Go Wireless in 2004 with Door County Computer

While visitors may think of Door County as a quaint, unhurried peninsula, residents know that the hum of computers and other technology keep businesses running smoothly and connect us to the outside world through the Internet. When a computer goes down, it can mean time and money lost in a short selling season, and home users are inconvenienced as well.

Door County Computer, based in Juddville and in business since 1991, and headed by president Joan Gordon and her husband Rick—“They call me The Great Arbitrator,” he chuckles—offers attentive computer repair, tech support by a knowledgeable staff, computer sales and supplies, email services, website hosting and, most recently, wireless broadband Internet access.

Door County Computer was the first commercial Internet business in the county, connecting local schools to the Internet in late 1994, and then businesses and individual computer users. Established first in Ephraim, the company moved to larger quarters in Juddville, expanding its computer repair area as well as its public Internet Café. “Many tourists need Internet services, and we offer it at $10 an hour,” said Rick Gordon. “If we’re fixing someone’s computer and they need access, there’s no charge.” The Internet Café offers both PC and Mac systems, hookups for laptops, and scanning, printing and faxing capabilities, making it the most technologically up-to-date such facility in the County.

The company’s newest innovation—one that some Door County residents have been breathlessly waiting for—is wireless broadband service for 24/7 high-speed Internet connection. “We’re renting space on several towers around the county,” Rick explains, “and the first ones are already available in Sturgeon Bay and Ellison Bay.” If you live within range of a tower—approximately a 12-mile radius—you could be eligible for this faster Internet hookup, which offers big advantages over dial-up modems and even cable or satellite transmission.

“Our wireless broadband can currently transmit up to 3 megabits, which is about 50 times faster than a 56K computer modem’s maximum speed,” Gordon explains, “although we may be able to go as high as 28 megabits at some point in the future. Cable and satellite have faster transmission than a dial-up modem, but there are two disadvantages to those technologies: first, the speed for downloading is fast, about 384 K—but for uploading it’s only 128K, whereas wireless broadband is 384K in both directions. Also, satellites can have brown-outs when the weather is bad; wireless broadband doesn’t have brown-outs.”

Door County Computer does a site survey to determine if your location can read the signal from the closest tower, then sets up your computer with a discreet antenna, mast or reflector. The antenna line plugs directly into your computer’s Ethernet port. “We’re currently offering start-up deals that provide, for a year's contract, the required equipment at our wholesale cost plus a couple of months free service. Just call us and see what’s available in your area.” The average cost of monthly service runs around $50 to $55, less expensive than many high-speed services.

Ellison Bay is only the first stop for Door County Computer’s wireless broadband. Next they’ll be servicing Egg Harbor, then Washington Island and Fish Creek. There are plans in the works for Ephraim and Baileys Harbor, and then the company plans to work its way south down the peninsula through the rest of Door County.

Door County Computer, 4243 Juddville Road, Fish Creek, WI 54212; (920) 868-9100; web site: www.dcwis.com.