USI Wireless in Minneapolis (Duluth: rent, credit, house)

[sugarbeet]

Has anyone subscribed to the USI wireless internet service now available in Minneapolis?

For those who aren't familiar with the service: USI Wireless high-speed broadband wireless internet services

I'd like to try it, but don't know how reliable the service is. They're running a promotion where you pay in advance for the first year and get the second year free. I would do that, but if the service doesn't work well there are no refunds for cancelling.

Thanks!

[The Icy River Vagabond]

Where does it say you get the second year free???

[nick is rulz]

Wireless is flaky when the router is 50 feet from your PC. I cant even imagine how bad this'll be when you're leeching from a hub 200 yards down the block. No thank you.

[sugarbeet]

Originally Posted by The Icy River Vagabond

Where does it say you get the second year free???

Once you get into the order process it shows that on the pricing page. Or maybe the promotion ended.

I decided to stay with Comcast. Although I like to adopt new technologies and services and to support Minneapolis' initiatives, I read too many things on other sites about USI being flaky. It's probably fine for casual internet users, but not for us at this point.

[agazoo]

I have subscribed to USI. Reliability in my case is 0. Speed is horrible. I have tried different configurations with omni / directional outdoor antennas, amplifiers and high gain antennas. Almost everything offered by Best Buy and Microcenter. My windows are facing downtown (im on 9th st) and basically repeater is on the clear path. Sometimes i get 80+ link but the % of damaged frames is very hight. Not to mention frequent (like every five minutes) disconnections with higher Tx.
As a matter of fact, i've spotted an open router with comcast cable which is far from me. The connection to it is close is excellent (with outdoor 15db hawking through booster). Nothing seems to work for USI. It seems like this is not a radio problem, it seem like USI just blows ...

[tvdxer]

I have wireless internet here through Clearwire. There is service in the Duluth area ... don't know about other locations in Minnesota. I'm actually out of the standard "pre-qualifying" service area, but I live on a hill, so the signal is good. Access is decently fast (1.5 mbps down, 256 up), not too expensive (bill is $43.32 / month) and generally reliable, though. Much more reliable than satellite, the only broadband available here prior to Clearwire.

[tisaroo]

Stay away from this USI service: I tried to setup the wireless for a friend and it worked for a week then failed. I am a computer technician and understand this stuff and still the setup was problematic. The other issue is different people at USI give you a different story about the equipment and the setup. Just a bad overall situation.

[sirkleck]

I just subscribed (received modem yesterday), and so far I've been impressed with the customer service. I have had a few minor issues: 1. The modem arrived in 9 business days versus the 4 business days I was expecting. and 2. The speed is currently at 1.5 mbps vs. the 3.0 mbps that I was expecting.

As for the delayed-modem issue, I complained in the new customer survey I received this morning. I got a call from a USI representative a couple of hours later (an actual person) saying that they would credit my account for a month in order to make up for the delay.

As for the speed issue, I connected (via live chat) with tech support this morning. The tech rep said they have some speed issues that they are working on and should be resolved in the next two weeks. When I mentioned this to the USI rep that called, we agreed that the month of credit would cover that time, and he also suggested that he would send me a stronger wireless modem (with an external antenna) which should also help.

So, I'll give it a week or two to evaluate the service itself, but so far from a customer service standpoint they have definitely exceeded my expectations.

[ftbc]

I got my promo in the mail yesterday for 1/2 off a two-year contract (paid in advance). Since it sounds like the service is dicey, I am tempted to go month-by-month and rent a modem at 4.95/month for starters.

[lawmoose]

We signed up for USI wireless as soon as it became available because it was such a good deal. Boy did we make a mistake.
USI wireless has just been a nightmare. The modem couldn’t get a good signal from the “node” on the light pole a half block away. So when we could get connected the speed was 300kbs or less. We subscribed to the 1 megabit service. (BE WARNED: you’re paying for “up to 1 megabit of service”. You’re not guaranteed to get that speed. Same goes for those subscribed to the 3 megabit service – you might only get 1 megabit and be paying for 3!)
Finally after a month USI wireless sent us a different modem with an external antenna. That improved the service greatly, as long as we had the modem about 5 feet off the floor in a second story window that faced the light pole that is half a block away. We regularly got speeds right around 1 megabit. We figured it was working so we cancelled our old internet sercvice. OPPS!
That worked for about two weeks. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the service went back down to less than 200kbs. We called USI tech support and they gave us all sorts of dumb reasons for the low signal, even saying the metal siding on our house was the cause. Well the siding’s been there for 20 years, and we were getting good speeds last week. I'm an electronics tech. I know the siding's not the cause and everything is hooked up correctly. But to solve the problem USI offered to install an exterior antenna that would greatly improve the signal THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO PAY THEM TO HAVE INSTALLED!
So I explained to the tech again that everything was working fine a couple days ago. Now you’re telling me that if I want to get my service back to the speed I’m paying for, I have to pay to have an external antenna installed? What’s wrong with this picture? Is this some type of a scam???
So now USI is sending us a free “suction cup” antenna that goes on the outside of the window. Can't wait to see how long that works for.
On the plus side, I have talked to some very excellent customer support people. And they do follow up to see how things are working. But their internet service stinks.
MY ADVICE IS TO AVOID USI WIRELESS, AT LEAST UNTIL THEY GET ALL OF MINNEAPOLIS INSTALLED AND THE CITY STARTS TO USE THEM FOR COMMUNICATIONS. Once the City of Minneapolis goes online with them and discovers problems they will get the system fixed quickly.