USI Wireless Review

[abracanabra]

(Originally for ethel, but I figured others might find it helpful.)

I do like it.

Out and About
My laptop has a really old internal wi-fi modem that has some serious issues connecting to the signal, so I can't really use it *directly* most places. My husband's laptop, OTOH, is newer and has a better modem and has no problems sending and receiving.

At Home
I wouldn't recommend it to anyone in an apartment building unless they could check out how the reception is *in their apartment* using the special modem beforehand, and I wouldn't recommend signing the several-years contract. It also doesn't work very well on the ground floor. I would recommend it to anyone still on dial-up, because it costs maybe $5-$10 more and is *way* better. The speeds are still not as good as DSL or cable, but they are better than, say, the free wi-fi you'll get at a coffee shop.

The main annoying thing is that it only works perfectly about 95% of the time. 5% of the time, at least in our area, it will intermittently be unable to connect. This seems to be related to the weather, the phase of the moon, or something else we can't figure out. It's not "out for two hours" unable to connect, it's "one minute it works, the next it doesn't, the next it does, the next it doesn't."

But for the price, it can't be beat. Just make sure you buy the special receiver/modem they sell, 'cause it really makes a difference.

* Note: We're on the tier 2 level.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I've read a number of negative posts about USI Wireless. I live in the Bryn Mawr neighborhood and got their 'buy 1 year-get the second for free' offer with their Ruckus modem. I became a subscriber in February 2008 when the service went live in my neighborhood. My old Qwest DSL used to sit in the rafters of my basement, right next to my Telco demark. I have a window which looks down the alley and can 'see' one of the USI units about a block away. I put my USI pre configured Ruckus unit right on the same shelf, plugged it in and did some slight movements of the unit to get me the best signal. I get between 2-3 Mb/S download and get 700 Kb/s to 1 Mb/S upload all the time. I have had three service outages since I got my service, two lasting about an hour and one lasting 6 hours -- when I called customer support they were understanding and were able to troublshoot the issues but not able to restore my service any faster. When I had my DSL, I don't recall any time I had an outage of any note. When I weigh out the cost vs the performance, I'm very happy with their service and have recommended it to other Minneapolis residents. Twice the speed as my Qwest DSL at half the cost. But reading other posts also leads me to say 'buyer beware.'

USI wireless

[(Anonymous)]

I live in the Field neighborhood, near 48th and Chicago. I ordered the USI wireless service, installed the modem (with a big ugly antenna in my bedroom window) and got nothing. The nearest service node was two blocks away.

Cheap, yes, but lousy product in my opinion. It simply didn't work. And I was never told when ordering that they didn't have enough nodes in my area.

I think this city made a mistake.