Why is my Rise internet slow when it rains?

This is called 'rain fade'. Rise Broadband uses radio frequencies to beam internet from a local tower to the antenna on your roof. Heavy rain, snow, and dense fog absorb and scatter radio waves, reducing signal strength. In heavy downpours, expect speeds to drop by 30-50%. Once the weather clears, speeds return to normal. This is a fundamental limitation of fixed wireless technology that cannot be 'fixed'.

Does Rise Broadband have data caps?

Most Rise residential plans include a 250 GB monthly data allowance. Unlimited data add-ons are available in some markets. If you exceed 250 GB, Rise may charge overage fees or throttle your speed for the remainder of the billing cycle. For a household that streams regularly, 250 GB can be reached surprisingly quickly — 4K streaming uses about 7 GB per hour.

Rise Broadband Speed Test — Fixed Wireless

Rise Broadband is America's largest fixed wireless internet provider, serving rural and semi-rural communities across 16 states — primarily in Colorado, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, and Iowa. If you live outside the footprint of cable and fibre networks, Rise may be the only terrestrial broadband option at your address, delivering internet via a radio antenna mounted on your roof that communicates with a nearby tower.

Fixed wireless is fundamentally different from cable, fibre, or even cellular home internet. Your speed depends on signal quality — the distance to the tower, the weather, and whether anything (like a growing tree) is blocking the line of sight. Understanding these factors is key to interpreting your speed test results.

What Rise Plans Actually Deliver

Plan	Download	Upload	Data Cap	Real-World Range
Rise 25	25 Mbps	3 Mbps	250 GB	15-25 Mbps (good signal)
Rise 50	50 Mbps	5 Mbps	250 GB	30-50 Mbps (good signal)
Rise 100	100 Mbps	10 Mbps	250 GB	50-100 Mbps (close to tower)

The "Real-World Range" column shows what to expect. If your speed test shows 35 Mbps on a 50 Mbps plan, that is 70% of plan speed and considered normal for fixed wireless. Unlike fibre where you should hit 95%+, fixed wireless has more variability baked into the physics of the technology.

How Your Roof Antenna Works

Rise installs a radio antenna (commonly Cambium PMP450 or Telrad units) on your roof, pointed at the nearest Rise tower. The antenna connects to a POE (Power over Ethernet) injector inside your house — a small brick-shaped device that provides both power and data through a single Ethernet cable. The POE injector then connects to your Wi-Fi router.

The system chain is: Tower → Roof Antenna → Ethernet Cable → POE Injector → Router → Your Devices

POE Injector Troubleshooting

The POE injector is the most common point of failure in Rise's setup:

Light on (solid): The antenna has power and is functioning. If internet is still down, the issue is at the tower or your router.
Light flickering: Power fault, possible short in the Ethernet cable running to the roof. Check for visible damage to the outdoor cable.
Light off: No power reaching the antenna. Check the wall outlet. Try a different outlet. If the POE injector itself is dead, you need a replacement from Rise.

The #1 troubleshooting step for Rise: Unplug the POE injector from the wall for 90 seconds (not 10 seconds — the roof radio needs time to fully discharge). Plug it back in and wait 5 minutes for the antenna to re-register with the tower. This solves the majority of Rise connectivity issues.

The Three Things That Kill Fixed Wireless Speed

1. Rain Fade

Heavy rain absorbs radio signals. During a downpour, your speed can drop 30-50%. This is not something Rise can fix — it is the physics of radio waves interacting with water droplets. Once the weather clears, your speed returns to normal. Light rain typically has minimal impact.

2. Tree Growth ("The Leaf Effect")

This is the sneaky one. Fixed wireless requires line of sight (or near line of sight) between your roof antenna and the tower. A tree that was bare when Rise installed your antenna in December may have full foliage by June, gradually degrading your signal. If your speed slowly worsened over spring and summer, this is likely the cause. You will need either the tree trimmed or the antenna raised higher.

3. Antenna Misalignment

Strong winds, especially during Colorado and Texas storms, can physically twist the mounting bracket that holds your roof antenna. If your speed permanently dropped after a storm and the weather is now clear, the antenna has likely been moved off-axis. A Rise technician needs to visit and re-aim it.

The 250 GB Data Cap — A Serious Limitation

Most Rise residential plans include a 250 GB monthly data cap. Here is how fast 250 GB can disappear:

4K streaming: ~7 GB per hour. Watching 2 hours per night = 420 GB/month. Over the cap.
HD streaming (1080p): ~3 GB per hour. More manageable but still adds up with multiple users.
Game downloads: A single modern game can be 50-150 GB. Two game updates per month could consume a third of your cap.

If you consistently hit the 250 GB cap, ask Rise about unlimited data add-ons (available in some markets). Alternatively, consider whether Starlink or T-Mobile Home Internet — both without data caps — might be better options at your address.

Rise Broadband vs. Rural Alternatives

Provider	Speed Range	Latency	Data Cap	Monthly Cost
Rise Broadband	25-100 Mbps	25-60 ms	250 GB	$30-65
Starlink	50-220 Mbps	25-60 ms	None	$120 + equipment
T-Mobile Home Internet	25-245 Mbps	30-50 ms	None	$50
HughesNet	25-100 Mbps	600+ ms	15-200 GB	$50-120
Viasat	12-100 Mbps	600+ ms	40-300 GB	$50-150

Rise's advantages over satellite are low latency (suitable for video calls and gaming) and lower monthly cost. Rise's disadvantage versus Starlink and T-Mobile is the 250 GB data cap. If T-Mobile's towers have good signal at your address, their $50/month unlimited plan is hard to beat on value.

Rise support: Call 844-411-7473. Before calling, try the 90-second POE power cycle — it resolves most issues without needing support.