Fast-Air Newsletter
Vol 2009-1     01/13/2009

Hi all,
It has already been a year since the last newsletter, so I felt it was time to give you an update on what is coming in 2009. It will be our 5th year of business and we will continue to try to bring you the most reliable service in the area as well as customer promotions to show our appreciation of your continued patronage.
Hardware & Dataline Upgrades
We will continue our upgrades with a few more towers this year. We recently added an additional Access Point (AP) to Caspian to offload some of the users on the current 900Mhz AP. We plan to add another AP in Iron River to offload some users off of the Homer Location AP. We will continue to add additional data lines as needed.
Expanded Coverage
We recently added a tower in Newald, Wisconsin. We are looking at adding towers out towards Buck & Armstrong Lake, Camp Lake, and possible Brule Lake. Coverage maps can be viewed under the Services - Coverage Maps menu of our website.

Computer & Network Training Classes
We have been working with Community Schools and Julie Melchiori to setup training classes for those in the area who would like to enhance their computer skills. Tentative schedule is February. If you are interested, please contact Community Schools for class schedules and cost. There will be two classes one for Basic Computing and the other for Home Networking. You will have to have the Basic Computing skills to take the Home Networking class.

Spam – Training Spam
<As spammers continue to find new ways to beat spam filters, our spam filter is able to train itself on spam. If you receive a spam message, you should forward the message (as an attachment) to this address – spam@fast-air.net (The option to forward (as an attachment) is under the message menu for Outlook Express and Windows Mail). We have had some encounter issues with forwarding as an attachment in Outlook Express. If you encounter this problem, you can go into the Webmail on the Fast-Air website to forward them. However, if you use the webmail interface you must do this before downloading messages to Outlook Express.

Keeping Your Connection at Top Speed
We have added a lot of customers since the last newsletter, so I want to stress the need to have and run spyware removal programs. We recommend Ad Aware and Spybot and to run them at least once a month to keep your connection at top speed. Note: We still recommend AVG Anti-Virus for anti-virus protection. The new version AVG 8.0 also checks for spyware. However, it is still not as thorough as Ad-aware and Spybot.

Whenever there are upgrades for the three packages mentioned above, always check our website under the Help & Support – Software Links option. This is typically the simplest way to upgrade these software packages.

I must continue to emphasize the importance of disabling file sharing when using downloaders especially now that many are attempting to download movies. When I encounter users with this functionality enable, I will send a reminder/warning. If this does not resolve the problem, I will then issue a second warning and turn their speed down significantly. A third instance will result in termination of the account. You can find instructions on disabling file sharing at the Setting up downloaders link under the Troubleshooting & Tips.

Also, movies are typically over 2GB per movie. If you attempt to download these during peak hours, you may get your speed turned down due to excessive use. We recommend downloading them during 10:30PM – 6:00AM to avoid speed reduction or extra charges for high use.

For more information on how to keep your internet speed up, go to the link Maintaining your Internet Connection Speed or find it under the Help & Support menu and then Troubleshooting & Tips.
Customer Appreciation
We will continue to give out referral credits and free month drawing for 2009. You can see the 2008 winners on our website 2008 Free Month Winners. I just want to thank you all for your continued patronage. I like giving back to my customers for their loyalty.

Your Feedback
I would appreciate your feedback. If you have had any issues, have any questions, any suggestions, or comments. please let me know. You can reply to this message, or use the contact us page on the Fast-Air website. 

Thank you for your patronage and getting the word out to the community about our Internet service. Feel free to forward this to others or refer them to the Newsletter link under the Company menu on the Fast-Air Website.