Growing pains! Why is my video stream buffering?

281 Communinications Corporation Inc. is expanding it's network and increasing it's backhauls to keep up with the ever increasing demands for new clients moving into the area as well as current clients continued increase needs for bandwidth.

281 Clients at Lake Buchanan, Llano, and Burnet are giving a big shout to Juice@281 and Jim@281 for their work to add 5G mmWave technology between our Burnet and Fairland towers to increase capacity at peak times and lower latency for everyone working and gaming from home.  Before this upgrade was complete, our 11 GHz backhaul was hitting 100% capacity mainly in the evening hours.  Now we have enough capacity to meet our clients voracious appetite for bandwidth in these remote communities!

Please send us a text or give us a call if you are in need of supperior Internet performance around the Highland Lakes!  830.798.9041

Don't wait until your kids can't go to virtual school or you loose your job online to experience how Internet was meant to be in the Texas Hill Country!

281 Communications brings 6 GHz to the Highland Lakes!

The FCC has granted 281 Communications Corporation Inc. on January 20th, 2022 a license to deploy 6 GHz frequency range 5.850GHz to 6.425GHz.

This new capability will allow 281 to upgrade clients to this frequency range where there is less noise, bringing faster speeds and lower latency across our networks.

We are excited to have another frequency to work with as the area continues to grow.  It is becoming more challenging to continue to add new clients in our crowded air space.  Having new frequencies and technologies allows 281 to continue to bring a better Internet experience everywhere around the Highland Lakes.

281 Internet rings in the New Year! Welcome 2022

 

Exciting new 281 Capabilities!

281 Communications Corporation Inc. has finally received it's 10 gigabit fiber!  Over the coming weeks 281 will be receiving it's own Autonomous System Number from ARIN, implementing BGP between it's two fiber upstreams, and implementing this new capability into the 281 Internet network.

Having two fiber upstreams coming into different points on our network gives 281 redundancy.  This is called being multihomed.  When there is a fiber outage with one our upstreams, they system will automatically reroute all 281 clients traffic through the other.  When both are working, the traffic will route through the best route, so it's even possible and likely that at times you may go out one fiber and receive your requested Internet resource back through the other fiber.

Having multiple paths to places on the Internet will lower latency across our entire network in addition to providing redundancy.  The entire 281 team is excited to get this new capability implemented!

281Internet increasing it's capacity by 1000% with new 10 Gbit Fiber Circuit

 

Tim@281 just completed a contract to receive a 10 Gbit link through FiberOne directly into one of the worlds well connected data centers in Dallas TX at 1950 N Stemmons Fwy.  We will receive the new circuit in 90-120 days and after testing and implementation, should be online for the 281 network and it's growing clientele by March 1st, 2021.

Not only will this new link increase 281's capacity by 1000%, latency to everywhere around the globe across the Internet will dramatically improve since this circuit is a direct fiber link to this major data center in Dallas with peering to most every major carrier.

This circuit is being delivered to one of 281's towers so that it will also give the network two geographically different circuits both in their location on 281's network, but also to which data centers in two different cities they are connected to.

281 learns to install and splice it's own fiber.

Exciting new 281 Capability!

281 Communications Corporation Inc. has received it's first spools of fiber!  Next week our entire staff is going to Dallas Texas to attend training with Inno to learn how to operate our new Inno View 1 splicer so we can now make our own fiber cables on towers and in our facilities.

We can now install fiber for clients through the Highland Lakes.

This is a complete game changer.  Now we can improve upon our 5G deployments by converting current copper connectivity with fiber on the tower to further increase capacity and lower latency across our entire network.

281 Internet emerges from Shelter in Place stronger and more resilient

281 Communications Corporation Inc.

Surviving Covid-19

Hi, and welcome to the new normal.  I just wanted to speak a few words to our customers and anyone who might stumble upon our blog about how our company survived and thrived during these trying times.

