Countryside Broadband

Do I have to continue to pay for my existing ISP?

If you want to keep your email address and web space provided by your ISP, yes; otherwise, no.

Can I keep my old email address?

Yes. You can collect your email from your POP3 mailbox in the same way as normal except that the mail will be delivered using the broadband connection. When sending mail you will not be able to use the SMTP server provided by your existing ISP. This is to prevent servers being used to send spam. Countryside Broadband provides an SMTP server for you to send mail. This requires one simple change to the settings of your email client program.

May I continue to use my existing Internet Service Provider (ISP)?

Your ISP provides several services to you such as email, web space, access to the Internet etc. Countryside Broadband provides primarily the Internet Access and mail relay functions. You can continue to use the web space and email services provided by your existing ISP.

Will I get web space with my subscription, and if so, how much?

Countryside Broadband is primarily a supplier of high-speed Internet access; we will not provide web space initially. We are looking at setting up a scheme with a third party provider to make web space available to our customers in the future.

Why do I have to pay by Direct Debit?

Direct Debit is the lowest-cost method of transferring money on a regular basis. If we can keep these costs down, it helps to keep the price of the service down. Direct Debit is also very secure and the customer is very well protected.

If the amount to be paid or the payment date changes, Countryside Broadband will notify you seven working days in advance of your account being debited. If an error is made by Countryside Broadband or your bank or building society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund from your branch of the amount paid. You can cancel a direct debit at any time by writing to your bank or building society.

How soon can I have the service?

Once you have registered with us and we have ascertained that you have line-of-sight with our transmission stations, we will schedule an installation.

What do the antenna and the radio look like?

The radio is about the size of a personal stereo (13cm x 8.6 cm x 3 cm). The antenna will be a panel type of one of several different sizes; the smallest one is about 15 cm square and will be used when close to the base station. If your premises are further from the centre a larger antenna may be used, these go up to about 30 cm square.

Can I switch off the radio link, when I am not using it?

Yes, no harm will be caused but it will take a few seconds to reconnect to the network when it is switched on again. The radio consumes 2 watts which is about the same as a torch bulb. We recommend that the radio is left switched on to allow us to proactively monitor your connection quality.

Can I have my own public Internet Protocol (IP) address?

Yes, we will issue you with a single fixed IP address upon installation and can offer more from our allocation upon request, within the limits of our allocated range.

What about firewalls?

We recommend that every Internet user should have a firewall. The number of attacks on computers is increasing and a simple firewall can protect your computer from this type of anti-social behaviour. Software firewalls which protect a single computer are available for very low prices, several are free. ZoneAlarm is a good one to start with.

If you have more than one computer on a network, it is a good idea to have a firewall to protect the whole network. You can buy dedicated firewall hardware or you can use an old PC to run firewall software such as IPCop. This is a great use for that old 486 that is on its way to the tip.

We may consider providing a central firewall service for those who would like it, but no details are available yet.

How is the radio unit connected to my PC?

The radio has a local area network (LAN) connector. This uses the 10BaseT Ethernet standards. If you have a LAN connector on your PC, you can plug a cable in to connect to the radio. You will probably have to make some changes to the network configuration of your PC. Countryside Broadband will provide advice on how to do this. If your PC does not have a LAN connector, you will have to provide the facility. There are several ways to do this:

Put a network interface card (NIC) inside using a spare ISA or PCI slot. These cards are now priced in the £10 to £20 range.

If your PC is a notebook type it will probably have a PC-Card (PCMCIA) slot; you can buy NICs to fit the slot. These are a little more expensive than the ISA or PCI cards.

If your PC has a USB port, you can obtain an adaptor that will plug into the USB socket and provide a LAN connector on the other end. These cost about £20.

In any case, you connect the PC to the radio unit using a standard LAN cable (NOT a crossover type).

Can I connect the service to my home network?

Yes. You will have to configure the system yourself, but we can assist. You may be able to use one of your PCs as an access server using Microsoft's Internet Connection Server. Alternatively, you can use a separate router or build a router/firewall using an old PC. IPCop is a good piece of software for this. Obviously, your system configuration could be very complex and Countryside Broadband does not guarantee to be able to support anything beyond the management of the link to our network.

Remember that using a LAN might increase the amount of traffic on the network to such an extent that the service of other users is degraded. Countryside Broadband reserves the right to take steps within its network to prevent this problem. This may result in your throughput being reduced at certain times.

Can I run a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to connect to my office?

Yes. If your office is also served by the Countryside Broadband system, we may be able to configure your radio units to improve the performance. Please get in touch if you want to do this.

Can I upgrade my subscription to get higher speeds?

Yes. Contact us for the prices associated with changing the speed. We may impose limits on how often you can make changes.

How close to the high-capacity base station do I have to be?

The limit of range is about 4/5 km, however, the path between your antenna and the base station must not be obscured. Buildings and trees may cause problems but these can often be solved by careful positioning of the antenna.

What if I cannot get the radio signal from where I live?

We will not charge you for anything and will attempt to find an alternative way of connecting you.

Can I buy the radio and antenna?

No. Countryside Broadband owns the equipment. This allows us to make sure the radio is configured correctly and to detect faults at an early stage. We will exchange any units that become faulty. This would be more difficult to manage if customers owned the equipment.

Are the radio signals dangerous to my health?

No one can say that there is absolutely no risk but we believe that the chance of health effects is very, very small. The radio transmits at a maximum power of one tenth of a watt; this is one twentieth of the power of a normal mobile phone. Very little power will be emitted from the radio unit; most of it will be carried up the cable to the antenna, which is well away from people.

The base station operates at the same radio power as the customer radios and its antenna is much higher up thus reducing the effects even more.

If I have already signed up on BTs ADSL demand tracker site can I still sign up for Countryside Broadband?

Yes. We hope you will sign up for the Countryside Broadband service. Registering your interest on the BT site is not a commitment to take the service.

If I require further information whom do I contact?

The best way to get information is to send email to support@countrysidebroadband.co.uk but you can also telephone on 0845 003 2639 (this is usually set to voicemail but someone will call back quickly).

FAQv4 - 10 March 2003