General Frequently Asked Questions

Do you offer 24/7/365 technical support? No, we do not. We currently offer technical support during standard business hours, from Mon-Fri, 8:30am until 5:00pm. If you encounter a problem that cannot be resolved by your CSP they will escalate your issue to our technical support group.

What is a Gigabyte? A byte is a unit of measurement that describes information storage. One (1) gigabyte is the equivalent of 1,000,000,000 bytes. An average email would transfer approximately 2,000 bytes or 2 kilobytes. Below are the examples of different measurements and the abbreviations that are used throughout this site.

What is a Gigabyte?

How do I know how many Gigabytes I’ve used? You are able to monitor the amount of Gigabytes you’ve consumed by visiting www.qiniq.com. From the main site you will need to access the customer login on the left hand menu. Enter the username and password provided to you during the initial account sign-up process. Once you are logged in, select “View Usage” from the dropdown menu on the right side of the page, and you will be presented with a detailed graph of how much data has been transferred in 4-hour intervals.

What happens when I go over my allotted Gigabytes? When you exceed your monthly allotment of GB, your account is "speed restricted" to dial up like speeds for the remainder of that billing period. You can contact your CSP or login to your account to purchase more GB or you can continue to use the service at dial up like speeds. At the beginning of the next billing cycle your account is automatically reset. This system ensures that you are aware of your usage and that you get the choice. QINIQ does not want anyone to get any unexpected bills for excess usage!

How do I hook up more than one computer? In order to hook up more than one computer to your QINIQ modem, you will need to purchase either a hub or a router. These devices will allow you to connect multiple machines either via an Ethernet cable, or WiFi. If you decide to go with a hub, you will need to purchase additional IP addresses for your account at a cost of $5.00 per IP. Routers on the other hand have the ability to provide their own private IP addresses independent of our servers, and will not result in you having to purchase any additional IP addresses from QINIQ. Can I get a Static IP Address? Static IP Addresses are only available on the PIQSIQ plan. In order to get setup with a static IP Address you will need to contact your local CSP and provide him with the MAC Address of the device, which requires the IP.

Got anything to help with Spam? Yes. QINIQ has implemented several advanced spam detection/removal systems in order to stem the flow of spam to your mailbox. How does our anti-spam/anti-virus service work? These services protect you from time-wasting spam and potentially damaging viruses and worms. The service is implemented at our mail server. If you have opted for our anti-spam and anti-virus service, our mail server will automatically scan each email that has been sent to you. If it is determined to be a virus, it is automatically deleted. If it is determined to be SPAM, it will be flagged as such, and is filterable with your e-mail program. Basically, any suspected spam will have the words "POSSIBLE SPAM" in the subject line -- you can then configure your mail program to automatically move that mail to a "garbage" folder so that it does not clutter up your Inbox. You can also periodically review the folder to ensure that no legitimate email messages have been filtered, if that is a concern. For those looking for advanced anti-spam controls, we provide users with the option to sign up for a $3.00 a month anti-spam add on. Once this feature has been enabled you will be able to log into our spam monitoring device and setup custom thresholds for spam detection and deletion.

Do I need an antenna? No. The wireless technology we have deployed is non line of sight (NLOS), meaning that you do not need to be able to see the antenna we are broadcasting from in order to get connected (see the image, above.) The wireless modem looks very similar to a cable modem - you just plug it in, point it at the nearest window, rotate it to find the best signal, and you're done.

I have multiple computers - can they share the wireless Internet connection? Absolutely. You may want to consider the purchase of a router or firewall in order to simplify this process. This is not necessary, but the recommended manner in which to connect multiple computers. Besides, a firewall can help to keep the bad guys away!

Can I use this service with my Macintosh/BSD/Linux/etc. computer? In all likelihood, yes. As long as your computer/device supports standard TCP/IP networking, it should be able to utilize our wireless service. We do not provide official support for any OS other than MS Windows, but there is no reason that alternative operating systems will not work. What are the minimum system requirements? In order to utilize our wireless service you need to have a PC or Mac and a compatible, functioning network card. We officially support Windows 7, Vista, XP, and Mac OSX, though there is no reason an alternative operating system would not function properly. Oh what the heck - if you have a Linux box that you can't make work, call us and we'll see what we can do!

How can I check my speed? To find out how quick your connection is, each subscriber's account settings page includes a bandwidth meter. This will tell you your speed from your modem to QINIQ. Actual speeds to different Internet sites will vary, of course. To access this feature, you can login as an existing customer using your user name and password.

What is Burst Speed?  The simplest way to explain burst speed is to use the analogy of a highway. Broadband "speed" is more like a speed limit. 55mph may be the posted speed limit, and you may go at that rate most of the time, but not all the time. During rush hour your burst speed can be slower (lots of traffic) but in the evening and at less busy times you can exceed the speed limit. (of course we don’t condone speeding on the non virtual highway).

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