Today we have a large number of options for browsing the Internet. We can connect to the network wirelessly or via cable. We have mobile devices, computers and a wide variety of equipment from what is known as the Internet of Things. With the passage of time, technology has advanced and there are more and more possibilities that we have. However, to achieve this, it is sometimes necessary to have certain elements or services. In this article we are going to explain what a WISP is and why they currently play an important role on many occasions.
What does WISP mean
WISP stands for Wireless Internet Service Provider . They are basically Internet providers that offer connection wirelessly. This brings a number of important benefits, as well as being the only option for many users who need to connect to the network.
It should be noted that the normal thing at present is to hire a fiber optic Internet service for the home. It is the technology that came to improve the quality and speed of ADSL and we can say that it is the one with the largest implementation in Spain. It offers symmetric speeds of up to 1 Gbps, good stability, low latency and, in short, a service that adapts to what most users are looking for.
However, it is not always possible to carry out the installation. Sometimes the infrastructure is not the best, we need to make changes in our home to pass cables or even the signal does not reach our street or town. This is something that happens less and less, but it is still a problem to be solved.
To avoid this, WISPs or Wi-Fi Internet providers come into play. Its mission is to offer wireless connection to homes or anywhere we need. All this without the need for an installation with cables, as would happen with fiber optics.
This is very interesting for isolated areas, hard-to-reach and remote places. They are based on antennas or stations. In addition, another smaller antenna is installed in the user’s home that connects to the station. In this way we can have an Internet connection wirelessly, without carrying out a complex installation.
Internet everywhere, something very necessary
We live in an age where having the Internet almost anywhere has become a necessity. The rise of teleworking , for example, has made users look for a way to be connected anywhere. We are talking, for example, of rural areas, which in many places there is a demographic increase thanks precisely to this that we mentioned.
But of course, many places are not adapted to offer fiber optics. They do not have the necessary infrastructure for it. This makes it necessary to have a WISP for wireless connectivity.
These companies are usually local . They are installed in a specific territory and offer service to the inhabitants of a locality or group of municipalities. The speed, of course, is not as fast as what we can obtain with fiber optics. However, it can be more than enough for everyday use, without requiring something extraordinary.
Generally, the speed offered by WISPs varies between 6 and 50 Mbps . They usually offer it symmetrically, so we will have the same downhill as uphill. We already know that the use of the cloud, for example, makes it necessary to have a good upload speed.
We can therefore say that basically two elements are involved: a larger antenna, the one that offers connection to customers, and a smaller antenna that the user installs in their home. With this second antenna we can distribute the signal to the different devices that we have in our home, basically like any other installation. We can connect from the mobile, computer or any device compatible with the Wi-Fi network.
We are connecting more and more wirelessly
Keep in mind that we have more and more devices that are compatible with wireless networks . If we think about how we connected only a few years ago, the normal thing was a computer connected to the router through a cable. This has gradually changed and now we have a wide range of options. We can navigate without the need for a cable installation.
Wi-Fi has therefore become an almost indispensable technology. Especially it has become very important due to the rise of what we know as the Internet of Things . Basically they are all the devices that we have connected to the network and that we use in our day to day at home. Televisions, video players, smart bulbs …
By being able to connect wirelessly we can achieve greater ease to integrate the devices that are connected. We can have more connected devices in our home without having to be limited to the available ports of the router.
But to reach everywhere, to be able to have Internet almost anywhere, it is necessary to have certain technologies or some means and services. One of them, as we have seen, is what is known as WISP. This type of service will allow us to have Internet in almost any place where it is necessary. It opens up a very wide range of possibilities to ensure that the territories are connected to the network without the need for the necessary infrastructure by cable.
We are increasingly entering a connected society , with many options to navigate. Wireless networks, as we have indicated, are very important and will become more and more so over time. Optical fiber, 5G, Wi-Fi almost anywhere … Now, whatever technology we use, it is essential to have the appropriate means, have our equipment protected and keep it running smoothly to make the most of the available resources.
In short, when we see the term WISP we already know that it refers to an Internet provider that offers a wireless connection to be able to surf the web almost from anywhere. One more alternative that we have available.
