If you’re between the ages of 25 and 45, you’ve probably been using computers for most of your professional career. You know how to create a spreadsheet, you’ve signed digital PDFs, and you’re probably familiar with the basics of Google searching. But how many times has someone asked you for help resetting a password or locating a particular website? While it seems simple to us, this lack of digital skills can hold someone back from accessing the knowledge and opportunities available online. With more of our lives now happening virtually, digital literacy is more important than ever. Businesses and individuals navigate the internet every day, but if you’re having trouble building those digital skills, it creates a barrier between you and the rest of the online world. What is Digital Literacy? The definition of digital literacy depends on where you look, but according to the American Library Association, digital literacy is “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.” That’s the very technical definition, but in regular terms, digital literacy is the ability to navigate and understand the online and digital world. For someone who grew up in the 90s, 2000s, or 2010s, we have a habit of taking these skills for granted, rolling our eyes at parents and grandparents who call us yet again to ask how to get to their email. But with everyone spending more time at home in 2020, being able to navigate that iPad you gave them for Christmas last year is one of the few ways you can stay connected. We do a majority of our shopping online, so much so that malls are going out of business. And why wouldn’t we, when companies like Amazon can have items to your house the next day. But what does that mean for small businesses who never created a website for their store, who are losing their foot traffic? Digital Literacy is more than just sending an email or responding to a Facebook message. It’s the skills, knowledge and opportunities needed to succeed. Why Do We Need Digital Literacy? Digital literacy is a hot topic for a few reasons. While the issues of building digital skills have been in the spotlight for a couple of years now, COVID-19 has increased the awareness and need to build these skills for personal and professional reasons. When it’s difficult to get together with friends and family face-to-face, technology offers a way to fend off some of the feelings of isolation and loneliness, which is key to maintaining our mental health. Being able to handle a laptop or webcam can make a huge difference in maintaining relationships, but also in allowing for virtual visits with doctors or mental health professionals. We also know that a large number of people lost their jobs this year, leaving people looking for work who may not have had to search for a job in many years. This can be especially challenging now that the majority of job searches and interviews are conducted online. It also poses a problem for mom and pop stores that have been ordered to close their doors. Without the ability to navigate popular platforms like Facebook or even basic website creation sites like Wix to keep sales going online, they could be forced to close their doors. Being able to navigate online job boards like Indeed and professional networking platforms like LinkedIn can play a large part in the ability to find new work in the current market. Being able to handle technology is also essential for remote positions and working from home. On a more positive note, now is a great time for anyone looking to switch careers or just to grow their skills in their current field. If you’ve ever been interested in starting a new career in technology, now is a great time to work on those skills. Digital Literacy Resources If you’re interested in building your digital skills, there are resources available! In non-COVID-19 times, local colleges and libraries often offer classes on things like Microsoft Excel, basic email and Google skills, and even Apple-specific classes. You check with your local institutions on what they may have available. Companies like Microsoft also have programs available to help you build career-specific skills, like data analysis and IT support, or soft skills like Excel and the entire Office 365 suite. The Microsoft Global Skills Initiative offers free courses to help people affected by COVID-19 build their digital skills, but also learn new skills to help them prepare for a remote career. Their courses are available at no cost until March 31, 2021. Digital literacy has become one of the most important issues in 2020, allowing us to stay connected even when we can’t be face to face. Take some time to check out digital literacy resources and see what skills may be useful for you!… Read More

