50' Telescoping Antenna Setup

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slas

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Live in the country and have to use AtLink wireless for internet. It's been slowly degradading over the last 2 years. After a recent tech visit to the house he suggested a 50' telescoping and connection to another tower. Seems the closest to us is over saturated and getting my already low speed of 5 Mbps is a struggle and most likely will be closer to 4 from now on.

I've been researching and it looks like I can get most parts for around $400 but would really like to discuss with someone who's been successful and getting it all set up.
 

TerryMiller

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Back a number of years ago, we were on @Link near Tuttle. It got so bad we couldn't get anything. Looked into Verizon's MiFi for internet. It worked far better than @Link and we could move it as we moved. We just had to watch out for uploads and downloads. Even the MiFi wouldn't work for me now because of the size of the photos I upload to my Smugmug site.
 

NightShade

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50 foot tall tower doesn't sound like much but in high winds they are not very stable even with guy wires. I saw one that was only about 35 feet tall bend due to wind loading. The telescoping kind just really are not ideal at all. Plus raising and lowering is another concern, to me it was almost like trying to push a tape measure up a wall the wrong way. Fifteen or twenty feet no problem. Over that you are better off finding a small used ham radio tower. Even if it's not the full height you are looking for you can add a small tube section to get the last few feet. It will be more stable and once it's up it's a lot less likely to be blown down in a high wind.

I have dealt with them though and had to fix problems the installer created, it was a nightmare and they were never really great on the 50 foot ones. I put one in that was 25 feet tall on a guys roof and it took me and another guy EVERYTHING we had to get it up and in the tripod base.

Breakover poles are in the same category if not even worse when you get up pretty high. I know of one that was setup south of Lawton with internet put onto it and the top swayed in the wind so much I can't imagine the owner ever got a good connection but I guess it was better than dialup.

I should also mention that on ebay right now is a 40 foot tower for 250 but you have to get it apart and hauled. I would still call that a bargain and you can often find something like that around. Also if you are able to get a tower tall enough you may just be able to flip the extra expense in your favor by allowing them to use it to place their equipment and broadcast to others. At the very least get free internet and maybe a little cash in your pocket each month.

As far as them looking at building a new one..... Well lets just say that while I worked for a WISP that was ALWAYS the name of the game but it doesn't happen unless you have enough presales to make it feasible. However if someone already has a decent tower they are much more likely to be interested in hoping on especially if they can pull a few users off of the other tower and sell to some new people. The tower being "oversaturated" well, the most that requires usually is upgrading two pieces of equipment that constitute the backhaul. It's one piece on each end and a days worth of work and some of that stuff can push gigabit plus speeds. And it's easier to do that than to build a new tower out. So basically what I am trying to say is I doubt they will do it on their own unless they have a mass exodus due to the issue. And if you look at the fine print what you pay for is always rated "up to" so as long as there is an internet connection and it works don't expect to get a discount.
 

slas

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I'll be replacing this antenna with the 50' one so I'll be along the high point of the house plus have guy wires for support.
20180912_192802.jpg
 

slas

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Good luck with that. AtLink told me that if I wasn't happy with their service I could always pick another provider. 2 years later I'm still with them. My neighbor about 1000' down the road put up a 40 foot tower so he could access a different tower. It's AtLink or nobody.
Yep, they're the only game where I'm at also. The tech told me if I connected to the other tower I could get 50 Mbps if I wanted. Might have to get that and split with a few neighbors. They're in the same boat I'm in.
 

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