208-883-5500

New Fast
Cactus SkyLinkTM

 Wireless Internet

SkyLinkTM is our mostly 5.8 GHz wireless Internet service for Moscow & Pullman.  For the first time you can have it all.  SkyLink offers high speed, high power, high stability, high availability, great distance, and low cost.  Call us now at 208-883-5500.

Compare

2.4 GHz    First Step Internet,
 $35.00/mo for 800K/128K 
2.6 GHz    Clearwire,
$34.98/mo for 768K/256K 
Mostly
5.8 GHz    		Cactus SkyLink,
$29.95/mo for   800K/200K
$34.95/mo for 1600K/400K
$44.95/mo for 3200K/800K
$59.95/mo for 4800K/1200K
$79.95/mo for 6000K/1500K 

(For complete information on speeds available, go to pricing page)
 

Location

We are adding new access point locations all the time - SkyLink makes that easy.  The table below has a list of current locations and maps where the access points are located.  If you have line of sight (except for maybe a tree if you're close enough) without hills or buildings in the way, you may qualify for this service.  (If you don't qualify now, check back regularly as an access point may suddenly appear in your neighborhood.)

Moscow Map 10/16/12
Moscow Downtown Detail map
SkyLink access points are located at:

  1. Moscow Mountain, first ridge east of the highway

  2. Quail Run - near highway

  3. Hillcrest Motel

  4. 506 N. Jefferson

  5. Residence St. near the water tower

  6. Peterson St.

  7. Cactus at 211 S. Main

  8. Courthouse

  9. Henry Ct, behind McDonalds School

  10. Just north of Vista water tower

  11. Western end of Paradise Ridge (three points)

Pullman Map 10/16/12
note: the above map is a 282K .gif file - very detailed.

SkyLink access points are located at:

  1. Port of Whitman Industrial Park

  2. Off Albion road

  3. Glendimer Apts - Wayne St.

  4. Glendimer Apts - Turner St.

  5. State St. West of water tower

  6. Cougar Place - 850 N. E. C St.

  7. Bishop Blvd, on the hill.

  8. Greystone Apartments at 430 NE Maple St.

  9. Coffee House at 1000 SE Latah St.

If you think you qualify or just don't know, phone us with your street address and Monica or Frank will zoom in on it using Google Earth, which can be made to show the land contours, trees and buildings as a "virtual survey".  Phone us at 208-883-5500.

If it looks like it will work, we’ll arrange a time for our technicians to go and make really sure it will work, along with installing the radio equipment.  Your computer will need an Ethernet port, and we can install one if you don't already have it.  If you have multiple computers, you'll need a router or switch so they can all be on the Internet at the same time.  Let us know if we should bring one.

We normally use outdoor wireless antennas for the AirMax service.  But under certain circumstances an indoor unit makes sense.  If your home is less than one half mile from the access point and you have a window or frame wall facing the right direction near your computer, the indoor unit is much easier to install.  If you are a short time resident or renter, an indoor unit is practical, when spending 3 hours installing an outdoor unit on a building which doesn't even belong to you is not.

In the chart below, the pricing includes monthly equipment costs.  All of the wireless providers have a $50 installation/setup fee, except for the Cactus SkyLink indoor radio which has no installation or setup fee.  (Note:  Due to a recent change, First Step Internet's 2.4 GHz wireless prices have gone up!  The prices are now $35, $40 and $45 instead of $30, $35 and $40 respectively as the graph below would lead you to believe.)

Speed and Cost for Wireless Internet

You can see from the chart above (data gathered October, 2007) that Cactus SkyLink is faster or less expensive (or both!)  than our wireless competition.

Call us at 208-883-5500.  Why pay more for less when you can have it all!  Call 208-883-5500 now.

Advanced Features Included

Better for Urban Environments

Old-style 2.4 GHz works poorly in crowded urban environments because the signal bounces off buildings, cars, and other objects, garbling the original signal.  The 2.4 GHz 802.11b standard has no way of handling this except to reduce the speed of the connection.  SkyLink's AirMax radios use a special OFDM process to bring those reflections back into synchronization, which allows the radios to increase their speed.  So SkyLink works extremely well in urban environments.

Better for your home or office

Because most of our equipment uses 5.8 GHz, it will not interfere with your 2.4 GHz wireless LAN (and vice-versa).  With nearly three out of five people buying laptops and setting up wireless LANs, this has become an important consideration.  The same holds true for 2.4 GHz wireless phones.

High Stability

SkyLink optimizes your connection over time, discovering the best modulation rate to achieve a consistent, fast connection.  The process is quite complex and the radio needs to be on for several hours to complete it, but it prevents the SkyLink radios from unnecessarily reducing speed when faced with moderate interference - a problem for radios which react only to the moment.  As a result, you won't see the frequent slowdowns common to other systems.

Frequently Asked Questions

Tricks for optimizing your indoor SkyConnector

The Palouse's Oldest Wireless Internet Service Provider

Yep, believe-it-or-not, Cactus is the Palouse's oldest Wireless Internet Service Provider.  We set up our first link nearly a year before First Step Internet.  However, we were unwilling to jump on the early 2.4 GHz bandwagon.  We set up a few long distance links for customers who couldn't get broadband any other way, and we find it works well in rural areas.  It also works in small towns where there are only a small number of 2.4 GHz devices. 

In 2010 the new AirMax N radios became available, and even at 2.4 GHz, they are very reliable.

Come join the fantasy.  Call 208-883-5500.

SkyLinkTM is a trademark of Cactus International, Inc.
Copyright (c) 2006 - 2012 Cactus International, Inc.