Ever thought about ‘cutting the cord’ of traditional cable? Back in the day, the only way to access channels beyond your TV antenna was traditional cable. The cable company would come to your house, hook up your box, and hope for the best. It was expensive, and you often paid for channels you didn’t actually want, but they weren’t any other choices available. With internet streaming on the rise, the traditional cable TV monopoly is losing its footing. In 2020, an estimated 44.3 million households have ditched regular cable for streaming services, and most of them say they aren’t missing out on anything. With new streaming services coming out every month, there’s no better time to cut the cord on cable. But where do you start? What is streaming? ‘Streaming’, in video terms, can be two things: on-demand streaming or live streaming. On-demand streaming gives you the freedom to watch your shows whenever you want, without worrying about your schedule getting in the way or remembering to set a show to record. Services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and AppleTV are just some of the most popular on-demand streaming platforms. When looking to change up your TV routine, look at what you most want to watch. Not all shows are available on all platforms, and a lot of platforms also produce their own exclusive content that will never air on live, traditional cable. Make sure your favorites are available on your chosen platform! Live streaming platforms are more similar to traditional cable with live channels. One of the top selling points of live streaming platforms like fuboTV and Sling is that they have access to live sports. Other platforms like Hulu are a hybrid of both, with on-demand and live content available, depending on the plan you choose. Streaming Devices Once you decide to cut the cord, you’ll need a streaming device to connect your TV to your new streaming service. If you’ve already invested in a Smart TV, you’re all set! But if you’re looking for a way to connect, you have a couple of options. The first option is to use a device you already have, like a gaming system. Newer consoles like Xbox and Playstation have apps available for most major streaming services. Other options include the Amazon Firestick, Apple TV, Roku, and Google Chromecast. These devices connect to your tv either by USB or HDMI, so be sure to check what will work with your TV. Roku won best streaming device from ‘cnet’ this year for its variety of available streaming apps, simple interface and easy search feature. Roku isn’t made by a streaming service, so they don’t have any particular loyalties either. There are several different Roku devices to choose from, so there’s probably an option for you! Google TV’s Chromecast device was rated second-best overall, Apple TV 4k got the top spot for Ultra HD streaming, and the Amazon Fire TV Stick was rated the best budget option. Check Your Internet Speed Now that you’re ready to cut the cord, you need to check your internet speed. Faster internet means less buffering and pausing while watching your new streaming service. Most services have their own recommendations, but the faster the better. For example, Hulu recommends 16 mbps for high quality, 4k content, but only 4 mbps for regular HD. Netflix’s recommendations are similar, 25 mbps for 4k and 5 mbps for regular 1080p. However, you can manually adjust these in your streaming settings, but it may affect the image quality. If you’re on a plan that includes a data cap, be on the look out for those as well. If you spend a lot of time on your streaming service, you may need to raise your cap, or look for a reliable, high speed, wireless, non-data capped provider like Wisper! If you’re already a Wisper customer, you can check your speed anytime on our website or Wisper Home app, and check with our team if there are higher speeds available in your area. So if you’re interested in cutting the cord on your cable provider, whether you’re looking to cut down on your monthly expenses or just looking for new things to watch, take some time to research different live streaming and on-demand services…. Read More

If you’ve never been unlucky enough to get a virus on your computer, let me set the scene for you: You’re sitting at your desk, typing away on a work or school assignment. You’ve been researching information online all day, including a few sources you weren’t so sure about. Suddenly your screen freezes. Everything goes black and lines of code begin scrolling across your monitor, and you realize that all of your work and data are gone. Or maybe you’re a pre-teen, sitting at the family computer circa 2007, downloading music from LimeWire. You finish saving “Sk8r Boi” by Avril Lavigne to your ipod shuffle and go to bed. The next day, your computer won’t turn on and your parents are furious. In both cases, you and your computer fall victim to malware. Viruses and malware have been around as long as computers have, and as technology advances, they become harder to avoid. Recovering your data after a virus can be expensive or even impossible, and often the easiest thing to do is replace your device all together. Computers are our whole lives, and to lose all your data can be devastating. So how can you keep your devices virus free? What is AntiVirus Software? Antivirus software has been around since the beginning of computers in the 1970’s, back when the very first virus, The Creeper, was created. The antivirus software industry developed in the 80’s, back when Atari still made computers. The 90’s led to the development of more widely available antivirus software from companies like Norton and