First I would say we were very lucky compared to many of my counterparts in our industry.  Doing business in the Highland Lakes region of Texas has been a great advantage throughout our history, and my personal career.  Like everywhere in the world, we have had our down years, but in general, our economy has thrived when others have struggled.  I am grateful I chose to live here as a young man.

These advantages were apparent again during these challenging times.  As I mentioned, 281 Internet was very lucky to have been near completion of a year long project to upgrade our network infrastructure to grow.  Less than 6 months prior to the outbreak and stay at home orders, 281 had been hitting dangerously high levels of utilization on it's network resources.  Upgrades completed then brought those levels down to 30% utilization.  This put us in a unique position of being able to handle the new load which jumped 300% between March 1st and April 15th as stay at home orders came into full force.  It also allowed us to take on new clients, many of which were getting home Internet for the first time to keep their kids in school through distance learning, or work from home.

Today, as orders to stay home are rescinded, and our clients look to get back out of the house, 281 is again looking to a future of growth.  I have already seen multiple home sites with full construction crews working again in our area.  With more funding available to businesses during the last couple of months, 281 secured funding and has six new links on order to upgrade and expand our network even further creating higher speeds, lower latency, and more redundancy.  281 Internet is now bringing Internet speeds of 50 Mbps and more download to over 60% of it's network.

281 Internet will be prepared for whatever challenge we face next.  We are doing all we can to insure our clients are also prepared to meet those challenges too.  Whether it be the need to watch TV through their Internet, conduct business, or interact with loved ones you are unable to visit in person, 281 is here to help.

Tim Moczygemba, President
281 Communications Corporation Inc.

281 Internet deploys 5G to help clients shelter in place

281 Internet deploys 5G mmWave Tech

Helping our clients Shelter in Place to stay connected!

Today, March 24, 2020 Alex, Adilson "Juice", and Tim brought our first 5G mmWave link online.  The results were immediate.  Our network traffic coming across the link increased more than 200% from the previous evening, and over 400% from just a week before.

281 Communications Corp. Inc. used the same technology as the National Park Service used last week to hook up Lady Liberty.

Siklu mmWave Wireless Helps Protect Lady Liberty

281 Clients, please show your appreciation to Alex and Adilson next time you speak with them.  They along with me, worked long hours on top of climbing over 1000 tower feet in the last 6 days pressing this new technology into place along with many hours of conversations with the Siklu support team, including Tim Murphy and Scott---Many thank to you guys!

281 now has the tools to bring even higher speeds out to where you want to live.  With Siklu long range mmWave capable of 10G links, and supplemental equipment from Ubiquiti, Mimosa, and Cambium, 281 can bring the Internet to just about anywhere you need it.  

In light of the new Covid-19 affects, we are seeing how even more people want to move away from it all.  We are seeing an influx of clients who have "Lake Homes" out around the Highland Lakes coming to Shelter in Place where social distancing is just a little bit easier.  

You don't have to climb 100' up a tower to get away, just hop on a boat to the middle of the lake!

Just to let our 281 clients know, we are not done with our work.  Friday morning Alex and Tim will be at it again to finalize a brace and grounding on the Fairland tower as well as the final (hopefully) adjustment to get these dishes perfectly aligned.  The model on this link is capable of 10G when aligned, right now it's just capable of a little over 1 G.  

Our work to make our network more robust just got a little brighter!  One of our clients (Carlton--you know who you are!) has agreed in concept to allow 281 to put a tower on his property near Tow.  We will be able to link one of our new Kingsland towers to here as well as our Lake Buchanan.  In this way, we will make a big circle so that should one tower link go down, traffic can continue through the other direction, making 281's network truly go "Around the Highland Lakes"!  Our combined enhanced higher capacity and lower latency wireless links from Lake Buchanan to Burnet to Fairland to Marble Falls combined with new fiber installed in Kingsland has made 281's network the most resilient and fastest by many metrics network in our area.

Please spread the word how 281 has helped you in your time of need!

Tim Moczygemba
281 Communications Corporation Inc.

Alex Bates thinking about our next challenge...