Is Minneapolis Wireless any good?

July 29, 2009 1:51 PM

Is the USI Wireless service in Minneapolis any good?

I'm interested in any recent experiences (positive or negative, preferably within the past year) that you've had with the Minneapolis Wireless program.

I'm going to be living right by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and will need a connection for two laptops and an imac.

posted by voltairemodern to computers & internet (6 comments total)

I don't think it's fully operational just yet. I used it on a friend's machine, I thought it was slow - but I was in a sour mood.
posted by Think_Long at 2:11 PM on July 29

It works pretty much as advertised for me (3Mb down/1Mb up) at my house elsewhere in south Minneapolis using one a Ruckus modem in dual-zone mode (which I think they don't officially support, but things never worked quite right connecting it to my wireless router).

You'll probably want to spring for the modem, and how well it works will depend on how close you are to an access point.
posted by substars at 2:40 PM on July 29

It works for me, but not exactly wirelessly. I had to get the Ruckus modem also.

So, I've got the antenna in my dining room window (can't use metal screens or metal blinds in this window now). There's a cord between the antenna and the modem sitting two feet away on the dining room table, and then an ethernet cable between the modem and my laptop another two feet away also on the dining room table.

I can't remember which speed I've got, but they were offering three different levels and I picked the middle one.

I don't do any online gaming. I mostly use my connection for regular web surfing, watching online videos and listening to podcasts. For these purposes, it's been great.
posted by marsha56 at 5:18 PM on July 29

I don't use it, but it shows up in my list of available networks from my boyfriend's house. It only shows 2 bars (out of 5) for connection strength, even though the USI transmitter is mounted on a street lamp only 3 houses away. I'd be inclined to think, like others have mentioned, that the signal strength is not the best.
posted by vytae at 6:48 AM on July 30

My best friend and her husband use it. They've had some trouble maintaining a signal and downloads can be quite slow.
posted by anderjen at 3:53 PM on July 30

And I forgot to mention earlier, but my experiences with their customer support has been great. I've had to call in maybe half a dozen times over the last year with connection issues. Wait time has never been more than 5 or 10 minutes and usually no wait time at all. Their support guys are great. Very calm, patient, helpful. They've always been able to help me resolve any problems in short order, and never made me feel stupid or like it's my fault.

Had to call in this morning and it made me remember this post, and thought I should update.
posted by marsha56 at 9:57 AM on August 10