I am a long term customer what package do I have now and how do these new packages affect me?

Thursday, 06 January 2011 14:53 Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 January 2011 09:57 Written by Michael McKinsey

Since we announced the new packages we have had several questions from existing customers because there is no package listed that matches the amount they are paying and they are trying to figure out how these changes affect them.

Firstly, the $59/month plan that most of our customers have is called the "Swish" (nothing but net) package.  If you have this package you are not required to change to any of the new packages, but we will not be offering this package any more to new customers.

The Swish package does not have predefined speed limits, we basically give you as much speed as we can get you on the equipment that you have.  Most of our customers on the older equipment once we do the backhaul and AP upgrades (we are about 65% done with upgrading the network at the time of this writing) end up at between 5-10Mbps maximum speeds download and 1-2Mbps upload speeds.

If we do end up putting caps on the Swish package they will be at 6Mbps download/2Mbps upload though at this point that has not been required and will probably only be put on accounts that end up with the new equipment for RF reasons but are still being billed on the old package for one reason or another (because running these uncapped on new equipment would not be healthy for the network).  Basically the speeds you get with a "Swish" account are dependent on the particular location and RF situation you are in.  This is an account that fits in between our new packages on the low end and the higher end but really does not fit in either category and this is why we have phased it out.

The Swish package is a better deal than the ValueNet or BasicNet packages as they are capped at 256Kbps and 512Kbps upload speeds respectively.  Some customers with Swish will be getting the same speeds or better than the PowerNET package.  ValueNet and BasicNET are of course less expensive, so if the extra upload speeds and faster download speeds are not that important to you, you can save some money every month by changing to ValueNET or BasicNET.

The new PowerNET and the ProNET packages are using different CPE (customer premise equipment) and are running on a parallel wireless network using a new non compatible technology and will have network priority over the older equipment, so it is fair to say that they will outperform the Swish customers most of which are running on the older equipment, but some Swish customers may actually have better speeds especially on the upload side.

Make sure to read:

http://flashbyte.us/index.php/faq/billingaccount/58-how-do-i-change-planspackages

for the details on how to change plans from the accounting department's point of view.

So the Swish package at $59 a month is by far the best value in the package lineup but it does not make sense to keep setting up accounts this way, and this is why we will no longer be offering it to new customers.  If you have Swish you are free to keep it as long as you stay a customer, but once you change to another package you will not be able to change back to it.  I hope this helps clear up any confusion.

Update September 2016: We have standardized on a 8Mbit download and 1Mbit upload package cap for Swish customers.  There is an important caviat which is that Swish does not quote speeds, so there is never a situation where you can be below the expected rates if you have a swish account, we make no specific efforts to reach any particular speed level with a swish account.  If you would like attention to a speed issue, please upgrade or downgrade to one of the existing packages to set an expectation level which we can then address.  Of course none of our packages have any guaranteed minimum, but we make a best effort attempt to meet the package cap speeds.

Thanks,

 




Michael McKinsey
Managing Member

FlashByte Digital, LLC



(c)2011 Michael McKinsey & FlashByte Digital, LLC - All Rights Reserved


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