No. While both types of service use radio frequencies to send and receive data, our sites are local, meaning there’s less latency and faster speeds than typical satellite service.

It all depends on the line-of-sight (view) between your location and our mountain-top sites. We have customers located 10 to 15 miles away who have great service, while others only a few miles away may not be able to get service at all. If you can see the mountains west or northwest of Redding from your site, you can probably get service.

The only requirement is that your computer has a network card (NIC). Most computers built in the last several years already have one. (Look for something that looks like a big phone jack on the back of your computer). If your computer doesn’t have a network card, one can be easily added by us or someone else.

Yes. If you have a router, our unit can plug directly into it. Your desktop or laptop computer then accesses the Internet using the router.

Not at this time. Our wireless service offers a 500GB data allowance.

Yes, our wireless service does support online gaming. During peak usage, bad weather, etc there can be moments of slower performance. However, we’re constantly upgrading the network to increase both capacity and performance.

Beacon Wireless Internet’s network does not actively filter any applications on our network. However, BitTorrent (and other peer-to-peer file sharing services) are “noisy” network applications that quickly deplete limited wireless resources, ultimately effecting the service of other customers. For that reason we do not support excessive BitTorrent usage, per our Acceptable Use Policy.

If using an Apple AirPort brand wireless router, and your AirPort is also directly connected to ShastaBeams’s equipment, be sure NOT to configure your AirPort in “Bridge Mode.” Running “Bridge Mode” is a serious security risk for your devices, and you will also experience issues in connecting your wireless devices to the internet.

We recommend that for each profile you navigate to “Your Account” and then choose “Playback Settings.” Under Playback Settings, choose “Auto.” This will allow the video quality to automatically adjust for continued viewing even during peak times.

For our Satellite customers, please choose “Medium.” This will considerably conserve your data and help prevent you from going over your data limit.

We offer a 14 day Money Back Guarantee for customers to try the service before making a FULL commitment to the service.  Customers are expected to use the services enough in the first 2 weeks to determine if it will work as a long-term internet solution for them.  The customer must give us notice within a week of getting the service if there are problems with the service.  Customers who have problems with the service must call our 24-hour support services and give us a chance to solve any connection problems associated with the service before requesting their money back.  We reserve the right to exchange the equipment during the first 14 days if it is determined to be defective so that we can fix any equipment problems.  Customers who use the service with no problems communicated to us during the 14 day trial period will not receive their money back.  Refunds will not be accepted until the equipment is returned in the same condition as it was received.  If the equipment is received damaged when it is shipped out, we will replace it at no cost to the customer as long as we are notified as soon as it is received

Beacon:

• 14-day Money-Back Guarantee
• Professional Installation
• Great Latency
• Tested and reliable
• Service/Warranty
• Weather-resistant
• 24/7 Tech Support
• Locally owned and operated

• Varied latency
• Varied speed
• Effected by weather
• Chat only Tech Support
• Beta program