Dotnet Wireless Internet in Fond du Lac County.

I have seen a whole bunch of articles regarding "Fond du Lac County going wireless" Most the stories are positive, but I have also seen some negative feedback in comments and on twitter.

I personally think this agreement is a good thing. I don't know the exact terms of the agreement but it seems like in trade for tower space the county is getting internet access are several of its locations. This could result in hundreds or thousands a month in savings for the county in reduced internet bills. I know that T1 lines to more remote areas of the county can be well over $700 a month.

People inside the City of Fond du Lac also forget that many parts of Fond du Lac county do not have Cable or DSL as an option either. Any way I look at it more providers are better, and the agreement is not preventing other providers from offering service the way many cable company agreements grant exclusive locks on communities.

What other options are available?

• Verizon is the phone carrier in most of the southern and northeastern parts of FDL County has DSL in some areas. (Last I checked with a local Verizon employee, they have no plans of expanding is DSL coverage so if it isn't already an option your not getting DSL in Verizon areas.)
• AT&T DSL has greatly expanded its coverage the last few years, but I still don't think it covers 100% of their lines.
• Cable - Charter covers City of FDL and many of the communities, does not over most rural areas
  
• Dialup - Many providers including some local like Dotnet and Fastbytes - slowest option
  
• Cellular - Coverage and speed varies based on location Sprint, Verizon(Alltel) have highspeed networks in the area, US Cellular will soon, and I think AT&T might now to but I don't know for sure. Cellular access is the most mobile, but normally are not as easy to get connected to more than one computer, and have lower than average download caps that might incur extra fees so be careful.
  
• Satellite - DirectPC and WildBlue are options almost anyplace but off also have low download caps, weather issues, and might not be as fast as advertised.
• Dotnet - Both Licensed and Unlicensed fixed wireless. Coverage based on distance from towers, trees, hills, and equipment. The will have the most towers in the county and should have the most non cellular coverage.
  
• FastBytes - Similar to Dotnet in many ways coverage might not be as good in all areas, might be better in others. As far as I know they have no licensed wireless gear.
  
• Excel.net, Bertram Wireless (no relation), Phoenix PC, Kmoraine - More fixed wireless providers that cover some parts of FDL county. To be honest I don't know a lot about the coverage of this companys.
  
• Others I'm sure I missed somebody, feel free to let me know.

In general I leave off with this thought. More options generally will lead to people being able to find one that works for them.

Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce

I good place to start when looking for a tech company in Fond du Lac, one place that you might want to look at is the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce website at http://www.fdlac.com
I found two relevant categories with technology related members that I will list below. I hope to feature a couple of these companies in more details.

Computer & Telephone Servicing/Consulting/Training
http://www.fdlac.com/member_cat.php?submit=1&category=110

Web Site Design/Internet Service Provider
http://www.fdlac.com/member_cat.php?submit=1&category=109

The FDLLUG

The first group I'm going to touch on for this blog is the FDLLUG. The FDLLUG is the Fond du Lac Linux Users Group, a small group of Linux and Open Source advocates from the surrounding area. The group is open to everybody, and meets the second Wednesday of every month at Moraine Park Technical College. Meetings are generally informal, sometimes there are presentations, other nights are social nights that are open to whatever comes up that night.

The upcoming meeting is Wednesday September 10th at 6:00PM. This meeting will be a little out of the normal, the focus will be on trying different methods of video and audio streaming. If you are unable to make it and willing to help do some testing from home, this is a great chance to get involved.

If you are interested in the FDLLUG check out the website at http://www.fdllug.org, and you can also join the mailing list for more information.

Welcome to the Fond du Lac Tech Blog

Welcome to the source for technology news and information for Fond du Lac, WI. I have a few people in mind that I would like to start with and maybe interview them. I will work on that hopefully that and a few other things and hopefully I will get things off the ground.