Very common in rural areas. She is most likely a customer of a WISP, or a wireless ISP. They will often partner with a township to set up on a water tower or grain silo or some other high point, then have a fiber internet line brought to that tower.
From there, they will deploy pretty much this exact device for each client, sometimes piggy backing on client sites to extend their range.
5G cell service modems and starlink are making wisps less common, but they are still out there.
Here’s a great older article about a home grown WISP setup in the rural islands near Seattle. After years of terrible and unreliable internet service, the neighbors got together, paid for a microwave tower stream from Seattle, and rigged up relays and wireless access points in trees in order to get good, reliable internet.
My mom is in a rural area, and her internet is basically just a wifi connection to a tower on a hill nearby.
Very common in rural areas. She is most likely a customer of a WISP, or a wireless ISP. They will often partner with a township to set up on a water tower or grain silo or some other high point, then have a fiber internet line brought to that tower.
From there, they will deploy pretty much this exact device for each client, sometimes piggy backing on client sites to extend their range.
5G cell service modems and starlink are making wisps less common, but they are still out there.
Here’s a great older article about a home grown WISP setup in the rural islands near Seattle. After years of terrible and unreliable internet service, the neighbors got together, paid for a microwave tower stream from Seattle, and rigged up relays and wireless access points in trees in order to get good, reliable internet.