JackRabbit Wireless is a Fixed Wireless Internet Service Provider. We place a directional antenna on the roof of each customer's home or business - connecting them by wireless radio links to our towers. Our towers connect to each other by fiber and/or microwave backhauls, and link up to the broader internet by fiber.
Cable companies provide internet service over copper lines originally intended for analog TV. Thanks to DOSCIS, it has become possible to use these same lines to provide internet service to customers.
When one of those copper lines becomes damaged under the street, or deteriorates due to age or exposure - signal can become attenuated and negatively impact performance for some households. In these situations, phone and cable companies are hesitant to spend tens of thousands of dollars to dig up and replace those lines - especially if there is little local competition. For cable customers affected, this can mean experiencing frequent outages with little recourse.
Fixed Wireless offers a novel, cost-effective solution to help residents in such circumstances to connect to the internet using completely separate network infrastructure from that of the cable monopoly.
We are often asked if our Fixed Wireless service is "5G". 5G actually refers to a set of standards used by cell phone companies specifically, which differ from those that we use.
To make use of excess capacity on their networks, cellular companies now offer 5G Home Internet in many areas.
On 5G/LTE networks, this 5G Home Internet traffic is de-prioritized to the lowest level based on QCI (Quality Class Indicators). 5G/LTE networks prioritize Cellular Voice and Data traffic over everything else, leaving 5G Home Internet users with whatever bandwidth is left over. If you look at the Terms of Service for these 5G Home Internet solutions, they explain that bandwidth and latency will vary significantly during peak traffic hours for this reason. Often, 5G Home Internet bandwidth will drop to as little as 5% of what would otherwise be available during off-peak hours. That can lead to streaming services buffering or game sessions disconnecting, right when the internet is most used between 5:00 PM and midnight.
Instead, our Fixed Wireless network uses Flow Queuing, which is based on decades of research and IETF standards such as RFC 8290. Our solution puts your most important traffic first in line, and ensures every device in your home gets a fair slice of network resources. More information about our QoE standards can be found on our Performance page.
Fixed Wireless internet services such as JackRabbit connect clients to towers at a terrestrial level, usually less than 8 miles away. This provides consistent, low latency - making it about 17-times faster than Satellite internet.
Our connections can easily accommodate multiple live video conferences, online gaming, and other latency-sensitive tasks. The relatively short distance between the client and AP means that service does not cut out during light rainfall, a frequent concern with satellite internet services.
To provide service, we install an antenna on the subscriber's home. We can use a variety of mounts to affix the antenna, including j-mounts, non-penetrating flat roof mounts, and tile mounts.
Whenever a mount is secured to a shingle roof, the 4 lag bolts are drilled through tar pads to seal the threading, and the exposed edges of the mount are then coated with roof sealant.
A Mesh WiFi 6E router is provided for customer use at no additional cost. The unit has 2 gigabit LAN Ethernet ports available, and operates on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. For additional ports, a switch can be added.
A single node can provide adequate coverage for most homes. For those with large homes - we can add additional nodes to ensure thorough coverage. Some customers prefer to use another router, which is fine as well. We can assist with configuring your router on the day of installation.