McAfee, as well as the rise of the VPN, virtual private network. Technology has certainly advanced since then, but the idea is basically the same: scan for potential threats and eliminate them. So why do we need antivirus software? The short answer is easy: to protect your device from viruses. But there’s more to it than that. Threats to your computer and other devices come in many forms, collectively known as malware, including: Viruses – meant to damage your computer Rootkits – which mask malware Bots – which allow criminals to access your device Worms – meant to attack networks Trojan Horses – malware disguised as other programs that you can download Spyware – like the name suggests, can collect and access personal data Message scams – threats disguised at links in messages and emails A good antivirus software protects your devices from all of these threats, keeping your devices and your personal information safe from attackers. Regardless of the type of devices you use, a good antivirus program is necessary to protect them, as well as your information. Types of AntiVirus Software How can you get antivirus protection for your devices? The easiest and most common way is to buy antivirus software or subscriptions. While CD ROMs used to be the main installation method for antivirus programs, these days you can sign up for a subscription online and download the program right to your computer. But what about your other devices? Smartphones and tablets are also susceptible to malware and need antivirus protection as well. Most antivirus brands will offer extensions for your other devices, but often as an additional cost. There are also some free versions available online. Other antivirus methods are offered through some internet providers, blocking threats before they make it to your devices, rather than just finding and deleting them from your system. This also includes all of your devices through a single service. We offer this service at Wisper! If you’ve signed up for our Wisper Care plan, you’re already covered. Through the ProtectIQ add-on in the Wisper Home app you get access to built-in antivirus and malware protection for all of your connected devices. You’ll receive notifications in your app when a potential threat is blocked. You’ll also be able to see all threats that have been blocked, how many scans have been run and see a list of alerts. Viruses and malware can come from anywhere, so it’s important to keep your devices protected at all times. Whether you purchase a software subscription or go through your internet provider, you should seriously consider adding antivirus protection to your devices, if you haven’t already!… Read More

As we announced on October 1st, we’re launching a new service, Wisper Home! The new feature of the Wisper Care plan is the Wisper Home app. The app gives you total control of your home wifi, right from your phone. Wisper Home allows you to monitor any smart devices in your home, and it also protects your devices using a secure network. You can set parental controls, block viruses, and create guest networks, all in the Wisper Home App. Setting Up Your App Before we install our new routers, customers will need to download and set up the Wisper Home app. You can find us in your app store! Once the app is downloaded, you’ll need to set up an account. Start by setting up your information. Enter your email, create a strong password and provide a few extra details on your location. Once your account is created, you’ll be able to connect to your new router. There are a few ways you can do that: Scan the QR code on the router. This will automatically input all the information you need. Or you can enter the details manually. The MAC address and serial number are located on the router. Now you’re ready to set up your network! The app will prompt you to enter a Router Name and Network Name (SSID). The router name will help you identify the router when working in the app, and the network name is what you’ll select on your devices when connecting to the wifi. Finally, set up a network password. This should be different from your app password. Your network password is what you’ll use to access your internet on your devices. Now that your account and your router are ready to use, we can start getting into more of the available settings in the Wisper Home app. Parental Controls When you connect devices to your home wifi, they will be added to your Connected Devices list in your app. From here, you can choose a device that you want to set filters or profiles for. For example, you could select a child’s laptop, and a filter to block adult content or block specific websites. First you’ll need to set up a parental control profile. Using the parental control tab from the side bar menu, tap the plus in the upper corner to create a profile. Once you enter the profile information and add a photo, you can select the devices you want to include. Just be sure not to add the device that uses the Wisper Home app! From there, you can set time limits or disconnect all the listed devices. For more advanced options like content filters, go back into your main menu and select Enable Applications and select Enhanced Parental