Andrew Kaiser enjoys the view while checking on his antennas mounted to the roof of a house near Mansfield. His Ridgetop Networks service is meeting the needs of many rural residents who previously lacked fast internet. rural Missouri while still enjoying the high-speed internet access once only available to city dwellers. " In my early days one of my first customers was John Deakyne whose job had allowed him to move from the east coast into southern Missouri, " Andrew says. " They allowed him to move with the stipulation that he maintain an internet connection in order to work remotely. He was not able to obtain that at his home. He would have to take a 30-minute drive one way to go to a town that had a good internet connection for him to work. " That access ended when his daughter moved to Denver. Fortunately Andrew was able to provide a connection at the man's home, prompting this testimonial from John: " Your service changed my life. " Demand for Ridgetop Networks service increased dramatically due to COVID-19 with parents working from home and their kids trying to get online for virtual learning. " I hear from my customers that their house is the gathering spot for their kids' friends to come over and do their homework, " Andrew says, " because many of their friends do not have good internet connections at home. " WISPs such as Ridgetop Networks can offer a broadband solution for rural residents in unserved areas, Andrew says, but only if their owners are prepared to put in the long hours necessary to keep it operating. " It is not for somebody that wants a 9-to-5 job with weekends off. There's plenty of times I've put in a 16- or 20-hour day and an hour or two after I crawl into bed, I get a notification that something has gone wrong and I am back up dealing with it. " Sho-Me Technologies is ready to help. " It's exciting and it is very rewarding to think that we play a part in helping everyone get access to the internet, " Becky says " The real rock stars are the people like Andrew. It is gratifying to see that we can help make this happen and help the people in our home area of the Ozarks. " You can contact Ridgetop Networks by calling 417-5435513, sending email to andrew@ridgetopnetworks.com or visiting www.ridgetopnetworks.com. Sho-Me Technologies can be found at 417-859-3529 and www.shometech.com. FEBRUARY 2021 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP 37http://www.ridgetopnetworks.com http://www.shometech.com http://www.RURALMISSOURI.COOP