Partnership Wireless Services

Tell me about Partnership Wireless?
Partnership Wireless, located in Argyle, Texas, is one of the leading high-speed, fixed wireless Internet service providers in North Texas. We focus on bringing affordable high-speed Internet access to homes and business in under-served, suburban and rural communities. We take pride in providing fast, friendly and knowledgeable customer service.
What areas do you service?
We service most of Southern Denton county and some of Northern Tarrant County. This includes: Alliance, Argyle, Bartonville, Copper Canyon, Denton, Double Oak, Flower Mound, Highland Village, Justin, Krum, Lake Dallas, Lantana, Northlake, Northwest Regional Airport, Ponder and surrounding communities.
What is wireless internet?
Basically, we give you broadband high-speed internet by connecting you to our Internet backbone using high frequency radio waves instead of wires or telephone lines. Your computer or router is connected to an antenna mounted on your home or business that points to one of our radio transmitters located on towers in your area.
How fast is wireless internet?
Our home standard service offers upload speeds of up to 384Kbps and download speeds of up to 1Mbs! Our home enhanced and business service plans offer more for those truly in need of the fastest internet available. Our service is truly broadband, offering speeds better than most DSL and comparable to cable internet. Please see our list of service plans for more detail.
What Equipment is required?
Equipment required for your installation varies depending on proximity, terrain and other factors. After you place your order, and prior to installation, we perform a site survey at your home or business. At this time we insure that we will be able to establish a reliable link from your location to one of our near by towers. There is no cost for the site survey and if we determine we will be unable to service your location you will not be billed.

What does the equipment consist of?
Equipment typically consists of a small flat panel outdoor unit connected to your computer via an Ethernet cable. Ethernet equipment is compatible with virtually all modern computers and operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Macintosh and Unix based systems.

What can affect my access speed?
Our bandwidth management is dynamic, meaning it changes access speeds according to network load. When more people are online at once, it evenly distributes the bandwidth to give proper and fair access speeds to everyone online. When fewer people are online, it allows for those people to get a greater share of the bandwidth and faster speeds. This means you will never get short changed on bandwidth with others getting the lion's share!
Will your wireless internet work with my online gaming?
Our wireless internet offers excellent ping times and reliable connections for gaming!
Does wireless internet use a phone line?
No, we do not require phone lines.
Is your service affected by weather?
No, weather has no affect on our signal, as it only travels short distances between your home and a local tower.
I have multiple computers in my home; can we all use the internet at the same time?
Yes! You will need a router to connect more than one computer. We will give you or your computer professional instructions on how to program the router to talk to your antenna. If you need a referral, just give us a call.
How is it different than dial-up internet?
As the name implies, the first difference is when connecting to a dial-up internet service provider (ISP) you must first wait for the modem to dial, make contact, and log into your connection. Sometimes you get a busy signal, and often dial-up ISPs will drop your connection unexpectantly. Although frequently referred to as a 56K connection, the average connect speed for dial-up is about 40K, with the maximum possible being 53K. With PW wireless, you do not have to wait for connection because you are always connected. In addition, our standard speeds are 20 times faster than dial-up speeds.
How is it different than Cable Internet?
Both cable internet and PW wireless internet offer a constant connection at high speeds. The difference is that cable is not available in most areas that Partnership Wireless services. To service new areas, cable companies have to make huge monetary investments and invest a lot of time to run new cable lines. The lack of dense population in rural areas and some suburban areas prevent them from making a profit in the end. Wireless internet does not have these problems.
How is it different than DSL Internet?
PW wireless internet offers faster speeds than most DSL services. DSL requires a phone line and for you to install filters on all phones and fax machines in your home. And like cable internet, DSL is not available in most areas we service, for pretty much the same reasons. To get an effective connection, you have to be within 18,000 feet of a switching station of the telephone company. The further you are from the station, the lower your effective speeds. Older telephone lines also cause connection problems in some areas.
How is it different than Satellite Internet?
Partnership Wireless uses microwave radio signals transmitted to and from towers in your local area in a quick and efficient way. Satellite Internet requires the signal to pass from your home, through the atmosphere, up to a satellite orbiting the earth and back again. This results in the famous 3-4 second satellite internet lag. In addition, satellite signals often are affected by bad weather and you may find rainy days leave you without internet access.
Do you limit bandwidth?
When we find a particular user is using over the top bandwidth (such as constant use of peer-to-peer file sharing) we will temporarily limit their bandwidth to protect other's speeds. Feel free to call us with any questions regarding this policy.
Is it secure?
It would be extremely difficult for anyone to interfere and capture our signal without our equipment and administrative settings. However, any constant internet connection (including DSL and cable) presents a risk of exposure so we always do recommend that you take precautions such as setting up a hardware or software firewall. If you need suggestions or referrals, feel free to give us a call.
Can things such as cordless phones interfere with the signal?
Our antenna does use the same radio frequency (2.4 GHz) as most cordless phones, but at a much narrower band and out of reach of your phone base transmission (outside of building and very high) so there is no need to worry about interference.
What does my computer need to have to connect to your service?
Your computer must have an Ethernet port or network interface card (NIC). If you bought your computer new within the last 2 years you probably already have one. If you don't have one or are not sure if you have one, call us, and we can help you get one installed.
Do I have to learn anything new to use your service?
The only thing you will have to learn is how not to wait! Just open your favorite browser (such as Internet Explorer) and you are already on the internet.
Do I have to get my own ISP to connect?
No, Partnership Wireless will be your ISP. However, some AOL users who don't want to loose AOL can use this high-speed access in addition to using AOL as their ISP. Please call AOL to get the details.
What kind of equipment is involved in installation?
While every home is different, the basic set up involves an antenna on your roof (looks like a white cigar box), a cat 5 cable run to your computer or router, a small power box (size of a pack of cigarettes) in your home and a grounding wire. Some homes may need a tripod, longer pole or a stronger antenna. We will be happy to survey your home to give you an idea of the set up you will need.
Do you ground the antenna?
Yes.
Am I buying your equipment when I pay for the install?
No, all equipment used in the installation belongs to Partnership Wireless at all times and must be returned upon cancellation of your service. That means that we will support the equipment and repair, replace or upgrade (barring any act of god, theft or abuse) the equipment free of charge as long as you are subscribed to our service.
Can I install the equipment myself?
No, the equipment belongs to Partnership Wireless, and as such for warranty and liability purposes only our professional installers can set up the equipment.
How fast can you get me set up?
Once we receive your signed Service Agreement, we can usually have you installed within days! Contact us to get a copy of the Service Agreement.
I seem to be just outside your area of coverage, is there anything you can do?
Occasionally we contract with customers to have a repeater or tower installed on their property to expand areas we cover or to help cover "holes" or low-lying pockets of homes that don't have a line of sight to one of our existing access points. If you are interested in a setup like this, give us a call and we'll discuss the feasibility of such an arrangement.