Controls. If it’s already enabled, you’ll already see these options in your profiles! Once that’s enabled, you can go back to your profiles and select Filters to create and view filters by content, applications, or websites. Network Security One of the best features of Wisper Home is the built-in antivirus and malware protection for all of your connected devices. This feature should already be available in your menu as Protect IQ, but if not, just select it from the Enable Applications menu. Once Protect IQ is up and running, you’ll receive notifications when a potential threat is blocked. No action is required! Threats are blocked automatically. Through the app, you’ll be able to see all threats that have been blocked, how many scans have been run and see a list of alerts. You can also skip devices that you don’t want to be scanned, but we don’t recommend it! You also have the option to add a potential threat to the Trusted List if there’s been a mistake. You can take content off the Trusted List at any time if you change your mind. Guest Networks guest network, wisper home And speaking of network security, Wisper Home makes it easy to set up guest networks. Guest networks allow people to easily access your wifi without leaving your private network exposed. Just select Guest Network from the main menu. Tap the plus sign to create a new network. You’ll also be able to see any active guest networks. Enter the information for your network. Event name can be customized for the purpose of your guest network, and the network name will be the option your guests select to connect. You can also choose to add a password using the AES security option. You can choose whether to make your network endless, something that is available all the time, or set dates for the start and end of the network. The network will expire and no longer be available after this date. When you’re done, select Save and Send to send the details to your guests. These are just a few of the options available to you in the Wisper Home app, so open it up, play around, and be sure to check out our Wisper Youtube channel for quick how-to videos if you have any questions!… Read More

Guest Networks and Network Security We know that visiting suspicious websites on your home internet can leave you exposed to malware and viruses, but did you know that letting guests on your network also leaves you exposed? Leaving your home network exposed also leaves room for hackers to access devices on your networks, like cameras, doorbells, smart thermostats, TVs, Alexa, and any device that is connected to your wifi. The ‘smarter’ your home is, the more important it is to protect your network. There are several strategies to keep your home network protected. You can set network strong network passwords, create guest networks, or start at the source with your internet provider. Network Passwords The number one way to keep your network protected is to create a strong password. Everyone who comes to your house will ask for your wifi password, but be careful. Once you give someone your password, they can tell it to their mom, their sister, their dentist, or just strangers on the street. We’ve talked about passwords before, but we’ll go over the basics: For network passwords, the longer the better! You want it to be something you’ll remember, but your friends won’t. A series of letters and numbers will be the best way to protect your network. Don’t give your password out to just anyone. This one is pretty obvious, but limiting the number of people who know your wifi password will limit the potential risks to your network. Change your password often. Create a system for yourself. Every 5 people you give your password to, change it up! Find a system that works for you, and stick to it. Guest Networks If you have a lot of people in your home for parties, holidays, or just have people over often, you may want to create a guest network. There are two different kinds of guest networks – a temporary network and an endless network. A temporary network has a start and end date. These are the most useful for events, so your guests can have wifi access while at your home, but the network will timeout when the event is over. You can set a guest password or leave it available. Either way, it keeps people off of your personal network. Let’s say your buddies are coming over for a Super Bowl party. Everyone’s going to be live-tweeting, checking stats, and googling the latest commercial. You don’t know where those searches will take them on the wide web, so you set up a guest network. The network starts the morning of the party, uses the password TouchDown#1, and expires at midnight when all of your guests have hopefully gone home. Now whatever your friends are searching will stay on that protected guest network, and the password for your personal password stays private. The second type of guest network is an endless network. These networks don’t have an expiration date, so you can keep up all the time. These are the most helpful if you often have guests in your home. Network Security with Wisper Home And finally, one of the simplest ways to protect your devices and your network is to start right at the