Here are some frequently asked questions. Feel free to reach out to us and a member of our team will be happy to answer any questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you!
Broadband refers to a type of transmission that uses broad bandwidth channels wide enough to send and receive large amounts of data. Unlike phone lines, which are narrow-band and can only transmit voice, the larger channels used in broadband can carry voice, data and video simultaneously.
In relation to our Internet service, the term broadband is normally used to discuss high speed Internet options such as DSL, satellite or our wireless internet.
So, in everyday usage, it means all of the types of Internet service except for dial-up. CGI-Communications Internet Services that are considered broadband:
Most often times all you will need is your computer or internet capable device and an available power outlet for the customer premise equipment (CPE) normally provided by the service provider. In certain cases you may want additional routing or wireless access inside your home or business not provided with the CPE so you may need to purchase a wireless router or access-point from a local distibutor. Contact our Sales department if you need assistance in determaning what type of equipment you might need for your specific application.
CGI-Communications Internet Services standard installation times:
We offer free email and telephone support for all our products. We are also working on expanding our knowledge base for all of our services and several how to guides for varying network tasks under our support section. If all else fails, contact Technical Support at (520) 421-3333 opt. 2.
Our Internet service is designed to provide you with ease of mind. Most of our connections provide a private a network hidden behind the customer premise equipment (CPE) to allow less direct connections to your computer from the internet making it harder for that dreaded hacker to steal your personal and private information. Viruses and spyware infections on a computer can still allow the attacker a potential entry point – so remember that you are solely responsible for the security of your personal information and know what threats are online.
Email messages that are sent between the CGI-Communication and you are not encrypted. However, email messages that are sent between your messaging server and CGI-Communications can be encrypted using SSL encryption. SSL encryption can also be used by the browser, other devices, and applications to help protect your data when you connect to the Internet (for example, while shopping and banking online).
No, we provide a standard (native) Ethernet cable as a means to connect to our service. If you would like wireless access in your home or business you will need a wireless capable router or access-point. Contact Sales if you need assistance with setting this up in your home or business.
Standard support hours are 9AM-9PM 7 days a week. Extended level service agreements are available and included with certain products. Contact our Sales Department if you are interested in purchasing a extended level service agreement in addition to your service package.
It is dependent on the type of service agreement you have. All…. I repeat all, Internet Service Providers have some form of “acceptable use policy” limiting what their connections can be used for. We are no different in that. Certain agreements for larger circuits may be negotiated or reworked to allow hosting of services, or a more consistent amount of network traffic. We feel we provide a service to the community and want to share that with as many as possible so we do rate-limit certain products and services according to the plan specific service level you have with us. That rate-limit does not necessarily impose a data cap. Meaning we will not limit you from transmitting data during the billing cycle but we may impose a service fee of up to $10.00 per Gigabyte of traffic in excess of the plan allowance. depending on the abuse, CGI-Communications maintains sole discretion as to what constitutes acceptable use including bandwidth consumption.
Wireless Broadband also known as 3G, 4G, WIMAX, satellite internet, and mobile broadband are broadband connections that provide you service without any physical wires between you and your service provider. Services like wireless broadband are fixed to one address yet services like mobile broadband allow you to roam around the coverage area and remain connected. Coverage and LOS are important as a weak signal will result in poor speeds and drop outs. Excellent value and doesn’t require a telephone line.
VDSL/ADSL2+ is broadband through a landline (telephone line). Fixed to one address. Fast speeds – up to 40Mbps on ADSL2+ and up to100+Mbps on VDSL. Speeds are affected by the distance from the home to the telephone exchange, with speed deteriorating over distance. Good value if used in conjunction with an analog home or business telephone line.
Cable Broadband – Broadband through a dedicated cable. Generally only available in metropolitan areas. Fast speeds – up to 100+Mbps but may be more expensive and depending on the provider – may be unreliable and slower than what you expect. Does not require a landline telephone service.
There are other types such as Fiber, Optical Ethernet, T1, and power-line derived forms of internet available as well.
That depends on your service area, speed demand, and how much you are willing to spend. Normally in our service areas – Wireless Broadband provides the best bang for your buck.
If you have a business, there’s no doubt that nowadays you will need telephone and Internet. Businesses require more bandwidth and availability for service than residential customers and almost always see this in the form of a higher cost. That has changed in recent years however. Any package clearly marked as a business package takes this into account and the service level agreement reflects this. How many computers accessing the internet, use of hosted applications, video, and voice can affect how large a circuit you will need. If you have questions contact our Sales Department.
Generally Speed = Quality
In the most general sense bandwidth is the size of the pipe and speed (throughput) is the rate at which the pipe flows. To put it into perspective if you have a 256Kbps internet connection and start downloading a file at 256Kbps then add another download your connection slows to 128Kbps for each download. The speed of the connection is now at 128Kbps. Add 2 additional files and the four connections slow to 64Kbps. The speed of the connection is now at 64Kbps. If it were only this simple, many other factors such as end-points (remote servers) and backbone ISP circuits can affect actual transfer rates. For businesses a rule of thumb that has served well over the years is to calculate bandwidth needs at 37% of overall use which calculates for a lot of very technical things such as the overhead related to general TCP/IP traffic.
Yes, of course. Depending on the service level agreement you may upgrade your speed at any point in the contact terms without penalty. However there are a few things to consider. That upgrade must incur an additional cost above the previous package and it may renew the service contact.
