Business Class Wireless Internet Access

Service Level Agreement
Choosing the Right Wireless Service
Wireless Equipment and Installation
Wireless Frequencies, Security and Weather
Full or Half duplex
Where is fixed wireless available?

Skyway West provides Business Class Fixed Wireless broadband services in speeds from 1 Mbps to 10 Mbps and higher. Our serving area currently covers the BC Lower Mainland and 17 cities from Montreal to Victoria.

Fixed Wireless is ideal for companies requiring greater upstream speed than ADSL. It can be used to backup other Broadband services or as a reliable cost effective alternative to Fibre and T1 services. Wireless offers a greater choice in speeds and can be installed much quicker than ADSL, T1 or Fibre.

Wireless services are symmetrical, meaning the upload and download speeds are the same. The speed of an individual service is programmed into your equipment and can be remotely changed to your requirements.

Our services include static IP addresses needed to connect mail, web or FTP servers and other corporate applications accessed by remote users. We also include complimentary email login names, domain name hosting, newsgroup access and free dial-up access, useful for home, a second office or when travelling.

Wireless Service Level Agreement (SLA)

Skyway guarantees all wireless customers 100% uninterrupted transit to the Internet. If transit to the Internet becomes unavailable, Skyway will refund the customer an amount equal to one day of the customer's pro-rated recurring monthly charges during the month the interruption took place.

If transit to the Internet is unavailable for a cumulative period exceeding one hour, the customer will receive an additional refund of one day of the pro-rated recurring monthly charges for each additional hour, or portion thereof, of transit unavailability. All refund calculations will be based on unavailability in one-hour increments.

This SLA does not cover outages caused by equipment and/or events not under the direct control of Skyway or caused by individuals not directly employed by Skyway. It excludes short periods of temporary service degradation, such as slow data transmissions. It does not cover outages due to scheduled or emergency network and/or facility maintenance, which will be broadcast to all customers in advance.

Any and all refunds to a customer will not exceed 50% of the customer's recurring monthly charges for the month in which the refund is paid.

Choosing the Right Wireless Service

Consult us about the speed that suits your business' level of Internet activity. Our services range from 1 Mbps to 10 Mbps and higher depending on the serving area.

2 Mbps Wireless delivers three times the upload speed of a typical ADSL line and is superior for business sites that host services like web, ftp and corporate applications accessed by remote users. It is ideal for VoIP services which require more upstream speed than ADSL.

5 Mbps Wireless is three times faster than a T1 for half the price.

Our 10 Mbps and higher services are competitively priced with similar Fibre services and can be purchased as full or half duplex. They are perfect for speciality applications or offices requiring extremely fast upload and download speeds.

Consider an adsl service configured to automatically backup the wireless connection and configured to load balance between a wireless and adsl connection. Aggregating Internet Services provides more information on fail over, bonding and security options when using multiple services.

Check our Business Class Wireless Rate Schedule. Please email sales@sohoskyway.com or phone 604 482 1225 for more information.

Wireless equipment and Installation

1. Customer Premise Antenna

Our wireless network connects to an outdoor antenna or dish placed in a mount typically located on the roof of your building.

We use four main types of mounts:
a. Air-conditioning Unit Mounts
b. Pole Wall Mounts
c. Roof Mounts (Non-Penetrating Roof Mounts and Non-Penetrating Tripod Mounts)
d. Short Guyed Tower Mounts

Wireless Mounts: Pictures & Descriptions [ pop-up window]

An experienced technician ensures the antenna installation and wiring are done in full co-operation with the building owner and according to their specifications.

2. Customer Premise Subscriber Unit (SU)

The antenna is connected by coax cable (similar to CATV) or ethernet cable to a wireless radio or subscriber unit (SU) located in the antenna housing, or in the building's service or elevator room. The SU requires a power outlet and is usually connected to a network switch. The switch connects by CAT5 cabling through the building's riser closet to an ethernet jack in the customer's premise.

The SU brand and model depend on the distance your location is from our nearest Wireless Access Point. Our SU's are chosen for their quality construction, efficient throughput and the security measures they take to ensure your wireless traffic is secure.

