But my ISP is long distance. Not a problem when you have a fiber optic connection to carry some distance learning courses from the state university that provides the access point. 5450 modems are used on the auxiliary input to the optical modulator and connects the community college counter rotating ring network over the fiber to the state university Internet access point. The cost of the modems has been recovered many times over from the long distance connection charges not paid to the phone company. Even when we are wrong, we are right Up in the Great White North, there are few people and even fewer towns.
Education is still a priority regardless of the isolation.
A province wide educational microwave network exists to provide video and data links tying together small school district reaching nearly to the Arctic Circle. Conceptually the system worked and even bench tested well but failed when exposed to the wide temperature ranges of the environment. The modems worked to their specifications and beyond, the problem being in the temperature stability of the up and down converters. Replacing the converters was too expensive so the integrator came to RF Networks. We designed a special adapter board that swung the modem acquisition well beyond the original design range and solved the problem at a minimal cost.