Pathfinder, LLC

Below are some answers to popular questions we are asked. We look forward to working with you!

1. Installation – 
a. Our installation for your home includes a single penetration and up to 300ft of outdoor rated cable with a weatherproofing/sealant if your current cable does not pass certification. However, a 300ft allocation is not used per installation, only what is needed. This means that the technician is not at liberty to leave a surplus of cable for use by the subscriber for purposes other than bringing the feed from the CPE to the power supply. If the antenna needs to be over 300ft from your network equipment distribution we would consider this a custom installation. 
b. In most cases the installation technician will replace existing wiring with new direct burial cable for optimal performance.
c. The outside wall is rock, we will find a conduit to bring the cable inside your home and we would consider this a custom installation.
d. Pathfinder does not schedule pre-installation visits. If you would like a technician to meet you at your site to discuss the installation this will be billable at our standard hourly rate. Pathfinder will review the site details during the scheduled installation visit after your Service Agreement has been approved. If the installation cannot occur for any reason, you will receive a full refund on any new account setup fees you may have paid. However, if your installation does not fall into the installation items mentioned in 1.a through 1.c there may be additional installation charges billed at our standard hourly rate. It is possible that a customer that was installed in the past may not have the strictest of requirements and may be out of range for install and may need to be uninstalled and the new account set up fee would be returned
e. Most CPE (customer premise equipment) that Pathfinder will install requires the use of an 18 inch dish or 18×18 panel, sometimes a smaller dish can be used depending on the application.
f. Pathfinder does not provide any internal wiring for phones or network equipment such as printers, access points, streaming devices, routers, etc. The wiring outlined in item 1.a. is only from the subscriber radio to the power injector/supply inside the building.
g. A typical installation is scheduled for 2-3 hours. Any installations that will exceed a 3 hour window may be subject to additional technical fees.

2. Metering – Our service has no metering or monthly data limits so the usage is unlimited each month within your speed tier.

3. Which Plan do I Need? – Many are asking if the 50Mbps down/10Mbps up plan is recommended.
The 40 and 50 Mbps plans are both our most popular. While we do see the 40Mbps/4Mbps works for most, if you have many people using the connection for movie watching we would recommend trying the 50Mbps plan if you see congestion. Also, if you remotely connect to your home to monitor cameras, temperature, printers, or other systems you will see better performance on our 50Mbps plan because the upload speed is 3x faster.

4. Latency – We have two service types. Fiber latency is expected to be less than 15ms to your gateway. Our Fixed Wireless customers will typically see between 20-60ms of latency to their router/firewall.

5. Public IP Address – When you first connect your Pathfinder equipment to your router, it will be an Ethernet cable to your router. Your router will automatically be assigned a public dynamic IP address.

We do offer static IP addresses if necessary. If you aren’t sure if you need one, you probably don’t need one, but we are happy to discuss it further and you can add it at any time.

6. Router & WiFI –
a. Pathfinder recommends you subscribe to our WiFi Care which includes an amazing WiFi 6 Router that is manageable through the CommandIQ app on your mobile device. Our installation technician will bring the new WiFi 6 router during the installation of your service. Your WiFi Care includes enhanced tech support which allows our technical team to troubleshoot issues on your network and resolve them quickly.
i. WiFi Care adds $14.99 per month to your subscription, you can find out more about the equipment how to set it up at https://blastwifi.com.
ii. For homes larger than 1,200 sq/ft we recommend you add additional WiFi Mesh devices. Up to two can be added to your account at $4.99 each. If more are needed, contact our Sales Team for a discussion about a customer solution. Mesh devices only require power and extend signal from the primary router.   
iii. If you would like to add WiFi Care and receive a Managed WiFi 6 router to your plan we can mail one to you or you may pick one up at our office. On site installation of our Managed WiFi Router is only included at the time of a new installation.
iv. If you have purchased a router within the last 90 days and you want to add our Managed WiFi care, Pathfinder will buy back your router. You must provide a receipt dated within the last 90 days and bring your router and power supply to our office and we will provide you with a new managed WiFi 6 router and issue a credit on your account for the amount of the router you purchased.

b. You may opt out of WiFi Care and provide your own router. If you choose to Opt Out of WiFi care, during a support call the Pathfinder Support team will only be able to confirm your internet service is active and reboot our service equipment remotely. 9 out of 10 troubleshooting calls are related to a customers router or issue on their network and without the Managed Router we have no visibility to be able to assist you with this issue.

c. Customers that are switching their internet service from another provider are responsible for returning their equipment to their previous provider.

d. Pathfinder cannot recommend a specific brand of router. However, the requirements for a router to work with our service is as follows:
i. Your router cannot be a modem/router combo
ii. Your router cannot be from another service provider such as Rise, Comcast, Century Link, etc.
iii. Your router must have an ethernet WAN port.
iv. You must be able to provide us with your router MAC address which is found on next to the serial #.

7. Television & Streaming Services – 
Many of our customers use streaming services such as Disney+, Netflix, Apple TV, Hulu, Google TV and YouTube TV. Most TVs that are less than 2 years old also have Netflix and other Apps built right into them. If not, Pathfinder recommends you purchase a media delivery device such as a Roku or Apple TV to watch your streaming service on your existing TV.

8. Need More Speed? – Our standard plans are listed on our website (https://www.path-finder.us/#plans) but we do offer custom enterprise packages allowing us to deliver up to 500Mbps up and down if required. If that is of interest to you, please email [email protected].