/antenna unit in an outdoor location with clear line-of-site to a nearby tower. Depending on the specific requirements for your situation, it may be on the roof, high on an exterior wall, or even on a pole or small tripod unit. The technician then runs an Ethernet cable (Cat5e cable) from the outdoor unit along the outside of your home or office (we try to hide the cable by following rain gutters, or using other ways to disguise the wire), to a location where we can then bring the wire inside to a location agreed upon between you and the installation technician prior to installation. Bringing the wire inside may require drilling a small hole or may follow an existing entry such as a duct or prior cable, phone or satellite TV installation entry. Can I connect multiple computers to the connection? New Source Broadband basic installation will include a single Ethernet connection inside your home or business. If you need to connect more than one computer or other network device to the internet,

3 you will need to purchase a router either from New Source Broadband, or from a store that sells computer hardware. A router acts as a traffic manager that permits connecting multiple devices to a single internet connection. As an added benefit, it also provides some additional security for you since it acts as a basic firewall device. Many routers for home and small business use have ports for up to four computers to be connected using Ethernet cables. Wireless routers also include the capability of allowing you to connect devices using Wi-Fi technology. Does weather affect the service? Weather does not cause a significant degradation of service even in many severe storms. Your connection will remain stable even during winter months or other stormy periods. Rarely, heavy rains that are continuous over several hours/days may cause a degradation of service. Wireless Internet access requires a line of site connection from your house to one of our towers. This means that any large trees, buildings or other obstructions may cause a degraded level of service. Our installers do a site survey before installing to make sure that there is a good signal. The most common way in which weather can affect service is indirect, when weather conditions cause intermittent line-of-site obstructions from tall trees or other obstructions blowing into the path. Is New Source Broadband High Speed Internet Service Always On? Yes, New Source Broadband High Speed Internet Service is always on, and always available, as long as your Subscriber Module has power. You do not have to do anything to either connect to the service, or to log on. Your connection is a secure link locked to your Subscriber Module. What are the computer requirements for New Source Broadband Internet? New Source Broadband High Speed Internet does not have any specific or minimum computer requirements, other than that the computer must have the ability to communicate over standard Ethernet networking via Cat 5e Ethernet cable (or via Wi-Fi, if you have a Wi-Fi access point or router). Windows-based PC s, Mac s, and most Linux-based systems with internet capabilities are all welcome. We do recommend that if you use Windows, you use Windows 7 or later, or make 3 rd party security arrangements to protect your computer. Versions of Windows prior to Windows 7 have many security issues that expose them to significant threats over the internet.

4 How long will it take to set up service? We typically schedule a Site Survey and Inspection by our Installation Technician within a few days of placing an order. Once we ve determined that the service will work at your location, the technician can usually do the installation on the same trip. Basic installation usually takes 2 3 hours to complete, unless there are unusual installation challenges or requirements that call for hardware or materials that are not normally carried by the technician, or that are not stock items and require a special order. Can I do the High Speed Internet installation myself? The high quality Subscriber equipment we use in order to provide the level and quality of service offered by New Source Broadband is not appropriate for installation by the end user, and only professional installation is available. What about accounts? If you already have hosted e mail accounts (i.e., Yahoo!, MSN, Hotmail, G mail, etc.) you can access these accounts over the New Source Broadband Internet connection. We also provide e mail accounts that are included with the Internet service, and they can be accessed via the web or from a PC based e mail program such as Outlook Express or Thunderbird. For further information, please call us at