3. Wireless Network Access Point (AP)

The antenna connect the SU's to Access Points (AP) strategically positioned on building roof tops and towers located in the BC Lower Mainland and 17 cities from Montreal to Victoria.

Wireless Frequencies, security and weather

1. Frequencies

We typically use licensed frequencies (e.g., 24 GHz Band, 38 GHz Band) within our network and assign our customers license-exempt frequencies (e.g., 4.8 GHz, 5.8 GHz). The primary difference is that licensed radio users have a regulatory body that will assist them in overcoming any interference issues that may arise, while license-exempt users must resolve interference issues without governmental assistance.

2. Security

All Internet connections using public IP addresses are insecure. Wireless is no different. A VPN is the only way to secure an Internet connection.

Radios are normally located on building roof tops and only accessible when accompanied by the building manager. There is a small risk that a signal may spill over to a neighbour or that somebody would intentionally intercept a signal. We remove these risks by programming as narrow a line-of-sight as possible and using sophisticated features and proprietary transmission coding between our network and customer locations. Our network is secure enoough to handle credit card and Interac (including PIN#) transactions.

Our security features include:

The access point ID (or for some models the MAC) must be known since it is not broadcast
Similarly, the subscriber unit ID must be known (it is not broadcast)
Smart polling of subscriber units ensures that there is no discernible pattern
There is no access to the subscriber unit settings interface except via our management stations
Our network management system and the equipment are protected by a password and a challenge/response scheme
Directional subscriber antennas are used and any connection must be within 4 to 6 degrees of the beam path depending upon the model of antenna used
The exact RF channel assignment must be known
All RF communications are digital, and a potential hacker would need to know the exact terminal equipment generating digital stream
In short, the manufacturer, model, modulation technique, throughput, internal scrambling code, forward error correction code are not published and would be required for access
Any attempt to synchronize with a radio to communicate would cause the particular radio to alarm due to error generation
Our radios incorporate safeguards to secure the wireless transmission against possible intrusion. Some use 168bit encryption and some 128 bit
Some radios use the advanced encryption standard (AES 128) where a dynamic encryption key changes to prevent unauthorized eavesdropping, and coded time stamping to prevent false transmission from an intruding terminal.
Our latest radios incorporate a layer 1 (reference to OSI model) style of connection that prevents any attempt to interconnect with a mated pair of radios.

3. Weather

Skyway wireless services are engineered to avoid the influence of weather. The most important factor is a clear line of site to our network. We avoid rain problems by using sensitive equipment and limiting the distance to a customer site. Snow is not a problem because our radios operate at 37 degrees Celsius melting away ice and snow build up.

Full or Half Duplex

Our wireless services are available as full or half duplex. A full duplex connection simultaneously sends and receives data packets. It is typically used to connect switches together or to connect fast access devices such as workgroup servers. It is also best for services like VoIP where both parties may speak at the same time.

A half duplex connections sends packets and waits for a response before sending more packets. Is is a request/response network connection and when one device is sending, all the other devices are receiving. If more than one device is sending, collusions occur and packets must be resent. Half-duplex is the most common transmission method and is adequate for normal workstation and PC connections. Most client server traffic is half duplex as is web browsing, email and ftp.

Where is fixed wireless available?

Skyway fixed wireless is availble in British Columbia (BC), Alberta (AB), Manitoba (MB), Ontario (ON) and Quebec (QC).

British Columbia (BC)

Abbotsford, Aldergrove, Annacis Island, Clearbrook, Cloverdale, Fort Langley, Kelowna, Ladner, Langley, Maple Ridge, Mission, Nanaimo, New Westminster, Newton, North Vancouver, Penticton, Pitt Meadows, Port Kells, Port Moody, Prince George, Richmond, Vancouver, Victoria, West Vancouver and White Rock

Alberta (AB)

Calgary and Edmonton

Manitoba (MB)

Winnipeg

Ontario (ON)

Barrie, Brantford, Burlington, Cambridge, Greater Toronto Area, Gueph, Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Oakville, St. Catherines, and Windsor

Quebec (QC)

Montreal

Please contact us for a detailed consultation:

604 482 1225
info@skywaywest.com