source. Services like Wisper Home App and the Wisper Care plan block any negative invaders before they even get into the house. Wisper Home and other similar services run in the background 24/7 and alert you anytime something tries to get onto your network. It works by protecting all devices on your network, preventing any outside access to those devices, and blocking data from suspicious sites. As we mentioned before, some devices don’t have built-in antivirus capabilities like your phone or computer. Your smart TV or video doorbell has access to a lot of your information but isn’t inherently protected. Protecting them at the source keeps your information safe and private. Network security is important to protect your data, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Keep your password strong and private, set up a guest network when you need it, and keep all of your devices protected from invaders with Wisper Home…. Read More

Does this sound familiar? You’re on a Zoom call in your home office, maybe in the middle of a presentation, when suddenly everything freezes and your call is dropped. How about working on a spreadsheet online when your internet crashes and your work is lost? If you’re working from home, this can be incredibly frustrating! Most of these issues get blamed on the wifi, and rightly so. If your connection is slow or jumpy, it can kick you off or refuse to connect at all. For most of us working from home, wifi has become the most essential accessory in our homes, but how do you get the most out of your wifi? Of course, choosing an internet provider you can count on makes a huge difference. Check to see if Wisper is available in your area! Plugging directly into the router would solve most connection problems, but what if that’s not an option? Here’s a couple easy ways to get the most out of your wifi. Router Positioning It’s not always possible to plug right into your ethernet, and that can make it difficult to get a steady connection. One way to make connecting a little bit easier is to pay attention to the position of your router. Sometimes just a small shift can make a world of difference. Choose a central location – Router positioning is often limited by the location of your wires, but if you can, try to pick a spot in your house that is in the hub of your home. Don’t forget to check how many walls your signal has to pass through to get your devices. The closer you can get to the most popular wifi access points, the easier your router’s job will be. Clear the way – Is there anything in front of your router? It might seem silly, but something as small as a book or a lamp can affect the strength of your signal from the router. High vs Low – Is your router closer to the floor, or the ceiling? Keeping your router up higher on a shelf or table makes it easier to create a clear line of sight to your devices and strengthen your signal. Antennas – If your router has an external antenna, don’t be afraid to move it! For example, setting antennas at either a 45-degree diagonal or parallel to the floor will work the best for a two-story house. Free up Your Bandwidth Are you trying to spread your signal too thin? Sometimes just one application can suck up all of your available bandwidth and slow down your connection. Things like downloads, streaming, and gaming all take up an enormous amount of your wifi capabilities. If you’re having trouble staying connected during work hours, take a look at what else is going on in your home. Are the kids playing video games in their rooms? Is your significant other streaming Netflix upstairs? Setting a schedule of who can use what and when can really help open up your bandwidth. Cutting down on multitasking can also make a difference. It’s tempting to watch a video in the background while getting your work done, but this can create a pretty significant slow down. You can also make sure the kids are offline by a certain time using systems like profiles and parental controls. Signal Boosters If you want to get really serious, signal boosters, or wifi extenders, might be a good investment. Boosters work by grabbing your wifi signal from another room and amplifying it, before projecting it back to the room that you’re in. So if your office space is in the back of the house or on a different floor, placing a booster near your device can help create a stronger signal and keep you from cutting out. For Wisper in particular, we recommend mesh wifi extenders, but there’s plenty of options out there. Wifi extenders connect to your internet via wifi, and can be plugged in just about anywhere to amplify your signal. This creates two separate networks within your home, so you can choose to connect to the one that is strongest in different areas of your home. You can connect your living room smart tv to the original network on the main floor, but keep your office devices on the extended network when working upstairs. Mesh wifi works by creating a single, seamless network. Mesh networks use multiple devices, or ‘nodes’, placed strategically around the house to amplify your overall signal. Your devices will automatically connect to the nearest node, essentially eliminating any dead spots. Mesh systems tend to be more reliable and don’t require you to switch between networks when connecting in different parts of the house. They can also be useful for offices, schools, or if you have multiple people working from home or online learning.  … Read More