5 Phone How does New Source Broadband Digital Phone work? New Source Broadband Digital Phone uses Voice-over-IP technology (VoIP) to provide phone service over an internet connection, instead of using a wire-line connection to a telephone company wiring center. What makes it different than a traditional phone line? Traditionally a phone conversation is converted to electronic signals that traverse an elaborate network of switches in a dedicated circuit that lasts the duration of a call. In Voice over Internet Protocol a conversation is converted to packets of data that travel over the Internet or private networks, just like s or WebPages. The packets go over the internet to a centrally located Switch, where they are routed to their destination, which can be another VoIP user, or a traditional telephone. The packets are reassembled and converted to sound on the other end. A device called an ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter) is usually installed on your end to do the signal conversion. VoIP is generally priced much lower than standard phone service, includes domestic long distance service at no additional cost, and doesn t require the taxes and fees that most traditional phone companies must add to their price. The quality of the service is nearly identical to or sometimes better than traditional phone service. What kind of equipment do I need? All you need is high speed Internet and a phone adapter (ATA) to connect your home phone. New Source Broadband offers several types of phone adapters that all allow your standard phone(s) to use the Internet connection to place calls. Your home phone can then be plugged directly into the adapter or a phone wire can be run from the adapter to a phone extension jack so that all the phones in your home can use the service. Many clients find that they prefer using a wireless phone system that offers 1 to 5 or more phones connected to a base station, which is then connected directly to the ATA. This allows them to completely eliminate wired extension phones, and place phones wherever is most convenient. New Source Broadband can offer business users a number of options including multi-line ATA s, or if the business has an IP-compatible PBX system, a SIP connection can be configured.

6 How do I access Phone Settings and Advanced Features? You may access your digital phone settings and advanced features by clicking on the Digital Phone Management button on the Account Management page of the New Source Broadband website: How do I transfer (port) my existing phone number? When you sign up for New Source Broadband Digital Phone, you may be able to port (transfer) your existing phone number over to our service. Whether this is an available option depends on your current phone service provider. If the option is available, that decision can be made at the time of installation or can be done at a later date. In order to port the number, you will need to complete a Line Number Port authorization (LNP) allowing us to contact your current carrier and port your number to our service. The LNP should have the same address and account number as your present carrier has on record. This can be obtained from a recent bill from your current carrier. Contact New Source Broadband Customer Service for additional information. Does 911 service work? Yes, you have Enhanced 911. Enhanced 911 allows 911 calls to be connected directly to a live 911 center and not through a secondary call center that then routes the call to the 911 call center. This allows the personnel responding to the 911 call to access your address directly. However, this is entirely dependent on having the correct address. Therefore, it is important to not move your ATA to another address without updating your address information, because 911 responders will not have accurate location / address information. Please see our e911 notice which can be accessed through the link on the About page on our website ( Can I use my computer while talking on the phone? Yes, you can use any number of computers on your broadband service while you are talking on the phone. The system automatically gives priority to your voice to ensure quality of service.

7 Can I use my answering machine? Yes, although you may want to disable your voice mail options. How is the voice quality? The quality is typically at least as good as or better than a land line. Are there limitations to the service? Since Digital Phone Voice over IP operates over the Internet, New Source Broadband Digital Phone service is dependent on having electrical power for your internet connection and ATA. It also does not work if your Internet connection is down for any reason. However, the Digital Switch that receives incoming calls is always available, so your voic can take messages until your service is once again available, and a backup number (such as a cell phone) can set up for use as a failover phone for power outages and other circumstances where the NSB service is not available. Your Service may not work with some fax machines, security systems credit card machines, or other devices, depending on the CODEC in the device. Collect calling is not available with VoIP. Does fax work with New Source Broadband Digital Phone lines? Fax as a technology has not be perfected with VoIP, they work best when the fax speed settings is changed to 9600 Baud rate. You can change that under your fax menu options. Some fax modems may not work with VoIP, depending on the CODEC used by the modem. What Digital Phone capabilities does New Source Broadband offer for business lines? New Source Broadband can develop a custom Digital Phone plan for your business, including multiline ATA adapters to connect to legacy phone systems and SIP connections for digital PBX systems. Contact our Business Specialist for additional information.

8 How do I order New Source Broadband Digital Phone service? Contact New Source Broadband Customer Service to order Digital Phone service. For further information, please call us at