Pages

Sep 13, 2010

Sci-Fi Author's Wireless ISP Will Give You 20Mbps Downloads For $40/Month

Sci-Fi author Rudy Rucker is one of the folks behind the cleverest wireless ISP serving San Francisco. He and his team have set up a system to provide customers with reliable 10-30Mbps download speeds for a mere $40 per month.

Sure, you could get theoretical speeds of about "20 Mbps down and 4 Mbps up from Comcast for $55 per month," but the service provided by Rucker's company, MonkeyBrains, is providing reliable and consistent speeds:

MonkeyBrains guarantees at least 10 Mbps symmetrical and most customers see 15-20 Mbps. Some customers see 25-30 Mbps with a good connection. According to [a company employee], this depends on the company's backhaul connection, which is in the process of being upgraded. Once that happens, he expects 30 Mbps+ connections will be common.

There are initial startup costs associated with the service—it costs about $250 to install the required antenna—but MonkeyBrains appears to be offering customers several free months of service to compensate for that cost.

The company is still small: It has "about 100 antennas, each of which may serve one or many customers—an average of 5-10 per antenna"—but it certainly appears to be off to a good start. Of course, the downside of a company like MonkeyBrains is that it provides such great—and cheap—service because it's sticking to a small area and focusing on those customers. This means that those of us who live outside of San Francisco are left hoping that someone will think to run a small WISP with a silly name in our areas too.

46 comments:

CHOxLARGE said...

I would love to have this service, my current ISP is shitty.

JRam said...

My first thought when I saw 20Mbps down for $40 a month was exactly about how close it comes to my Comcast connection. The guaranteed speeds is pretty sweet but there is also the downside of wireless instability.

AdPlusCommunications said...

I really don't mind my Current ISP, sometimes they mess up but they're always good about fixing it.

KitCats said...

Awesome page. Get at me

EdwardPrinceofWales said...

interesting

The Loon said...

that's freaking great.

Strictlymoney said...

/s/upporting you friend, return the love daily.

Strictlymoney said...

/s/upporting you friend, return the love daily.

Anonymous said...

These little ISPs make me think there's hope for net neutrality.

F5,X10,supportin'!

Shane said...

Sounds pretty cool. I've never heard of the guy though.

Saveit said...

I always enjoy your blog! I come to read it every day. I hope you can check out mine daily too!

n-Gen Projects said...

I have AT&T and it's horrible dude.
You have my support bro, keep them coming

Mecha Six VII said...

WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT

Anonymous said...

For 40 bucks a moth thats freaking fantastic! I have verizon and overpay -_-

Supported hard
much love

Anti1337 said...

very nice~ i wouldnt mind having that over my current isp, but hey they came over and fixed our shit the next day when i called, go comcast

Danimal said...

Think about the locations, though. Shit doesn't work if you're not in range.

A musician and gamer said...

sounds pretty awesome

Katie Greene said...

the only problem with this is that you have to live near the degenerates in San Francisco

Anonymous said...

Sounds badass.

Victor M. said...

Man I wished in california. It's where all the tech shit has been going on lately =/

http://quarterqwerty.blogspot.com/

Chromatik said...

Damn, this kicks the shit out of comcast....
I really want this now

Nine said...

If I didn't live in a dorm in college I would definitely switch over, sounds pretty nice

supportin'

Dilly Skates said...

i need this, internet has been slow lately

www.epicfood.org said...

<3

Ren Rotten said...

Showing the daily love <3

australiascrapas.blogspot.com

Skyshock said...

DOOOO WAAAAANT

Tannebaum said...

I would so sign up for that ISP's service.

Ishu said...

As long as it is consistent everything is cool!

daily!

Castor Canadensis said...

keep it up.

CHECKIN' IN.

Anonymous said...

This would be so awesome

Tetru Eunor said...

Good luck in their endeavour!

Please help me spread some knowledge:

http://tetru.blogspot.com

jerbearxi said...

Do want.


jerbearxi.blogspot.com

Kevorkian said...

Seems a good isp!

WakeOfBuzzards said...

Wow... I have the 25/25 with verizon right now, and I have to say - If someone could GUARANTEE 10 down, I would switch right now.

razortek said...

love to mah bro

wtfiniggagun.blogspot.com

check this too to find new interesting blogs to luv daily

thefuckinlist.blogspot.com

miecak said...

Meh, that's simmilar to what I have now, just a lot more expensive.

Anonymous said...

Very nice!

Supportin!

Barnacle said...

my speed is ok ^^

iMonei said...

sounds nice

http://sekstastic.blogspot.com

Bob Smith said...

sounds to good to be true haha

Christo bear said...

yeah i wouldn't mind having that. But with the connections we have around here atm, we prob wont get anything like that for 100 years =P

http://cktrandomdelights.blogspot.com/

Buff Gamer said...

If it is actually as good as it sounds, it will grow over time.

chasityxo said...

wow that actually sounds pretty decent

yoshiface2.blogspot.com said...

not a bad idea, awesome company name too lol

roguez4lifez said...

i wonder how good this would be for gaming, sounds good though

Sparrow said...

awesomesauce!
to bad i dont live anywhere near there.
showing my support to a fellow blogger!