“Don’t talk to strangers on the internet, they’ll try to kidnap you!” As kids who grew up at the same time that the internet was coming into its own, we heard things like this constantly from our parents. Don’t put your real name on the internet, never give out personal information, and don’t respond to requests from people you don’t know in real life. A lot of us ignored that advice and spent a lot of time in chat rooms telling complete strangers our A/S/L (age/sex/location), or at least pretending to. There were no parental controls, no ‘safe search’ settings, and pop-ups were a constant annoyance. We chatted with strangers on AIM and made internet friends on Myspace, thinking we were old enough to stay out of trouble. Kids these days are often given an iPad before they take their first steps. They grow up taking technology for granted as a part of everyday life. So how do you teach them about internet safety and making good choices online? Parents turn to parental controls to keep their kids away from potential internet threats. Types of Parental Controls So where do you start? There’s a couple of different types of parental controls to look at when setting restrictions for your kids. Filtering and blocking restrictions limit access to specific websites, and filter out certain words or images. Kids search for some crazy things, and can easily stray into the less kid-friendly parts of the internet. Options like Safe Search keep potentially unsafe content from showing up in the first place. Blocking outgoing content helps keep your kids from putting sensitive or personal information out online. Once it’s online, you can’t get it back, and being able to keep them from sharing it can save you a lot of headaches. Time Limits let you determine how long your kids should be online for, and at what times of the day. Even adults have a hard time limiting our screen time, how can we expect our kids to? Setting and discussing time limits helps avoid the “five more minutes” fight and gives kids a chance to decide when and how they want to spend their screen time. Monitoring tools allow your kids to explore online, but keep you informed on where they’re going and what they’re looking at. We want to be able to trust our kids, but it never hurts to keep an eye on them, especially online. Monitoring tools can send you alerts when your kids venture out of the kind-friendly realm, or help you keep track of what they’re posting on social media. These settings can be made directly on phones or tablets, through your mobile provider, or in our case, your wireless provider! Our Wisper Home App and Wisper Care Plan allow you to set filters, block content, and make changes from your phone. It also alerts you any time a child’s profile attempts to get past the controls. You can apply them to TV’s, laptops, or any device that connects to the internet. Talk to Your Kids About Internet Safety In addition to restricting content, it’s important to teach children how to navigate the internet to help stop problems before they happen. Careful What You Share: Information that gets put out online stays online, so it’s important to show kids how ‘oversharing’ can happen and why it can be bad. Setting family guidelines about what information is ok to share helps set rules for kids to follow. As an example, try googling yourself and looking at the results together. Maybe your high school honor roll comes up, or maybe your resume, but whatever it is, be sure to point out how it got there, and how easy it was to find. Phishing for Information: Children and older adults are the top targets for phishing attempts, but children don’t know how to look for sketchy email addresses or grammatical mistakes. By teaching them to recognize common scams, like someone asking for credit card information, you can prevent your data from falling into the wrong hands. Password Creation: Silly passwords are fun and easy to make, but they aren’t usually secure. A password like ‘ihateschool’ is easy for hackers to break, and even hidden or private information can be revealed. Having a base password like A@ronS! (Aaron’s) with a specific detail to determine which account it belongs to, like A@ronS!T@b (Aaron’s Tablet) help’s keep passwords strong but easy to remember. And don’t forget to log out of devices and accounts when you’re done! This will keep friends and siblings from posting embarrassing statuses or releasing information. Questions? Talk about it!: If your kids find anything online that they aren’t sure about or that makes them uncomfortable, they can come to you. Walk them through what they found, and it’s not appropriate, figure out how to stay away from it in the future. The internet is a fun, educational place for kids to explore and learn, but it can quickly turn dangerous. Parental controls help limit the content your kids can access and keep them from sharing personal information online. Once you’ve decided what kind of limits you want to set, don’t forget to talk to your kids about why you put the controls in place! Teaching them safe internet practices build a strong foundation of internet-savvy to build onto as they get older and restrictions change. Whatever route you choose to take with parental controls, keeping your kids safe online is always the top priority!… Read More

