Information and Introduction to New Internet Services

Hello,

The building has purchased a high speed service (from Lightower) for wireless distribution in common areas, eventual deployment of security cameras, and other such modern monitoring and communications services that will require broadband ethernet.

FiberXL has designed and will operate the internal network inside the building. As a bonus, individual unit occupants who wish to do so will have the option to sign up for high-speed internet service managed by FiberXL at an extreme discount.

As of Oct 12, 33 units in the Deming tower have been hooked up. We’ll continue to schedule installations in Deming indefinitely, as with the Lakeview towers, by the way. The last day to schedule an installation doesn’t really exist. This is an ongoing support-project which should go for at least the next 2.5 years, possibly longer if FiberXL and your condo board reach a suitable arrangement.

Lakeview towers are ready for installation!

Important information regarding Lakeview towers.

These towers are trickier than the Deming tower. You will need to consult with the building electrician, Daniel Blidar about precise point of entry. Daniel will be by on the morning of your install, or you might want to consult with him beforehand. He’s reachable at 847-650-6734. It might be advisable to get ahold of him and schedule a chance for him to examine your unit before making an installation appointment.

You will not absolutely need to be home during either the electrician poking the cable through (but you will need to consult with him before or when it happens) or during the procedure where we will head and test the cable.

You will need to be home to receive and learn how to use the new router…although in principle, arrangements leaving you one of each sort of router could be made. We can talk you through installation and options on the phone, or at a later date than the heading appointment. You could return the unused router to the management office.

The geometry and age of your building may create unique individual challenges for each unit. You will need to be home to discuss plans for optimizing your service.

Schedule and Subscribe.

For more information see section below.

Insofar as this is a commercial-grade service, you may expect extremely high uptimes. For now, The maximum possible speed is 250 Mb/s (can be increased in the future as needed), however, most normal operations should never require this much bandwidth. This will be shared bandwidth across the whole building. For brief bursts needed to download large files or similar operations, speeds nearing or exceeding 200Mb/s should be available. Wired speeds should always be adequate for all normal residential operations. Wireless can be much slower than wired depending on: 

  • type of router you are using (some types top out at 100 Mbps)
  • placement of router in your unit (this can cause reduced speed if located far from where you connect)
  • transmissions from other routers and other sources of electromagnetic “noise” (cordless phones, baby monitors, microwave ovens…) (this can cause interference and poor performance … which can be reduced or eliminated by relocating wifi routers or other equipment)

See the FiberXL Bandwidth Needs table.

Operations.

For those of you who wish to subscribe to the service… you will need to schedule an installation appointment.


There will be a yearly service fee of $25.00, payable one year at a time in advance. This will give you access to:

  • The high-speed internal network.

  • FiberXL service whenever needed. (Which comes with our excellent advice.)

  • A loaned router (property of the Marlborough Condo Association) during the duration of service.

Unlike some monthly providers, there are no monthly data usage limitations of any type or sort. Use as much content as you wish.

See also the FiberXL general FAQ page.

Timetable.

We are currently installing in all towers. Timeslots for connecting your unit should be available between 9:00 A.M. and 12:30 P.M. weekdays for the next 2 weeks, after which point those hours will expand back to 9:00 to 5:00. Unfortunately, we can only connect one unit at a time, so it will take a few weeks to get everybody connected.

Process.

Installation procedure:

1: Pull cable through wall into unit. (You will need to schedule this part with the above scheduling button.) Steps 2 and onward can proceed immediately (if you are home for step 1) or can be arranged by calling Dr. Murray at 847-207-6317.

2: Verify connectivity.

3: Connect power-over-ethernet Vonets router to cable in unit. Test wi-fi reception throughout unit. The Vonets router can function without an electrical socket in the vicinity. You will not need to choose a Cat6 interior cable if you do this, but your router will be in what might be an awkward place. Also, this type of router has a 100 Mb/s limit on data speed.

4: Choose to:

a: Leave p-o-e Vonets router as is.

b: to order (at no added cost) (if a cable has not already been ordered) an ultra-flat or ultra-thin Cat6 type interior cable of correct length and color so that the Vonets router can be:

Either:
REPLACED with a connector and the interior cable which will run to a Netgear AC-750 WiFi router placed deeper inside the unit (it will need a power outlet nearby) in some central locale of your choosing. This is the same type of router currently supplying wi-fi in the basement laundry room.

Or

We can connect the Vonets router to said cable which will lead to a switch suitable for wired connections deep inside the unit at a location of your choosing. Note: this is probably a bad idea, if you want to plug in a switch somewhere far away from the Vonets router it is probably best to just replace it with a Netgear AC-750 in the same place you would otherwise put the switch. The only advantage of keeping the Vonets router is that it will continue to function in a power outage (until the battery backup in the telecomm closet is exhausted) but your switch will not (unless you also put it on your own battery backup.)

Or

We can install a wireless (WiFi) range extender (with built-in wired ethernet adapter) near the Vonets router and run an ultra-flat or ultra-thin Cat6 type interior cable to a Netgear AC-750 router placed deeper inside the unit (it will need a power outlet nearby) in some central location of your choosing.

Best Regards,

William N. Murray, Ph.D., President, FiberXL

wmurray@fiberxl.com

847-207-6317

FiberXL Contact Information

https://fiberxl.com

support@fiberxl.com

312-224-1752

847-207-6317 (texts may also be sent to this number)

773-457-7238 (texts may also be sent to this number)

Normally, these methods of contact should generate same-day response.