Digis provides an Internet connection via a wireless antenna system.   An antenna is installed on your roof with an attached radio receiver/transmitter.   This antenna is pointed at a nearby Access Point tower, and must have a clear line-of-site (no trees, buildings or hills blocking the path).   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 link to a fiber-optic connection hooked directly to the Internet.   Digis service has very low "latency", or delay, compared to satellite Internet, where signals must travel thousands of miles into space.   Digis is well suited for gaming as well as other service such as VPNs and Voice over IP (VOIP). see Typical Installation for details.

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How is it wired into my home?

Digis professionally mounts an antenna on your roof, then runs a CAT-5 wire (phone wire with 4 pairs of wires) down the outside wall of your home (we try to follow a rain gutter to hide the cable).   We then bring the wire into your home by drilling a small hole or following an existing entry into the home such as a duct or prior cable, phone or satellite TV installation entry.   An Ethernet jack is then installed on the inside of an exterior wall (your computer should have an Ethernet jack - all new computer do.   An older computer may need an adapter).   If you need additional inside wiring to extend the connection into your home, you may need to hire a wiring contractor or may want to consider using a wireless router (available at computer stores) to distribute the connection thru your home.

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How do I connect multiple computers to the connection?

Digis will install a single Ethernet jack inside your home.   If you have more than 1 computer, you will need to purchase your own wireless router.   A router acts as a splitter, allowing up to 4 computers to be plugged in directly, and it also wirelessly sends your Internet signal throughout your home to any computer or laptop with a wireless card.   An 802.11g wireless router typically runs under $50, and can be purchase from any computer or office supply store, or Walmart.

What are you coverage areas?

Click here to see our coverage maps.

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Does weather affect the 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.   Weather will not cause a degradation of service, even in very severe storms.   Your connection will remain stable even during winter months or other stormy periods.

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How fast is Digis Internet?

Digis offers two plans:   our standard plan, which runs up to 2Mbps, and our Ultra-high-speed plan which runs up to 7Mbps.   This is over 100 times faster than dial up, and faster than most DSL connections.   Most customers on the 2Mbps plan get download speeds approaching 1.5Mbps and upload of 756kbps.   Customers on the 7Mbps plan have average download speeds approaching 5Mbps, and uploads of 2Mbps.   Speeds cannot be guaranteed as they are affected by distance from your antenna to our Access Point, network load, and server activity.

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What are the computer requirements for Digis Internet?

Minimum requirements:   Recommended requirements:   Pentium 233mhz or higher; Windows 98 or higher; 64MB RAM or higher; 100MB free hard drive space.   You need to have an Ethernet jack on the computer for us to connect to our service.   All newer computers have this jack; for an older computer there are cards and other options to add an Ethernet jack, and these are available at any computer store.

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How does Digis Internet access differ from standard dial-up?

Unlike dial-up, our service is always on.   This means that there is no dialing, no waiting, and no need for a second phone line.   There is also a dramatic difference in speed - Digis is over 100 times faster than dial-up service.

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How long will it take to set up service?

We can typically have service installed within several days of placing an order.   Once we've determined that the service will work at your location, it takes about 2-3 hours to hook everything up.

Can I do the installation myself?

Not at the present time.

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What about e-mail accounts?

If you already have free e-mail accounts (i.e., Yahoo!, MSN, Hotmail, G-mail, etc.) you can access these accounts over the Digis Internet connection.   Digis also provides up to 10 e-mail accounts that are included with the service, and they can be accessed via the web or from a PC based e-mail program such as Outlook Express or Thunderbird.

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Is the usage unlimited?

Yes.   However, Digis does use Speed Protection Throttling which could affect connectivity speeds after excessive use. Speed Protection Throttling allocates a certain amount of daily usage per user connection. This amount will vary by service plan. The amount allocated is set at more than is needed for typical use. In the case of excessive use, the system will automatically throttle Internet access speeds. The throttled speed will often not be noticable in web surfing or typical email download but will slow the transfer of large files, videos or other bandwidth intense activities. Metering for all connections is reset every 24 hour period. A larger monthly allocation is set for each service plan type as well. If excessive use continues over a consistent period and the monthly amount is exceeded, then the system may throttle access speeds for the remainder of a month's billing cycle. Customers are welcome to subscribe to higher service plans to meet their usage needs. For detailed information, please contact Digis Customer Care at 1-888-344-4788.

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How reliable is Digis Internet service compared with wired services such as cable and DSL?

We have designed our wireless network to be as reliable as any wired network.

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