Today there are several ways to get an Internet connection. Families rely on it more than ever for homework, work, entertainment, and to stay connected. Many are familiar with traditional Internet options such as Dial-Up, DSL, Cable, Fiber-Optic, and Satellite. However, fixed wireless is a new name in the game. It is gaining more and more attention as a valuable alternative Internet option. What is Fixed Wireless? Fixed wireless is another way to receive broadband Internet. Users are connected using radio signals, and no cables are needed. Wireless Internet avoids costly, time consuming inground fiber installations. This allows the wireless Internet service provider (WISP) operator to get service where it is needed much faster! It also saves the customer money! It is more common in rural communities where other providers won’t go. It is fast and consistent with unlimited data, which is perfect for streaming all your favorite shows. How Does it Work? How it works is really pretty simple. A wireless broadband provider mounts a radio outside of your home and aims it at a nearby structure. Structures include towers, water towers, grain bin elevators, poles, etc. The structure and the radio securely send and receive your Internet content. A wireless radio (CPE) is installed on the outside of the home. From the outside radio, a cable is run into your home, along with a wireless router. This allows you to connect your wired and wireless devices to the Internet, so everyone in your home can get online. How Does Wireless Compare To Satellite, DSL, Cable, And Fiber-Optics? Satellite: Most satellites are floating in orbit between 100 and 24,000 miles away. That’s how far your data is traveling – so latency (the delay between the signal being sent and reaching its destination) is going to be much higher than just about any other option. By comparison, your nearest Wisper tower will be less than 5 miles from your house. Wisper latency times (i.e. 30ms) are a fraction of that of satellite (i.e. 400ms). Customers who switch from Satellite to Wisper are often amazed by the improvement in Internet speed and reliability. Unlike Satellite, weather does not affect Wisper service. DSL: Only available in towns, or within a certain distance to the DSL Central Office. Usually requires a phone line, so bundling with phone is usually required. Most DSL speeds are between 1 and 3 Mbps. Beware – the older the phone lines in your town or neighborhood, the slower and less reliable your DSL Internet connection can be. If you are looking to cancel your landline telephone and get Internet only, or you want more speed than DSL can provide, Wisper could be your solution. Cable: It can be very fast. Cable providers rank highest on lists of companies with the worst customer service. Wisper’s speeds are comparable to cable, and customers enjoy local, friendly, and knowledgeable support. Fiber: It can be the fastest – but it’s not always. Providers can vary a lot – from the speeds they offer and how much they charge, to how long it takes to repair a cut fiber line and restore an outage. It’s not available everywhere, so if you have the option to choose fiber, you might want to look into it if speed is important to you. Does Weather Affect Wisper Internet? Unlike satellite, which can lose signal during heavy rain, weather does not typically affect the wireless signal. There are some exceptions to this, such as, severe storms and ice. Lightening can sometimes damage tower equipment. Wisper monitors the network 24/7, so tower techs know when there is an outage and can work quickly to restore service at all hours. Ice buildup can affect a specific type of antenna called a Yagi. This is the long, skinny, pronged antenna that is only used in areas with no line-of-sight to the tower. Is Fixed Wireless for Me? If your current internet providers are limited and not offering the speeds you need, it may be time to look into a fixed wireless solution. Service is fast and consistent with unlimited data which is perfect for streaming all your favorite shows. Check to see if it is available in your area! About Wisper Internet The idea of connecting others started when a friend didn’t have Internet access at his business. Therefore, Nathan Stooke accepted the challenge. It took a little research, a few maxed out credit cards, and hard work. After that, Wisper Internet was born. Wisper thrives by bridging the gap in rural America with fast Internet. In other words, we help you connect and create opportunities in your community. Headquartered in Mascoutah, Illinois, our team is known for problem-solving, and spot-on customer service. Above all we have an ever-growing staff, which means you can now find us across Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. To sum up, we are here to help you.  … Read More