What is a Wireless Internet Service Provider?

A Wireless Internet Service Provider or WISP is a special kind of broadband service provider that uses a base station antenna to transmit data through the airwaves to a receiving antenna at a customer's premises.  The data transmission works in a similar manner to a satellite dish. The main difference is that a wireless Internet data antenna sends and receives information from a local tower or tall structure versus a satellite.

 WISPs use designated channels of spectrum to transmit large amounts of data, both upstream and downstream, over the airwaves.  The fact that the service is transported over a wireless connection is transparent to customers who receive up to 10 Mbps of bandwidth via a regular Ethernet connection.

While wireless technology may be new to you and our area, there are more than 1,500 wireless ISPs operating successfully in the U.S. alone.   This group of entrepreneurs is busy showing the rest of the world that the "broadband wireless" model is an extremely effective way to migrate customers from old dialup connections to very fast broadband connections without investing millions of dollars on capital expenditures usually associated with building wired DSL or cable modem broadband systems. 

The best part about a wireless system is the fact that the signal travels through the air, which means you don't have to worry about running a pair of wires to every single customer.